Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing • Hacker News Board

Re: Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing

#391

Post by delecti » Wed, May 31, 2023, 9:01 PM UTC

martin8412 wrote: post #47

RhodesianHunter wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reddit has seemed rudderless for a long time. Their ads platform is damned near useless compared to their competitors. It's a wonder they have any revenue at all. Their moderation is wildly broken, frequently leading to blanket account bans of anyone participating in a thread close to content deemed inappropriate.

A lot of subreddits blanket ban you if you've posted in other subreddits that the mods don't like.

Not to victim-blame, but which subreddits? I pop into new subreddits from time to time, and I don't know that I've ever been banned from a subreddit in my accounts 14+ year history. I'm also less sympathetic if the bans were because you posted somewhere like the_donald (I can't think of a more timely controversial sub) vs somewhere innocuous like r/gaming or r/technology.

Re: Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing

#392

Post by Shakahs » Wed, May 31, 2023, 9:01 PM UTC

kaszanka wrote: post #366

I wonder if the official smartphone app uses the same API as the one exposed and documented for third-party apps. It's my understanding that it does not because the unofficial app I use (reddit is fun) lacks some features, so just borrowing the official app's key and putting it in RiF is out, but surely it would be possible to adapt a FOSS app like Slide to quack like the Blessed Official App and let the arms race be…

Yeah, API arms race is definitely the next step. I’ll put up with reduced functionality or just stop using Reddit on mobile.

Worst case scenario is just web scraping Reddit and serving up to 3rd party clients as read only.

Re: Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing

#393

Post by superfrank » Wed, May 31, 2023, 9:02 PM UTC

api_or_ipa wrote: post #346

The reality is that Apollo doesn't serve intrusive ads, and thus, every user using Apollo instead of their own first party apps is lost revenue. Unfortunately, reddit is in that late stage monetization step where they need to prove they are capable of big revenue to justify a high IPO share price. One can only hope there'll be a watershed moment like the one that killed Digg. So far, reddit has been very careful rais…

> One can only hope there'll be a watershed moment like the one that killed Digg.

I think a critical part of the Digg exodus was that most people already saw Reddit as a clear #2 in the space. When Digg fucked up, there was an obvious place for everyone to migrate to. I don't see that right now. Facebook isn't cool anymore, Twitter has a large number of people who won't use it because of Elon, Mastodon isn't mature enough to gain casual users.

Bascially, the problem I see is that if people leave reddit, there isn't an obvious place for them to go? TikTok maybe? I just don't see an Pepsi to Reddit's Coke.

Re: Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing

#394

Post by eshack94 » Wed, May 31, 2023, 9:04 PM UTC

racl101 wrote: post #174

Yeah, I'm out. I'm not using Reddit on its own app nor the browser. The app is huge and clunky. The browser is turtle slow. Neither gives me the granularity that Apollo gives me. The swipe controls are slick and so are the filters. If I can't consume it with Apollo then it ain't worth it to me. And I already paid for the app. I refuse to pay more for something that is not a necessity. Apollo would have to become a su…

Just because one can afford it doesn't mean they should. Consumers must send a clear message to these companies that continue to price gouge with nonsense policies, and deciding not to spend money on their services sends the loudest message.

I'm of the exact same opinion as you. Too many services trying to leech too much $$$ from the consumer right now. With inflation and other essential living expenses as high as they are, cutting these other "nice-to-have" services is a no-brainer.

To each their own of course, but I hope more people (even folks with the financial means) will choose to vote with their wallets, because some of these policies are quite frankly getting out of hand.

Re: Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing

#395

Post by SpaceManNabs » Wed, May 31, 2023, 9:05 PM UTC

RIF (android) / apollo (iphone) are the only reasons reddit is usable on mobile since the official apps and new web view are absolutely terrible lol. If reddit kills the viewing experience, i can finally get off that site.

