Check out these latest tips how people could read Bloomberg articles for free.
Remember this article is for informational purposes only.
I do not encourage you to do it, but you are most welcome to subscribe Bloomberg News.
This is another post from The DiGiztal Bypass Paywalls Tips series.
If I am not mistaken, currently Bloomberg just offers ono complimentary article anymore.
When you click for the second article, a black banner appears at the bottom prompting you to subscribe for uninterrupted access.
In other words, uses a metered paywall, a kind of sot paywall.
Technically, with a soft paywall, a significant portion or the full content is already loaded into your browser.
That's why it is still easily to circumvent Bloomberg digital barrier, compared to those sites with hard paywalls.
This is an updated post.
The original post was published way back in the year 2020.
Most of the past methods do not work anymore.
That include: open link in incognito window, disabling cookies, disable Javascript, or the 12feet Ladder.
Anyway, let's see how do people can still remove Bloomberg paywall with these following methods.
How to read Bloomberg articles free
Table of Contents:
I sourced these tips from the internet and curated them all here in one post.
1. Archive.Today
Besides, Bloomberg.com, many paywalled websites can be accessed with this web-archiving tool.
Firstly you can check whether the particular web article has been archived.
Then click the "search" button.
If the article is already archived, it will appear on the page.
If you cannot find the article there, then you have to archive it.
This is what you do:
Go back to Archive.Today.
This time go to the red color box with the text "My url is alive and I want to archive its content".
Paste the Bloomberg article URL in the space provided inside this red box.
Next click the "save" button. Then wait....
Once it has finishing archiving, you can view the complete Bloomberg article.
How does it work: Archive.today does not actually circumvent paywalls.
It mimics as a search engine or archival bot to access and take snapshots of archived versions of pages that may have been publicly accessible, before being paywalled.
Once a page is archived, you can access it through a unique URL provided by Archive.today.
You can view the content as it appeared at the time of archiving, even if the original page is now behind a paywall.
Then when anyone else later try to access the paywalled article through Archive.today, they are not actually bypassing that article.
Instead, they are viewing the static, archived copy that Archive.today stored..
Find out more from this tutorial how to use Archive.Today to bypass paywalled articles for free.
2. Bypass Paywalls Clean extension
This is another popular paywall remover that can get through many blocked websites
All they do is install the browser extension, and they have a field day reading all its content for free.
I am talking about the popular Bypass Paywalls Clean extension by Magnolia1234.
How does it work: To circumvent paywalls, this browser extension employs various techniques.
It can alter HTTP headers or impersonate different user agents to trick websites into granting access.
Another method involves accessing previously cached versions of the content.
Furthermore, it's capable of clearing or manipulating cookies that monitor your allotted free articles, and it can block the JavaScript or CSS responsible for displaying obstructive overlays.
For Firefox browser, this is how they set it up: "How to install Bypass Paywalls Clean extension for Firefox".
For Google Chrome browser, follow this tutorial: "How to install Bypass Paywalls Clean for Chrome".
3. uBlock Origin with Bypass Paywalls Clean filter
What they do is by installing the uBlock Origin, and add the Bypass Paywalls Clean filter to it.
How does it work: Actually it is using the Bypass Paywalls Clean extension, which I have just explained above.
Read the detailed guide from this post, "How to bypass The New York Times paywall with uBlock Origin".
4. Brave browser with Bypass Paywalls Clean filter
Yet again, this tip is similar to #3 above, by using the Bypass Paywalls Clean filter to your Brave browser.
There are two ways of doing it.
i) Use the Brave browser built-in Bypass Paywalls Clean filter
To use the existing filter, this is what you do:
At the Brave browser, click the three short horizontal lines (aka Hamburger menu) at the top right hand corner.
A menu drops down, click "Settings".
Click "Shields" on the left side of the page.
At the Shields settings, make sure "Block scripts" setting is disabled (grey color).
It means to allow JavaScript.
Next click "Content filtering" on the right side bottom.
It opens a new page, at the Filter list, click the "Show full list" button.
It drops down further, and you can see "Bypass Paywalls Clean Filters".
Click the small box in front, and a white tick sign with the blue background appears.
