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Ultimately how do you expect the websites to fund? There's a few options a) tracker based ads from a network, b) contextual ads based on the content, c) paywall
by rtkwe 7y ago
Ultimately how do you expect the websites to fund? There's a few options a) tracker based ads from a network, b) contextual ads based on the content, c) paywall, d) patreon style where a core of dedicated fans get some additional content or inside info and the rest is put out for free, e) authors pay to post (for some reason?) or f) some kind of attention coin or just crypto mining on visitors browsers. Only (a) really starts getting you money from day one, even if you are willing to lose readers with some sort of pay gate [0] there's still the initial stage where you're not making much because you don't have an audience. Websites need some way to make money.
[0] And just look at the HN comments for any NYT or WSJ article to see how well that goes over even with people who complain about ad trackers and privacy.
- squiggleblaz 7y ago> Ultimately how do you expect the websites to fund? Out of the joy of amateur and professional contribution to the community. It used to work...
- rtkwe 7y agoThat's basically the patreon/authors pay model and doesn't work for anything actually trying to run a business or make money using a website. Also it's kind of limited in scale because eventually hosting costs are going to catch up to a point individuals are able to pay unless the community is very small or you're only hosting text. I get the nostalgia for the pre Endless September internet but the cats out of the bag on that pretty much. There's some small efforts to remake it with peer hosting and federated networks like Peertube or Mastodon but they'd crumble if they got as popular as the Youtube or Twitter they want to replace.