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People need to understand this. If an app or service is free and some combination of: (a) At all expensive to run. (b) Funded by investors who demand a return
by api 12y ago
People need to understand this. If an app or service is free and some combination of:
(a) At all expensive to run.
(b) Funded by investors who demand a return.
(c) Has no visible means of direct revenue.
... then you REALLY need to ask the following question immediately before deciding to use it or what to entrust it with:
"How is it monetizing me?"
If you see an app or service like this, you are the product. It's either tracking you, spying on you, selling your data, somehow targeting you for advertising, or doing something else of a similar nature.
- eevilspock 12y agoSome think it's a fair trade for a "free" product. But the truth is it is not free, and in fact way more expensive: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8458522 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8458522
- Zigurd 12y agoThis isn't as axiomatic as you might think. Eyeballs count more than revenue in many cases, and can carry some ventures all the way through to liquidity with no profit on the horizon. This is especially true in messaging apps where building a network effect is a far higher priority than profit.