Scribd launches new unlimited plan

Scribd has recently revealed that it is planning to resurrect (of sorts) an unlimited plan that gives its subscribers unrestricted access to e-books, audio books, news sources, magazines, documents, and even sheet music. But interested parties need to be aware that it certain occasions, downloading and streaming may be capped. Still, the new unlimited plan should deliver some added excitement to customers, especially those who find the previous option’s three e-books and one audio book per month limit a little too stifling for comfort (as any bookworm would agree). 

In a recent article published by Fast Company, Scribd had made the decision to do away with the unlimited plan after it found out that a small percentage of its subscriber base were making the most of the unlimited access, rather unfairly -- for example, by reading hundreds of titles in any given month. 

In its announcement, Scribd also took the opportunity to reassure its current subscribers that there will no significant change with regards to their overall browsing experience. However, the company notes that the Scribd Selects catalog has been removed, as well as the unlimited toggle previously found in search filters.

Scribd also mentioned that with its new unlimited plan, it will offer catalogs that are continuously rotating, thereby eliminating the need to utilize Monthly Credits in order to enjoy full access. As for those who will find themselves seeing only a preview of a certain title, he or she should also be able to be provided with a notification that contains information on when that same title will be made accessible.

Scribd has had an interesting history. It was launched more than a decade ago as a PDF hosting firm, and then after five years, it morphed into a service provider that offers monthly subscriptions for access to e-books. Of course, the next few years would see the company broaden its catalog in order to include audio books, magazines, newspapers, and sheet music (some time this year, it is targeting to starting offering podcasts). 

The firm was not immune to miscalculations. More than six years ago, it launched the Float newspaper app, which never really took off. And even though it started offering comic books back in 2015, it had to stop doing so a couple of years later because it could not attract enough customers to pay for comic book access. But as evidenced by the launch of a new unlimited plan, the show is going on for Scribd, and bookworms everywhere sure are glad.