4 ms·

> which is great as a user, but horrible for monetization That's Reddit's fault, though. They don't include ads when a user uses the API.

by ihuman 6y ago

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
marpstar 6y ago
Even if they did, it'd be trivial for a developer to exclude the ads, and why wouldn't they? Obviously Reddit could try and enforce that via ToS, but even then they'd have to track offenders down and threaten them with revocation.
- ryanmerket 6y ago
  ...or meter their API requests until they comply.
- sumedh 6y ago
  Cant they use an API Key to track down offenders?
- willcipriano 6y ago
  Don't be so sure, a lot of Reddit content looks like product placement to me.
mcintyre1994 6y ago
If they did though, wouldn’t a third party client at least give the option to strip them out given their presence makes the app worse for most users?
- kristofferR 6y ago
  Reddit could then revoke the API keys easily.
newen 6y ago
A lot of top posts in the popular subs are ads anyway, and it's likely they are already monetizing those.
- likeafox 6y ago
  Like all social media / user generated platforms, paid promotion is constantly being passed as legitimate content in some shape or form - but there's not really any reason to believe that reddit capitalizes on that themselves. To look at how reddit is monetizing their platform, it seems straight forward to look at their advertiser page, and see how they try to pitch their ad platform. Paid promotions - which have become somewhat of a first party feature on Youtube for example -aren't discussed.
8organicbits 6y ago
I wonder how advertisers would feel about their ad showing up in arbitrary unofficial applications. I'd guess ads sent via API to be shown on unofficial apps would be less desirable than ads on the official app (which has known behaviors that reddit can document). Maybe the price would be lower or they'd only pay per click? Do any other APIs include ads to be shown to the end user? It's an interesting idea!
- kodah 6y ago
  At some point advertisers will need to accept they cannot have their cake and eat it too as we fly forward in technology progression. Plus, most of these objections are based on moralism which is bogus and misused in the first place. I could see companies putting ad data in an API and saying, "If this block shows up, you must show it in order to continue using this API for free; or pay." Seems fair to me.
- Apofis 6y ago
  You can control for that... "[ ] show ads on reddit third-party apps" and you can also allow advertisers to blacklist or whitelist third-party apps. You can even push a link through to a 5 second ad first if it's a video for example. There's plenty of ways to monetize.
- intricatedetail 6y ago
  I can't understand this view. Particularly when advertiser objects having their ad shown next to a questionable content. I can print something ugly and tape it next to my laptop screen and now all ads are showing next to something ugly. What's the difference if it is in an app?

> which is great as a user, but horrible for monetization That's Reddit's fault, though. They don't include ads when a user uses the API.

by ihuman 6y ago

> which is great as a user, but horrible for monetization That's Reddit's fault, though. They don't include ads when a user uses the API.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

marpstar 6y ago

Even if they did, it'd be trivial for a developer to exclude the ads, and why wouldn't they? Obviously Reddit could try and enforce that via ToS, but even then they'd have to track offenders down and threaten them with revocation.

ryanmerket 6y ago
...or meter their API requests until they comply.
sumedh 6y ago
Cant they use an API Key to track down offenders?
willcipriano 6y ago
Don't be so sure, a lot of Reddit content looks like product placement to me.

mcintyre1994 6y ago

If they did though, wouldn’t a third party client at least give the option to strip them out given their presence makes the app worse for most users?

kristofferR 6y ago
Reddit could then revoke the API keys easily.

newen 6y ago

A lot of top posts in the popular subs are ads anyway, and it's likely they are already monetizing those.

likeafox 6y ago
Like all social media / user generated platforms, paid promotion is constantly being passed as legitimate content in some shape or form - but there's not really any reason to believe that reddit capitalizes on that themselves. To look at how reddit is monetizing their platform, it seems straight forward to look at their advertiser page, and see how they try to pitch their ad platform. Paid promotions - which have become somewhat of a first party feature on Youtube for example -aren't discussed.

8organicbits 6y ago

I wonder how advertisers would feel about their ad showing up in arbitrary unofficial applications. I'd guess ads sent via API to be shown on unofficial apps would be less desirable than ads on the official app (which has known behaviors that reddit can document). Maybe the price would be lower or they'd only pay per click? Do any other APIs include ads to be shown to the end user? It's an interesting idea!

kodah 6y ago
At some point advertisers will need to accept they cannot have their cake and eat it too as we fly forward in technology progression. Plus, most of these objections are based on moralism which is bogus and misused in the first place. I could see companies putting ad data in an API and saying, "If this block shows up, you must show it in order to continue using this API for free; or pay." Seems fair to me.
Apofis 6y ago
You can control for that... "[ ] show ads on reddit third-party apps" and you can also allow advertisers to blacklist or whitelist third-party apps. You can even push a link through to a 5 second ad first if it's a video for example. There's plenty of ways to monetize.
intricatedetail 6y ago
I can't understand this view. Particularly when advertiser objects having their ad shown next to a questionable content. I can print something ugly and tape it next to my laptop screen and now all ads are showing next to something ugly. What's the difference if it is in an app?