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First two paragraphs from referenced comment: We ran offers like this back in 2005 for a very short period of time at HOTorNOT, that is until we realized what

First two paragraphs from referenced comment: We ran offers like this back in 2005 for a very short period of time at HOTorNOT, that is until we realized what was going on. In a nutshell, the offers that monetize the best are the ones that scam/trick users. Sure we had netflix ads show up, and clearly those do convert to some degree, but i’m pretty sure most of the money ended up getting our users hooked into auto-recurring SMS subscriptions for horoscopes and stuff. When I hear people defending their directory of deals by saying Netflix is in there, i am reminded of how hotel pay-per-view has non-pornographic movies. Sure it gives them good cover, but we all know where the money is made. In the end, we decided to turn the offers off. Quite frankly, the offers made us feel dirty, and pretty much on the same level as spammers. For us, the money just wasn’t worth it. On top of that, we relied on our goodwill with users and focused on growing by having a product and company that our users liked. Our sense was that using scammy offers would make good money in the short run, but would destroy our userbase in the end. Perhaps apps on facebook don’t feel this pressure because facebook is so huge, and there are always new people to burn.

fnid 17y ago
The difference is that Facebook has to please the investors, rather than the users. The investors want revenue and they want a good exit. They will be increasingly upset if that exit never comes or it is at a lower valuation than they want.
- jbellis 17y ago
  This is talking about third party apps, not facebook itself.
  - gwern 17y ago
    Wasn't a major point of the article that Facebook is making a lot off the third party apps?
- dschobel 17y ago
  Well, the one thing the offerpal ceo said which made sense was that user experience is a top priority for facebook. After all, this is what let it blow MySpace out of the water. It doesn't mean her company isn't treading on the edge of the fb guidelines, but she basically said that when push comes to shove and enough people complain, fb will do what's right by it's users even if it means losing the short-term ad revenue. Ultimately, the health and trust-worthiness of its platform is paramount to fb ever capitalizing on its astronomical valuation.

fnid 17y ago

The difference is that Facebook has to please the investors, rather than the users. The investors want revenue and they want a good exit. They will be increasingly upset if that exit never comes or it is at a lower valuation than they want.

jbellis 17y ago
This is talking about third party apps, not facebook itself.
- gwern 17y ago
  Wasn't a major point of the article that Facebook is making a lot off the third party apps?
dschobel 17y ago
Well, the one thing the offerpal ceo said which made sense was that user experience is a top priority for facebook. After all, this is what let it blow MySpace out of the water. It doesn't mean her company isn't treading on the edge of the fb guidelines, but she basically said that when push comes to shove and enough people complain, fb will do what's right by it's users even if it means losing the short-term ad revenue. Ultimately, the health and trust-worthiness of its platform is paramount to fb ever capitalizing on its astronomical valuation.