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Cutting off 3rd party apps isn't a cost cutting move. It has two clear benefits - firstly they can push users into the officially supported apps where ads can b
by SilverBirch 3y ago
Cutting off 3rd party apps isn't a cost cutting move. It has two clear benefits - firstly they can push users into the officially supported apps where ads can be shown in a more controlled fashion and metrics on those ads can be gathered. Second, it removes the ability for other companies to programmatically gather Reddit's data - this is important in the context of large language models where investors are convinced that the data sets to train the models will be valuable.
The reason reddit is hard to monetize is actually quite simple, they don't know much about their users so they can't do the high value targeting other companies do, and they have a site where it's very difficult to insert adverts in what looks like an organic way. It's easy to scroll past an advert on instagram and not realise it's an advert, it's visually consistent, on reddit it sticks out like a sore thumb so they get CPS rates of a 90s banner ad - because that's what they're selling.
- HansTheOne 3y agoI disagree with you, but especially the second part. Users advertise their interests by the subs they subscribe to, it would be very easy to target them. You could even go so far and let users up and downvote ads they think are relevant to them. The problem is more with the whole way reddit inc goes about how they interact with their users and power users. You shouldn't be openly hostile against your own users (except if you are the mods of askmen).
- SilverBirch 3y agoIt really fascinates me that people think Reddit is hostile to their users, because when you really look at it, aren't reddit's users incredibly hostile to reddit management? Like really if you look at it from the outside you have this community that does this incredibly nasty things and then every time management steps in to try and correct it the community goes into uproar. I'm not saying the management have handled it well, but the userbase is a complete dumpster fire.
- tyg13 3y agoWho was nasty first? Are you trying to say the community brought this API change upon itself?
- SilverBirch 3y agoI'm not saying that at all - this API change has to do with business, nothing to do with personal feelings. But I just think it's interesting people criticise the leadership of reddit but look at what the users of reddit have been up to over the years - /r/jailbait, the harassment of Ellen Pao, the fappening, FatPeopleHate, the Boston bombing vigilantes, Pizzagate. Like yeah, sure, Reddit has been a total fuck up of a business proposition, but that really is partly because the site has harbored some really disgusting stuff over the years and it's only extremely recently that the company has even started to try to steer away from that stuff - and when they do large portions of the company react extremely badly.
- ParetoOptimal 3y ago> but look at what the users of reddit have been up to over the years - /r/jailbait, t You mean the /r/jailbait subreddit current Reddit CEO Steve Huffman was a moderator of?
- mitchell209 3y agoTheir ads in the iOS app are formatted exactly like normal reddit posts. I’ve tapped on them by accident quite a few times in the last week. I’m going to assume the New Reddit experience is largely the same, but I’m not about to turn off my adblocker on PC to test that.
- reso 3y agoIt seems to me that Reddit knows about as much about its users as Twitter. Am I wrong?