To an extend I understand the lost ad revenue for the 3rd party apps. But it seems like there's a different solution, like requiring apps using the api to either pass through the ads or pay a per user fee, allowing for app users to get all the features they want for free and pay som small monthly subscription to remove the ads...
make third party apps available to Reddit Gold subscribers, implement reasonable api feeds, etc.
There were a lot of solutions to this, however the real money is probably in the Reddit app harvesting user data that they could resell to advertising companies
I would have not liked this but it would have been understandable and OK. $5 a month for something I got so much use out of is peanuts. That's the amount I'm contributing to Beehaw right now anyways.
Up until a few days ago, I thought Reddit Gold was just the awards. I had no idea it was an ad-free subscription. Reddit could have easily converted me into a paying customer by offering a personal api key that i plug into my favorite 3rd party app. The $5 more than covers my api calls, plus opportunity cost from not seeing ads, plus it would have kept me feeding quality content into their machine. What a series of ridiculous missteps.
This is further supported by their plan to block mobile browsers from viewing Reddit at all. Native apps can harvest far more data than websites can.
To an extend I understand the lost ad revenue for the 3rd party apps. But it seems like there's a different solution, like requiring apps using the api to either pass through the ads or pay a per user fee, allowing for app users to get all the features they want for free and pay som small monthly subscription to remove the ads...
make third party apps available to Reddit Gold subscribers, implement reasonable api feeds, etc.
There were a lot of solutions to this, however the real money is probably in the Reddit app harvesting user data that they could resell to advertising companies
I would have not liked this but it would have been understandable and OK. $5 a month for something I got so much use out of is peanuts. That's the amount I'm contributing to Beehaw right now anyways.
Up until a few days ago, I thought Reddit Gold was just the awards. I had no idea it was an ad-free subscription. Reddit could have easily converted me into a paying customer by offering a personal api key that i plug into my favorite 3rd party app. The $5 more than covers my api calls, plus opportunity cost from not seeing ads, plus it would have kept me feeding quality content into their machine. What a series of ridiculous missteps.
This is further supported by their plan to block mobile browsers from viewing Reddit at all. Native apps can harvest far more data than websites can.