9 ms·

Pocket’s 30M Users Are Great for Publishers

110 points by cpeterso 8y ago

tonystubblebine 8y ago
Ok. How do you growth hack pocket now?
cam3ham 8y ago
pocket is long dead
78h321sadfh7z 8y ago
Pocket is a nice idea, but probably a poor substitute for Search Engine money. If it worked, Mozilla would publish real numbers. (The way Mozilla works nowadays, they would probably publish a blog post with an overly excited tone describing how Pocket saves the internet, destroys fake news and even averts climate change) Just like they don't publish real data anymore for Firefox absolute user numbers, which have gone downhill in recent years. The 75% number is meaningless without revenue numbers and an explanation what this 75% even pertains to. There shuold be around 100 Million Quantum users who have Pocket in their new-tab section. Finding a long-term strategy will be a challenge for Mozilla. Since the browser is losing more and more users, if they don't invent themselves completely new there will be no way to keep the revenue stable.
- dessant 8y ago
  It indeed seems like Mozilla does not publish user stats for Firefox, though detailed statistics for AMO are still available. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/statistics/addons_in_use/?last=365 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/statistics/addons_in_use/?l...
  - 78h321sadfh7z 8y ago
    When you look at the major Addons, usage is consistently going down. Mozilla pulled the plug for the user raw data after this blog post: https://andreasgal.com/2017/07/19/firefox-marketshare-revisited/ https://andreasgal.com/2017/07/19/firefox-marketshare-revisi...
krn 8y ago
> Pocket is also experimenting with personalizing recommendations for certain users based partly on each person’s Firefox browsing history. Why does an open-source web browser have a proprietary cloud synchronization service installed by default? EDIT: I know that Pocket is owned by Mozilla. It doesn't change anything.
- infinityplus1 8y ago
  Pocket is owned by Mozilla.
  - wildrhythms 8y ago
    Pocket is proprietary and owned by Mozilla.
    - zaarn 8y ago
      The client side is fully open sourced and to my knowledge there is work ongoing to opensource the server too.
- wodenokoto 8y ago
  Mozilla owns pocket.
  - mort96 8y ago
    Yeah, it's Mozilla's proprietary cloud synchronization service.
    - zaarn 8y ago
      Cloud Sync is not proprietary, you can run your own with all functionality that Mozilla's provides, the code is on Github.
      - mort96 8y ago
CharlesW 8y ago
> Pocket is, however, sending almost 75 percent more traffic to Parse.ly’s publisher network than it was at the start of 2018. That's meaningless without knowing what percentage of traffic Pocket represents to Parse.ly. Did it go from (for example) 5% to 8.75%? Or 0.1% to 0.175%?
AJRF 8y ago
I recently moved from Pocket to Instapaper because of the way Pocket seems to be adding all these things to get in your way. I dislike Instapaper too because of the whole GDPR thing. I should engineer a solution I like, but could do with some help generating text from the articles. What is the best way of doing that? Something like Mozilla Fathom?
- heinrichf 8y ago
  https://github.com/mozilla/readability https://github.com/mozilla/readability (that powers Firefox's reading mode) https://github.com/buriy/python-readability https://github.com/buriy/python-readability https://github.com/goose3/goose3 https://github.com/goose3/goose3 https://github.com/codelucas/newspaper https://github.com/codelucas/newspaper For a complete solution, you can also look at Wallabag, which can be self-hosted.
  - AJRF 8y ago
    Thanks, I threw together a little nodejs+express API using Readability and wow its very powerful
durpleDrank 8y ago
I recently switched from Pocket to Instapaper. Instapaper is more stable without a doubt. When I used the pocket app on my phone, MULTIPLE PHONES/TABLETS (at least 5), I would get stuck in home screen loops that I was unable to exit out of without rebooting. I tried contacting their support but they were not effective. When it works, it was my favorite app. I got top %5 reader awards from them 3 years in a row. I would have gladly paid for a premium edition but their lack of support, victim blaming, and passive aggressive responses to features I suggested left me with a bad taste in my mouth. So far, Instapaper is everything I was hoping pocket to be. The text to speech feature actually works, it's stable, and the interface is much cleaner and easier to use. I don't usually write yelp tier reviews like this on HN but I figured I would express myself just in case someone has the same sentiment as me (they should immediately switch to Instapaper). It is night and day in terms of quality.
- subpixel 8y ago
  If, like Instapaper, Pocket strips out publisher ads and gives you a pleasant reading experience, why would publishers pay a fee for Pocket to promote articles? If Pocket doesn’t strip publisher ads and give you a pleasant reading experience, why use Pocket?
thinkpad20 8y ago
Not having read the article, I’ll just chime in and say anecdotally that since I use Firefox on my iPhone I’ve clicked on numerous Pocket articles suggested on the new tab screen. Even though they only show two suggestions at a time, they tend to be really interesting reads and fit in well with my interests. Clearly they have a good algorithm.
Simulacra 8y ago
I live on Pocket and absolutely love the service.
data4lyfe 8y ago
Pocket is one of my most used apps on my iPhone. It's fantastic, simple, and best of all truly an app I believe the more time I put into it, the better I feel about how I've used my time, which I can't say for a lot of the social media and game apps that are out there today.
paulie_a 8y ago
I assume I am is considered a user.. but I quite frankly haven't used it 2 years. That 30 million is probably grossely exaggerated.
confounded 8y ago
I see why Mozilla want to do this sort of thing, and I also understand why lots of people like it. But I do wish Mozilla would make a version of Firefox available for people that just want a fully-FOSS browser. The efforts of various GNU+Linux distributions to do this (Icecat, Abrowser) are fantastic, but ultimately it’s too difficult for me to judge how quickly they can act on security issues to feel comfortable using them. I’d have no problem sending telemetry data back if I could get a browser binary with Widevine DRM, Pocket etc. completely removed. I’d also be more inclined to send Mozilla cold hard cash.
naner 8y ago
Odd that people have privacy issues with Pocket but not embedding a search engine in the awesome bar. At the end of the day Mozilla has to pay the bills and Pocket looks like an unoffensive way to do so.
- phobosdeimos 8y ago
  I do. I removed all the integrated search engines from FF. You are right, Mozilla needs to pay the bills. I accept that and don't hold a grudge. But they are not getting anything from me. I use FF to get away from the internet business model.

