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It's good that they're seeking ways to increase revenue, but this comes across as nearly cyber-begging. "...we can right now only offer you our undying gratitu

It's good that they're seeking ways to increase revenue, but this comes across as nearly cyber-begging. "...we can right now only offer you our undying gratitude and an optional trophy on your userpage." Yikes. What else could reddit offer for subscribers other than a png? Can reddit or similar platforms find a good way to generate revenue? Obviously ads and merchandise (t-shirts, etc) aren't doing it alone here.

fossuser 16y ago
I think they are generating revenue, just not enough for Conde Nast to increase their budget. This seems like a way for them to get extra money that they can personally use toward the site.
- axod 16y ago
  It seems likely they aren't actually making a profit yet. 4 engineers, servers, etc seem like they could be costing way more than a few ads bring in.
  - blhack 16y ago
    Doesn't digg have something like 40 full time employees?
    - axod 16y ago
      I thought it was even more than that at one point. But I think Digg went the "perpetual investment" route as a business model didn't they?
      - Super_Jambo 16y ago
        Definitely seen an article stating Digg had 70 employees.
- sethg 16y ago
  ...unless, of course, the Conde Nast “mother ship” sees the income figures from the reddit subscribers and says “Nice revenue stream. We’ll take it!”
EvilTrout 16y ago
There are tons of sites where people can (and do!) pay money for a simple PNG. I'd know: my web based MMO, Forumwarz is one. People can pay to buy some kinds of "E-Peen" which is our version of badges.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- famfam 16y ago
  Nice game. I logged in to play it a bit. I'd love to hear how the game is doing for you (e.g. paying for itself, ramen profitable, ferrari profitable). I'm actually in the middle of developing a browser based "MMO" myself right now. (Nothing deployed yet.)
  - EvilTrout 16y ago
    I worked on Forumwarz for about 3.5 years full time, although my salary was far from glamorous. I'd say I was eating a lot better than ramen though :) It was amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for anything, and I met so many amazing people and learned a lot, but eventually I realized that earning half of what I was capable of earning as a developer wasn't a good idea in the long term. I now maintain the site on a part time basis along with a half dozen volunteers. The site still pays its operating costs but there isn't too much left over. My goal is to run the site as long as possible, which is a lot more affordable now that it isn't doing 40M pageviews a month.
mdwrigh2 16y ago
They don't actually have merchandise that generates a profit. All of their merchandise is done through breadpig, where 100% of the profits go to a charity.
- city41 16y ago
  Although that is admirable, shouldn't they get themselves on solid financial footing before donating?
  - kn0thing 16y ago
    Sorry for the confusion here, but reddit's merch is produced by and for reddit's profit -- just sold via the same xkcd store as breadpig. I did run both (before leaving reddit) and only the profits of breadpig merch is donated.
    - mdwrigh2 16y ago
      Oh, interesting. Thanks for clearing that up. I think that could be made slightly clearer on the website, though as far as I'm concerned, supporting Reddit or supporting charities are both win situations, so it doesn't matter all that much.
stevelosh 16y ago
> Yikes. What else could reddit offer for subscribers other than a png? Isn't their code base open source? More money may mean less time spent fixing slowdowns and more time spent on the core code. If you're using their code for something of your own that could be one motivating factor.

fossuser 16y ago

I think they are generating revenue, just not enough for Conde Nast to increase their budget. This seems like a way for them to get extra money that they can personally use toward the site.

axod 16y ago
It seems likely they aren't actually making a profit yet. 4 engineers, servers, etc seem like they could be costing way more than a few ads bring in.
- blhack 16y ago
  Doesn't digg have something like 40 full time employees?
  - axod 16y ago
    I thought it was even more than that at one point. But I think Digg went the "perpetual investment" route as a business model didn't they?
    - Super_Jambo 16y ago
      Definitely seen an article stating Digg had 70 employees.
sethg 16y ago
...unless, of course, the Conde Nast “mother ship” sees the income figures from the reddit subscribers and says “Nice revenue stream. We’ll take it!”

EvilTrout 16y ago

There are tons of sites where people can (and do!) pay money for a simple PNG. I'd know: my web based MMO, Forumwarz is one. People can pay to buy some kinds of "E-Peen" which is our version of badges.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
famfam 16y ago
Nice game. I logged in to play it a bit. I'd love to hear how the game is doing for you (e.g. paying for itself, ramen profitable, ferrari profitable). I'm actually in the middle of developing a browser based "MMO" myself right now. (Nothing deployed yet.)
- EvilTrout 16y ago
  I worked on Forumwarz for about 3.5 years full time, although my salary was far from glamorous. I'd say I was eating a lot better than ramen though :) It was amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for anything, and I met so many amazing people and learned a lot, but eventually I realized that earning half of what I was capable of earning as a developer wasn't a good idea in the long term. I now maintain the site on a part time basis along with a half dozen volunteers. The site still pays its operating costs but there isn't too much left over. My goal is to run the site as long as possible, which is a lot more affordable now that it isn't doing 40M pageviews a month.

mdwrigh2 16y ago

They don't actually have merchandise that generates a profit. All of their merchandise is done through breadpig, where 100% of the profits go to a charity.

city41 16y ago
Although that is admirable, shouldn't they get themselves on solid financial footing before donating?
- kn0thing 16y ago
  Sorry for the confusion here, but reddit's merch is produced by and for reddit's profit -- just sold via the same xkcd store as breadpig. I did run both (before leaving reddit) and only the profits of breadpig merch is donated.
  - mdwrigh2 16y ago
    Oh, interesting. Thanks for clearing that up. I think that could be made slightly clearer on the website, though as far as I'm concerned, supporting Reddit or supporting charities are both win situations, so it doesn't matter all that much.

stevelosh 16y ago

> Yikes. What else could reddit offer for subscribers other than a png? Isn't their code base open source? More money may mean less time spent fixing slowdowns and more time spent on the core code. If you're using their code for something of your own that could be one motivating factor.