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Someday tech people will have to realize that there are some problems that can't be solved with a website. We already have several alternative means of distrib

Someday tech people will have to realize that there are some problems that can't be solved with a website. We already have several alternative means of distribution for content, and searching that content, that are quite mature and successful. There is a huge community of people hosting, indexing, searching, and sharing all kinds of media in a distributed peer-to-peer fashion, for instance, the vast majority of it just happens to be pirated. The real problem is that such distribution mechanisms are not a way to make money, and you aren't going to solve that with a new algorithm. People have tried, it doesn't work.

ghaff 6y ago
Yes. It's a solved problem from a technical perspective. However, as with individual blogs and websites, discoverability is fairly poor. And, in the case of video in particular, not only is individually hosted content not monetized in general (unless you're a subscription site of some sort or beg for donations), but it can actually be fairly expensive to do at scale. The issue is that many people aren't really looking for a way to host their videos; they're looking for someone to host their videos for free, with easy search, and to actually pay them money.
- asdff 6y ago
  It just goes back to considering who your target audience is in order to market your blog. There is no reason why niche blogs should lean on SEO/target ads, when they could more effectively just directly advertise in like minded niche placements and capture their desired base. If you have a website full of videos about car repair, buy ad space on vwvortex forums. You can't ever possibly know all the disparate secondary interests of your target audience (although FANGs are trying to model this), so stick with what you know, your niche.
Wohlf 6y ago
My thoughts exactly. And beyond just payment, the network effects are massive.

ghaff 6y ago

Yes. It's a solved problem from a technical perspective. However, as with individual blogs and websites, discoverability is fairly poor. And, in the case of video in particular, not only is individually hosted content not monetized in general (unless you're a subscription site of some sort or beg for donations), but it can actually be fairly expensive to do at scale. The issue is that many people aren't really looking for a way to host their videos; they're looking for someone to host their videos for free, with easy search, and to actually pay them money.

asdff 6y ago
It just goes back to considering who your target audience is in order to market your blog. There is no reason why niche blogs should lean on SEO/target ads, when they could more effectively just directly advertise in like minded niche placements and capture their desired base. If you have a website full of videos about car repair, buy ad space on vwvortex forums. You can't ever possibly know all the disparate secondary interests of your target audience (although FANGs are trying to model this), so stick with what you know, your niche.

Wohlf 6y ago

My thoughts exactly. And beyond just payment, the network effects are massive.