110 points by cpeterso 8y ago

tonystubblebine 8y ago

Ok. How do you growth hack pocket now?

cam3ham 8y ago

pocket is long dead

78h321sadfh7z 8y ago

Pocket is a nice idea, but probably a poor substitute for Search Engine money. If it worked, Mozilla would publish real numbers. (The way Mozilla works nowadays, they would probably publish a blog post with an overly excited tone describing how Pocket saves the internet, destroys fake news and even averts climate change) Just like they don't publish real data anymore for Firefox absolute user numbers, which have gone downhill in recent years. The 75% number is meaningless without revenue numbers and an explanation what this 75% even pertains to. There shuold be around 100 Million Quantum users who have Pocket in their new-tab section. Finding a long-term strategy will be a challenge for Mozilla. Since the browser is losing more and more users, if they don't invent themselves completely new there will be no way to keep the revenue stable.

dessant 8y ago
It indeed seems like Mozilla does not publish user stats for Firefox, though detailed statistics for AMO are still available. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/statistics/addons_in_use/?last=365 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/statistics/addons_in_use/?l...
- 78h321sadfh7z 8y ago
  When you look at the major Addons, usage is consistently going down. Mozilla pulled the plug for the user raw data after this blog post: https://andreasgal.com/2017/07/19/firefox-marketshare-revisited/ https://andreasgal.com/2017/07/19/firefox-marketshare-revisi...

krn 8y ago

> Pocket is also experimenting with personalizing recommendations for certain users based partly on each person’s Firefox browsing history. Why does an open-source web browser have a proprietary cloud synchronization service installed by default? EDIT: I know that Pocket is owned by Mozilla. It doesn't change anything.

infinityplus1 8y ago
Pocket is owned by Mozilla.
- wildrhythms 8y ago
  Pocket is proprietary and owned by Mozilla.
  - zaarn 8y ago
    The client side is fully open sourced and to my knowledge there is work ongoing to opensource the server too.
wodenokoto 8y ago
Mozilla owns pocket.
- mort96 8y ago
  Yeah, it's Mozilla's proprietary cloud synchronization service.
  - zaarn 8y ago
    Cloud Sync is not proprietary, you can run your own with all functionality that Mozilla's provides, the code is on Github.
    - mort96 8y ago

CharlesW 8y ago

> Pocket is, however, sending almost 75 percent more traffic to Parse.ly’s publisher network than it was at the start of 2018. That's meaningless without knowing what percentage of traffic Pocket represents to Parse.ly. Did it go from (for example) 5% to 8.75%? Or 0.1% to 0.175%?

