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Reddit is spending $10k a month or something silly on servers, and asking for donations to be able to keep going. I wouldn't hold Reddit up as a shining exampl

by points 16y ago

Reddit is spending $10k a month or something silly on servers, and asking for donations to be able to keep going. I wouldn't hold Reddit up as a shining example of a success story just yet.

cynicalkane 16y ago
$10k per month is peanuts, considering how much money they could make if they knew how to monetize their site. It's pretty clear, from their pathetic advertising strategy and their mis-handling of "Reddit Gold", that they have no idea how to do it. OTOH they don't really have much of an incentive, since they are owned outright by Conde Nast.
- ahi 16y ago
  huh. All this time I've been assuming they're incompetent for not being able to monetize the site, without ever considering they might not have any intention to do so. A good ad strategy wouldn't see the reddit people any richer, but it would increase the risk of reddit implosion and the loss of their jobs. In this light the Reddit Gold strategy is brilliant. Reddit Gold gives them just enough revenue so they aren't a liability for Conde Nast, and Conde Nast can't fire them for not producing real ad revenue without cutting off the Reddit Gold revenue. That, or they really are idiots.
- iamelgringo 16y ago
  It's pretty clear, from their pathetic advertising strategy and their mis-handling of "Reddit Gold", that they have no idea how to do it. Having talked directly with the Reddits directly, it's a bit more complicated than that. The Reddit's hands are tied in a number of ways because of their relationship with Conde Nast. They are quite motivated to make the site profitable, but they have been busy managing the server farm and trying to manage the community with a hand full of guys for quite a while. Conde Nast didn't want them to hire any one else. IMHO, those guys deserve an insane amount of credit for keeping the site up and running rather than contempt because they haven't monetized properly.
scorpion032 16y ago
If you read the top comment of this thread, each of the top 20 digg users made ~10k a week or more for merely submitting to digg. Considering reddit has 7 times the traffic of digg (On the day of the digg debacle) and no data centers itself, the server charges are reasonable. In the words of Raldi, "You can run it in 2 servers, we know; but we are just not that good enough"
- points 16y ago
  It's a reasonable amount if they made anywhere near that in revenue. But I'm betting they don't.

by points 16y ago

Reddit is spending $10k a month or something silly on servers, and asking for donations to be able to keep going. I wouldn't hold Reddit up as a shining example of a success story just yet.

cynicalkane 16y ago

$10k per month is peanuts, considering how much money they could make if they knew how to monetize their site. It's pretty clear, from their pathetic advertising strategy and their mis-handling of "Reddit Gold", that they have no idea how to do it. OTOH they don't really have much of an incentive, since they are owned outright by Conde Nast.

ahi 16y ago
huh. All this time I've been assuming they're incompetent for not being able to monetize the site, without ever considering they might not have any intention to do so. A good ad strategy wouldn't see the reddit people any richer, but it would increase the risk of reddit implosion and the loss of their jobs. In this light the Reddit Gold strategy is brilliant. Reddit Gold gives them just enough revenue so they aren't a liability for Conde Nast, and Conde Nast can't fire them for not producing real ad revenue without cutting off the Reddit Gold revenue. That, or they really are idiots.
iamelgringo 16y ago
It's pretty clear, from their pathetic advertising strategy and their mis-handling of "Reddit Gold", that they have no idea how to do it. Having talked directly with the Reddits directly, it's a bit more complicated than that. The Reddit's hands are tied in a number of ways because of their relationship with Conde Nast. They are quite motivated to make the site profitable, but they have been busy managing the server farm and trying to manage the community with a hand full of guys for quite a while. Conde Nast didn't want them to hire any one else. IMHO, those guys deserve an insane amount of credit for keeping the site up and running rather than contempt because they haven't monetized properly.

scorpion032 16y ago

If you read the top comment of this thread, each of the top 20 digg users made ~10k a week or more for merely submitting to digg. Considering reddit has 7 times the traffic of digg (On the day of the digg debacle) and no data centers itself, the server charges are reasonable. In the words of Raldi, "You can run it in 2 servers, we know; but we are just not that good enough"

points 16y ago
It's a reasonable amount if they made anywhere near that in revenue. But I'm betting they don't.