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I presume that going dark means that there will be less traffic on the site, which ostensibly would put pressure on the ad revenue. How long would this have to

I presume that going dark means that there will be less traffic on the site, which ostensibly would put pressure on the ad revenue. How long would this have to go on before it was a noticeable effect on read its balance sheet?

beezlewax 3y ago
I can't imagine it will have any noticeable effect on their ad revenue. We are talking about a handful of subs out of thousands.
- dvngnt_ 3y ago
  well over 100 million users in all sureddits
- Mindwipe 3y ago
  Ehh, subs aren't equal, and there are a notable amount of top 1% subs here that will have much bigger effect than others.
- jahlove 3y ago
  We're talking about over 1,000 subreddits (and growing rapidly), including some of the very largest (~6 of the top 10, such as /r/pics, /r/aww, and /r/videos). It will almost certainly have a noticeable effect, especially if many of these subreddits decide to hold the blackout indefinitely.
pier25 3y ago
I think the biggest effect will be in terms of PR. Reddit will IPO soon and if the blackout happens the protest will make it to mainstream media.
Aaargh20318 3y ago
I don’t think the ad revenue for these two days is the important bit here. Reddit wants to IPO later this year and this protest highlights a very real existential risk behind Reddit’s business model. Reddit is entirely dependent on a large number of unpaid volunteers to moderate their site. Without moderation the site will turn into a cesspool of spam and other unsavory content. No brand is going to want to put their adds next to that. The problem is that unpaid volunteer have no obligations towards Reddit. They aren’t employees so you can’t fire them, they aren’t depending on Reddit for their livelihood and you can’t easily replace them (you’d have to find another sucker to provide free labor for you). They certainly can’t afford to hire enough people to replace the volunteer moderators. So Reddit is now pissing off the very group of people they depend on for their existence, a group of people that can walk away from Reddit with zero consequences. They have shown time and again to not care about the people they need the most to remain in business. They are one dumb-ass move by the admins away from going belly up. Does this company sound like a good investment opportunity to you ?

beezlewax 3y ago

I can't imagine it will have any noticeable effect on their ad revenue. We are talking about a handful of subs out of thousands.

dvngnt_ 3y ago
well over 100 million users in all sureddits
Mindwipe 3y ago
Ehh, subs aren't equal, and there are a notable amount of top 1% subs here that will have much bigger effect than others.
jahlove 3y ago
We're talking about over 1,000 subreddits (and growing rapidly), including some of the very largest (~6 of the top 10, such as /r/pics, /r/aww, and /r/videos). It will almost certainly have a noticeable effect, especially if many of these subreddits decide to hold the blackout indefinitely.

pier25 3y ago

I think the biggest effect will be in terms of PR. Reddit will IPO soon and if the blackout happens the protest will make it to mainstream media.

Aaargh20318 3y ago

I don’t think the ad revenue for these two days is the important bit here. Reddit wants to IPO later this year and this protest highlights a very real existential risk behind Reddit’s business model. Reddit is entirely dependent on a large number of unpaid volunteers to moderate their site. Without moderation the site will turn into a cesspool of spam and other unsavory content. No brand is going to want to put their adds next to that. The problem is that unpaid volunteer have no obligations towards Reddit. They aren’t employees so you can’t fire them, they aren’t depending on Reddit for their livelihood and you can’t easily replace them (you’d have to find another sucker to provide free labor for you). They certainly can’t afford to hire enough people to replace the volunteer moderators. So Reddit is now pissing off the very group of people they depend on for their existence, a group of people that can walk away from Reddit with zero consequences. They have shown time and again to not care about the people they need the most to remain in business. They are one dumb-ass move by the admins away from going belly up. Does this company sound like a good investment opportunity to you ?