AJRF 8y ago

I recently moved from Pocket to Instapaper because of the way Pocket seems to be adding all these things to get in your way. I dislike Instapaper too because of the whole GDPR thing. I should engineer a solution I like, but could do with some help generating text from the articles. What is the best way of doing that? Something like Mozilla Fathom?

heinrichf 8y ago
https://github.com/mozilla/readability https://github.com/mozilla/readability (that powers Firefox's reading mode) https://github.com/buriy/python-readability https://github.com/buriy/python-readability https://github.com/goose3/goose3 https://github.com/goose3/goose3 https://github.com/codelucas/newspaper https://github.com/codelucas/newspaper For a complete solution, you can also look at Wallabag, which can be self-hosted.
- AJRF 8y ago
  Thanks, I threw together a little nodejs+express API using Readability and wow its very powerful

durpleDrank 8y ago

I recently switched from Pocket to Instapaper. Instapaper is more stable without a doubt. When I used the pocket app on my phone, MULTIPLE PHONES/TABLETS (at least 5), I would get stuck in home screen loops that I was unable to exit out of without rebooting. I tried contacting their support but they were not effective. When it works, it was my favorite app. I got top %5 reader awards from them 3 years in a row. I would have gladly paid for a premium edition but their lack of support, victim blaming, and passive aggressive responses to features I suggested left me with a bad taste in my mouth. So far, Instapaper is everything I was hoping pocket to be. The text to speech feature actually works, it's stable, and the interface is much cleaner and easier to use. I don't usually write yelp tier reviews like this on HN but I figured I would express myself just in case someone has the same sentiment as me (they should immediately switch to Instapaper). It is night and day in terms of quality.

subpixel 8y ago
If, like Instapaper, Pocket strips out publisher ads and gives you a pleasant reading experience, why would publishers pay a fee for Pocket to promote articles? If Pocket doesn’t strip publisher ads and give you a pleasant reading experience, why use Pocket?

thinkpad20 8y ago

Not having read the article, I’ll just chime in and say anecdotally that since I use Firefox on my iPhone I’ve clicked on numerous Pocket articles suggested on the new tab screen. Even though they only show two suggestions at a time, they tend to be really interesting reads and fit in well with my interests. Clearly they have a good algorithm.

Simulacra 8y ago

I live on Pocket and absolutely love the service.

data4lyfe 8y ago

Pocket is one of my most used apps on my iPhone. It's fantastic, simple, and best of all truly an app I believe the more time I put into it, the better I feel about how I've used my time, which I can't say for a lot of the social media and game apps that are out there today.

paulie_a 8y ago

I assume I am is considered a user.. but I quite frankly haven't used it 2 years. That 30 million is probably grossely exaggerated.

confounded 8y ago

I see why Mozilla want to do this sort of thing, and I also understand why lots of people like it. But I do wish Mozilla would make a version of Firefox available for people that just want a fully-FOSS browser. The efforts of various GNU+Linux distributions to do this (Icecat, Abrowser) are fantastic, but ultimately it’s too difficult for me to judge how quickly they can act on security issues to feel comfortable using them. I’d have no problem sending telemetry data back if I could get a browser binary with Widevine DRM, Pocket etc. completely removed. I’d also be more inclined to send Mozilla cold hard cash.

naner 8y ago

Odd that people have privacy issues with Pocket but not embedding a search engine in the awesome bar. At the end of the day Mozilla has to pay the bills and Pocket looks like an unoffensive way to do so.

phobosdeimos 8y ago
I do. I removed all the integrated search engines from FF. You are right, Mozilla needs to pay the bills. I accept that and don't hold a grudge. But they are not getting anything from me. I use FF to get away from the internet business model.