The reddit api is also essential because reddit offers so little functionality. I have used my own bots before to search my own comments and delete my own content en masse.

Re: Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing

#396

Post by nawgz » Wed, May 31, 2023, 9:05 PM UTC

dontreact wrote: post #326

hendersoon wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They priced the API for LLM training and killing third-party apps is just a great bonus. If they wanted to retain third-party apps while protecting their revenue stream they could have simply created a new free API including all the ads. They deliberately chose to kill these apps.

Why wouldn’t people then just scrape using the free API?

Most users are not technical

Most technical users are still happy to use a GUI over writing their own scraper / visualizer

Re: Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing

#397

Post by annexrichmond » Wed, May 31, 2023, 9:06 PM UTC

yojo wrote: post #248

Lx1oG-AWb6h_ZG0 wrote: post #13

Their pricing is just absurd. Reddit's official app and webpage is garbage, and instead of working with amazing developers like Christian to add whatever functionality they need to increase their revenue, they're doubling down on bad decisions and alienating their users. Pure hubris... they've forgotten their own history and why the Digg exodus happened. Seriously, _what_ are they gaining by eliminating access to thi…

Facebook's average revenue per user (ARPU) is ~$10/quarter[0], and 6x that in the US. Which is honestly kind of stunning. Reddit is presumably much less than that, but they might be reasonably gunning for a number better than Pinterest, with an ARPU of ~$1.50[1]. To put the pricing post into the same context, we're talking $7.50 per Apollo user/quarter, which is closer to what Facebook makes per user than Pinterest.…

I had the same thoughts, that Reddit's reasons must stem from opportunity cost.

The Apollo developer does however address this in his post and he claims that Reddit's ARPU is only $0.36/quarter. Reddit has likely been doubling down their efforts on Ad Targeting, etc and perhaps forecasts much higher.

Christian's reddit post only addresses ads though, but Reddit has been trying to diversify and create multiple products and revenue streams. They have gold for purchase and if I recall they were trying to launch some Clubhouse-esque product. Point is, it's hard to push any of these things if so many users are on 3rd party clients that don't support such features.

Re: Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing

#398

Post by eshack94 » Wed, May 31, 2023, 9:06 PM UTC

alvarezbjm-hn wrote: post #324

activiation wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Old.reddit.com isn't too bad

Another option is firefox with ublock origin. Reddit subscription is $60 a year. That removes ads.

Imagine paying $60 to remove ads from Reddit. In what possible world would that seem like an investment worth making?

Re: Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing

#399

Post by theturtletalks » Wed, May 31, 2023, 9:06 PM UTC

IAmGraydon wrote: post #343

Without a doubt, this is another step in Reddit's demise. It will really go into freefall when they go public later this year, after which I'm certain you'll start seeing more intrusive monetization. The window just opened for someone to develop the replacement. It will rip itself apart over the next few years and all 52 million users will be looking for a new home. Reddit's product is authenticity. Monetization is t…

Apollo needs to go open-source and pivot into a feeder app that connects to Reddit, Twitter, Substack, RSS feeds, etc. Allow users to connect their keys and pay the API themselves. Think of that as the subscription. The Apollo UI is killer and can make other social apps better.

Once the new app is being used by power users paying for their own usage, Apollo builds a Reddit alternative. It will fit into the feeder app just like the rest.

Re: Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing

#400

Post by consumer451 » Wed, May 31, 2023, 9:07 PM UTC

busymom0 wrote: post #322

consumer451 wrote: post #249

Can someone give me a couple reasons why it does not make sense to buy Apollo out, and make it the default iOS app? It is currently maintained by one excellent developer, is featured by the Apple App Store for design... what's the downside?

First, they will kill Apollo by squeezing it out of API costs. Once it's dead, they will buy it for cheap.

After I hit the add comment button to post the question, this was one of my thoughts. Giving an API price like that is an instant devaluation of every 3rd party Reddit app.