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Its unfortunate for Reddit, they have been forced in between a rock and a hard place. They need to become profitable asap since the markets have dried up but u

Its unfortunate for Reddit, they have been forced in between a rock and a hard place. They need to become profitable asap since the markets have dried up but users have gotten so used to being subsidised.

fooster 3y ago
What does that have to do with the ridiculous api pricing or the lies about the Apollo dev?
- wmf 3y ago
  The API pricing is a way to force users to see ads.
  - bentcorner 3y ago
    They could, I dunno, send ads through the API. And sure, clients can still ignore the ads but as of a few weeks ago I think all the 3p clients would have been willing to play ball given the alternative world we're in right now.
- pc_edwin 3y ago
  Its not ridiculous though. Its 75% cheaper than the Twitter API pricing and the free tier is good enough for MVPs & experimentation.
realitythreek 3y ago
Unfortunate for.. Reddit? They’re immediately instituting pricing that will kill off the 3rd party apps. How does that help profits exactly? They could have given more notice, they could have started at a lower price point, they could have not lied and accused Apollo dev of extortion. This is their own fault and they’re refusing any self reflection as a company.
- nielsbot 3y ago
  I think, cynically, this will drive most users from apps to Reddit's own site/app where they can serve ads and do invasive tracking. So, long-term, Reddit gets what it wants. I doubt enough people care enough to stay off Reddit because Apollo is shut down. (I aways think about how the "nudie scanner" revolts fizzled to a whimper in the end--and how people now just put up with doing the perp stance and being mm wave scanned.) One way out would be for Reddit to enforce certain restrictions on 3rd party app, similar to Apple's App Store. "You must show ads", for example.
- satvikpendem 3y ago
  Third party apps don't show ads. The official app does. Therefore, if they funnel third party users to the official app, they can show more ads and make more money. You may not like it but that's the thinking they have.
- pc_edwin 3y ago
  It doesn't kill of 3rd party Apps, it just requires them to do a minimum amount of monetisation. The pricing is actually reasonable. 1/4the of Twitters price.
x86x87 3y ago
Poor Reddit. Doing exactly what they intended to do...
celsoazevedo 3y ago
They could make this a Premium feature, driving more people to Reddit Premium. Users would pay them directly and still get to enjoy 3rd party apps. It could even be used a "age verification" for their new NSFW rules. They could also continue to allow free access, but send ads (which on reddit look like posts) together with the content. Or even better, change their API terms so apps have to follow some guidelines and show ads to free users... and maybe give apps the option to pay for a clean API too? And of course, continue to offer and promote their own app, with all the ads and tracking they want to add. Instead they've picked the worse option for their users. They're killing 3rd party clients and tools used by moderators and communities. Apparently they've even lied about their talks with developers and accused one of blackmailing them... I understand the need to generate revenue, but they're not handling this well.
- pc_edwin 3y ago
  The pricing is actually reasonable, thats the annoying part. The free tier is good enough for tweaks and MVPs, this is the opposite of what Twitter did which effectively ended experimentation on their API. The paid tier is reasonable, $12k for 50 million requests (1/4th of twitter api) means Opollo will be paying $1.68 million a month. Thats entirely reasonable for such a popular Reddit app. This gets us back to the original point, users got used to subsidised pricing (free) so Reddit was inevitably gonna get blowback no matter how they spliced this. To put it in perspective, $1.68m is 168k users paying $10/m a month. They have 1.5m active monthly users. Thats means they only need 10% of their active users to be paying customers. P.S. Its not just a need to generate revenue, if they don't become profitable soon its game over for the current investors and management team. The IPO markets have dried up and nobody is touching anything series A and above. SV's darling Stripe had to cut their valuation by 50% to get some money, Reddit wont be able to get anything near that. The best they'll get is some private equity type deal (FATAL).

fooster 3y ago

What does that have to do with the ridiculous api pricing or the lies about the Apollo dev?

wmf 3y ago
The API pricing is a way to force users to see ads.
- bentcorner 3y ago
  They could, I dunno, send ads through the API. And sure, clients can still ignore the ads but as of a few weeks ago I think all the 3p clients would have been willing to play ball given the alternative world we're in right now.
pc_edwin 3y ago
Its not ridiculous though. Its 75% cheaper than the Twitter API pricing and the free tier is good enough for MVPs & experimentation.

realitythreek 3y ago

Unfortunate for.. Reddit? They’re immediately instituting pricing that will kill off the 3rd party apps. How does that help profits exactly? They could have given more notice, they could have started at a lower price point, they could have not lied and accused Apollo dev of extortion. This is their own fault and they’re refusing any self reflection as a company.

nielsbot 3y ago
I think, cynically, this will drive most users from apps to Reddit's own site/app where they can serve ads and do invasive tracking. So, long-term, Reddit gets what it wants. I doubt enough people care enough to stay off Reddit because Apollo is shut down. (I aways think about how the "nudie scanner" revolts fizzled to a whimper in the end--and how people now just put up with doing the perp stance and being mm wave scanned.) One way out would be for Reddit to enforce certain restrictions on 3rd party app, similar to Apple's App Store. "You must show ads", for example.
satvikpendem 3y ago
Third party apps don't show ads. The official app does. Therefore, if they funnel third party users to the official app, they can show more ads and make more money. You may not like it but that's the thinking they have.
pc_edwin 3y ago
It doesn't kill of 3rd party Apps, it just requires them to do a minimum amount of monetisation. The pricing is actually reasonable. 1/4the of Twitters price.

x86x87 3y ago

Poor Reddit. Doing exactly what they intended to do...

celsoazevedo 3y ago

They could make this a Premium feature, driving more people to Reddit Premium. Users would pay them directly and still get to enjoy 3rd party apps. It could even be used a "age verification" for their new NSFW rules. They could also continue to allow free access, but send ads (which on reddit look like posts) together with the content. Or even better, change their API terms so apps have to follow some guidelines and show ads to free users... and maybe give apps the option to pay for a clean API too? And of course, continue to offer and promote their own app, with all the ads and tracking they want to add. Instead they've picked the worse option for their users. They're killing 3rd party clients and tools used by moderators and communities. Apparently they've even lied about their talks with developers and accused one of blackmailing them... I understand the need to generate revenue, but they're not handling this well.

pc_edwin 3y ago
The pricing is actually reasonable, thats the annoying part. The free tier is good enough for tweaks and MVPs, this is the opposite of what Twitter did which effectively ended experimentation on their API. The paid tier is reasonable, $12k for 50 million requests (1/4th of twitter api) means Opollo will be paying $1.68 million a month. Thats entirely reasonable for such a popular Reddit app. This gets us back to the original point, users got used to subsidised pricing (free) so Reddit was inevitably gonna get blowback no matter how they spliced this. To put it in perspective, $1.68m is 168k users paying $10/m a month. They have 1.5m active monthly users. Thats means they only need 10% of their active users to be paying customers. P.S. Its not just a need to generate revenue, if they don't become profitable soon its game over for the current investors and management team. The IPO markets have dried up and nobody is touching anything series A and above. SV's darling Stripe had to cut their valuation by 50% to get some money, Reddit wont be able to get anything near that. The best they'll get is some private equity type deal (FATAL).