How many people might have purchased the whole magazine if they couldn't just read the Wacky article online for free? People interested in just the Wacky article who purchased the mag itself would then have been exposed to some other card sets, and maybe even have subscribed to NSU. I don't see how "It's the internet!" makes it good for their business when they're publishing a magazine, and the internet makes it possible for people to read their magazine content without paying them a cent.
I might be an example of why. Being a relative newcomer to serious non-sports card collecting (I owned Wacky's since the original 1st series but only collected as a kid who liked them, not as a serious collector), I had never heard of NSU magazine.
For me, I would never have even known they existed until I read this article and thus now I am: (a) exposed to their magazine; (b) exposed to the content of their magazine via the article. This would make me more likely to search it out and buy it in the future (theoretically).
In reality, I would be unlikely to but their magazine to read one article and would be just as likely to look for a copy in the library, which is also free for me.