Scroll down at the the end of the filter list, and click "Update lists".
As it finishes updating, it changes to "List updated".
That's all.
ii) Add custom filter
The second method is similar to what I have explained in #3 uBlock Origin extension.
You add the same custom filter to the Brave browser.
This is what you do:
Again go to "Settings", click "Shields", and make sure the "Block scripts" setting is disabled (grey color).
Then click "Content filtering".
Next go down to "Add custom filter lists".
Paste the same filter into the space provided.
Click the "Add" button, and you can see it under the "custom lists".
Now you are ready to access Bloomberg blocked articles for free.
How does it work: Again it is similar to # 2 and #3 above. It is using the Bypass Paywalls Clean by magnolia1234 to do the job.
5. Google search results
This is not a reliable, but a legit way to read Bloomberg articles for free, but it works.
You cannot find all the full articles in the Google search results.
They are just random articles and stories picked up by news aggregators sites, particularly Yahoo! Finance.
For instance, this article, "European Luxury Shares’ $240 Billion Rout Is Just the Beginning".
If you go to Bloomberg website, it is locked out.
But I copied out the article title and googled it.
Well, I found it in the Google search results page.
The full unblocked article was published in Yahoo Finance section and The Business Times.
6. User script
Some use the user script manager extension Tampermonkey and a Bloomberg Paywall Bypass user script.
This is how they do it:
1. Install Tempermonkey extension
Go to Tampermonkey extension at Chrome web Store.
Click "Add to Chrome" blue button.
This box pops up, click "Add extension".
After it has installed to your Chrome browser, its homepage pops up, telling you have successfully installed Tampermonkey extension.
Now pin the Tempermonkey icon (two round holes) to the toolbar (top right hand corner).
2. Get the user script
Go to Greasy Fork to find the user script called Bloomberg Paywall Bypass.
This one is still can get rid off Bloomberg paywall perfectly.
3. Install user script to Tempermonkey
Click "Install this script" button.
A page pops up called SCRIPT INSTALLATION and another one called Userscript installation.
Ignore the first one, go to the Userscript installation page, click the "Install" button, as shown below.
Now you have installed the Bloomberg Paywall Bypass user script to the Tampermonkey extension.
4. How to unlock Bloomberg paywalled article
Go to Bloomberg homepage, and you can see the Tampermonkey icon at the tool.
Click on it, a box pops up and you can see the Bloomberg Paywall Bypass user script installed in the Tampermonkey.
The toggle switch is in green color, which means it is enabled.
It means now you can get around the Bloomberg paywall, to access all its articles for free.
If you do not need it, you can click on the green color toggle switch, and it changes to gray color.
This is how to read Bloomberg articles for free with Tampermonkey extension.
How does it work this user script get past the paywall.
Basically, this user script doesn't remove the paywall.
Instead, it tricks the website's code into thinking you're already a subscriber, so the paywall never appears.
When the site checks the web address for subscription details (like mockSub or showPaywall), the script intercepts those checks.
It then pretends you have a Bloomberg subscription ('bbg') and tells the site not to show a paywall.
The script also "lies" about your subscription type when the website checks
if you're allowed to view content. If the website's code checks a list of your subscriptions, this script makes it always say "yes, you have the right subscription," even if you don't.
The script also directly injects fake subscription info into the website's memory.
It makes the site believe you have a "BBW" (Bloomberg Businessweek) subscription by forcing that data into the place where it stores your user details.
There is a part which is like giving the script a master key for all subscription locks.
It makes sure that whenever the website asks "Are they a subscriber?" for any specific type (like _isBBGSubscriber), the answer is always "yes."
This tells the website's core programming that you have full access.
There you are six ways to access The Bloomberg without having to subscribe.
NOTE: These methods may not involve direct hacking or unauthorized access, they can still violate anti-circumvention laws and terms of service. Consider using the legal and ethical ways to access paywalled web articles.
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DISCLAIMER: This post is for educational purposes only. It aims to help you better understand web technologies and digital security. It does not endorse breaking website rules or illegal activity. Use responsibly; the author is not liable for misuse or legal issues.