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Reddit raises $410M in new funding

nytimes.com

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Re: Reddit raises $410M in new funding

#311

Post by Havoc »

imnotreallynew wrote: post #202

Something that hasn’t been brought up in this thread is the massive problem Reddit has regarding large scale bot networks. Reddit allows for unlimited account creation and has extremely poor, if any, detection algorithms. Additionally, its trivial to stream and analyze the entirety of Reddit comments and posts in real time (check out PRAW if you like Python). Networks pushing COVID narratives and crypto frauds are pr…

> Additionally, its trivial to stream and analyze the entirety of Reddit comments and posts in real time (check out PRAW if you like Python).

Chunks of it. Don’t think praw and the api can do all live

Re: Reddit raises $410M in new funding

#312

Post by 1024core »

Reddit is on its way down. It's been overrun by power-tripping mods, and there's no way to appeal a perma-ban!

I've been banned from /r/india for just commenting on another sub (/r/chodi, which was recommended by the app itself!); banned from /r/worldnews for disagreeing with the herd.

The moment a decent, democratic discussion forum comes along, I'll jump ship to it.

Re: Reddit raises $410M in new funding

#313

Post by arthurcolle »

jasondigitized wrote: post #293

Why does Reddit need funding? Legitimate question. What are they going to spend this money on? A direct ad sales team? I would assume it takes a somewhat small engineering and DevOps team to keep it running. Is there a huge roadmap of features that requiring $100m in engineering?

Avocado toast, caramel macchiatos and AWS charges. Maybe legal costs too

Re: Reddit raises $410M in new funding

#314

Post by granshaw »

colinmhayes wrote: post #223
xkjkls wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also reddit itself gives a huge number of ways for advertisers to access the reddit audience without paying for it.

I think this is reddit's biggest issue. Astroturfing is more effective than advertising and it's cheaper too.

Astroturfing as in hopping into a group and creating a post promoting your product? Have you ever seen that actually work?

Almost every subreddit I see bans any kind of promotion and even posting of links.

Re: Reddit raises $410M in new funding

#315

Post by 55555 »

spfzero wrote: post #213
gruez wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Winning strategy for them might be to try and get more older users who don't care about ads so much and have lots of money Isn't the most sought-after demographic 18-35 because they have the most disposable income? Afterwards disposable income drops off because of kids and/or retirement.

That demographic is most sought-after by advertisers because it is the easiest to influence. The ads work better on them. For whatever reason, maybe just because they've seen more ads, older demographics are harder to reach.

This is absolutely not true. Setting aside product market fit, older demos are better, ideally conservative.

Re: Reddit raises $410M in new funding

#317

Post by Havoc »

dillondoyle wrote: post #258

Key line for me: "Reddit is also enhancing its video products with an eye toward more advertising." They are already moving videos to their awful self-hosted solution. Adding pre-roll definitely makes sense. If they can guarantee premium brands 0% play on porn....

Maybe they’ll fix video in the process too! Seems to work about 60% of the time. If it has ads in it the advertisers won’t find that acceptable

Re: Reddit raises $410M in new funding

#318

Post by vmception »

arsome wrote: post #273
vmception wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

to me, this seems like an opportunity for new advertisers that don't care about "their brand showing up next to porn" is there a market rational reason why this hasn't occurred, or are the primary places that happen to also have adult content just assuming advertisers won't use their platform sure, big fortune 500 ad spends are lucrative, but so is the aggregate of every single half baked idea that has to test the wa…

It made headlines not long ago when Just-Eat I believe was advertising on porn sites, so it's not an impossible ask... but marketers will want to play those campaigns very carefully. It wouldn't take much to accidentally end up next to revenge porn that makes the news or something.

> but marketers will want to play those campaigns very carefully. It wouldn't take much to accidentally end up next to revenge porn that makes the news or something.

Can you elaborate further? why is this the marketer's problem?

why isn't the ad campaigner completely agnostic on where the ad network sends it?

to me, it seems like widespread conjecture. out of the things I've seen people talk about boycotting a brand for, showing up in a banner on a porn site hasn't been one of them. People know how targeting works, their session and the ad networks.

is there a case study supporting marketer's skittishness?

Re: Reddit raises $410M in new funding

#319

Post by le-mark »

pageandrew wrote: post #224
ryandrake wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to say, there are plenty of subs for pedaling that kind of content, but looks like the major one, r/NoNewNormal was just quarantined (ironic) today, which is often the first step towards a total ban. Reddit's a private company, and if they don't want that kind of content on their site, shouldn't that be their choice?

The problem with the "private company" line that, yes, they're a private company, but censorship is definitely still bad! Free speech is a fundamentally protected right in the US. From the Founder's perspective, the greatest threat to that right was clearly and obviously government, because what other entity could possibly have that much reach into one's life? Up until the internet age, no one could imagine a private…

You post about free speech but appear to be quite ignorant about the topic. Example why is it considered a crime to yell “fire” in a crowded theater? Educate yourself and stop posting annoying banal rhetoric.

Re: Reddit raises $410M in new funding

#320

Post by missedthecue »

tootie wrote: post #186
initplus wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that they do not seem to be taking advantage of is how specialized many of their communities are. It seems primed for letting advertisers target to specific audiences, but as a user I don't really feel like the ads I get are targeted to what I read at all? Maybe I am uninformed but it seems like an advertising goldmine that hasn't been taken advantage of. If you are a PC components retailer, users of /r/bui…

I think the problem is that reddit culture is virulently anti-consumerist and throw a fit every time they see an ad. I'll bet they get terrible conversion rates.

This is true. I can easily burn through all my daily ad spend on Reddit at rates of between $0.50 and $1.00 CPMs. And the click through rates are awful.

On Facebook or Google, you've often got to spend at least $5-$10 per mille to be competitive in most verticals. $25 to $50 in some verticals like insurance. And it converts.

The reddit userbase just isn't as monetizable.

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