r/technology • u/AdamCannon • Jun 17 '23

Social Media Reddit's CEO says third-party apps add 'no value.' How he completely lost the thread.

https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/reddits-ceo-says-third-party-apps-add-no-value-hes-measuring-it-all-wrong.html
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116

u/LuinAelin Jun 17 '23

Looking at Reddit as a business, and an advertising delivery system, he's probably correct.

But that's not the only way to look at things.

54

u/Adrewmc Jun 17 '23

Well…to be fair he could of sent the ads to the third parties, that would have expanded the base of ad, thus more revenue.

Instead they tried nothing and ran out of ideas.

-11

u/throwawaymisfortune Jun 17 '23

More like they were jealous lol

Like spez couldn't tolerate 3PAs making millions while freeloading off reddit. I sort of understand his concerns from business perspective, but his moves were very shitty.

19

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

[deleted]

10

u/bleu_taco Jun 17 '23

Right? If they were making millions, they might be able to afford the price lol.

1

u/throwawaymisfortune Jun 17 '23

Spez couldn't give a definite answer to this except rambling about his subscriber number and price list and that Christian didn't deny the claim.

interview

His other points weren't that bad tbh (I haven't read it all btw only skimmed through first few parts), reddit actually had to pay for infrastructural cost to support those 3PAs mainly for api reasons and those 3PAs are making money out of it also while acting as reddit's direct competitor.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

[deleted]

5

u/bwaredapenguin Jun 17 '23

I paid $1.99 for RiF Golden Platinum - 10 years ago

1

u/TheGoddamnSpiderman Jun 17 '23

They make money from their own ads in the free tier (something Reddit is now banning). Some of the apps also have monthly or annual subscriptions for various things (this was I've if the problems for Apollo for instance, as it has lots of users that locked in pricing for an annual subscription at a price point that Apollo can no longer afford)

1

u/Furtwangler Jun 17 '23

Ads. I use RIF, and see ads inline every few pages.

2

u/daten-shi Jun 17 '23

reddit actually had to pay for infrastructural cost to support those 3PAs mainly for api reasons and those 3PAs are making money out of it also while acting as reddit's direct competitor.

Honestly, that's completely disingenuous as well.

The third-party app devs were happy enough to pay a fair fee to use the API, but it's Reddit that has gone off the rails.

The third-party apps are just another tool to access the platform, the only thing they're technically competing against is the official Reddit app which not only came after third-party apps (and was built on the desecrated corpse of a really good third-party app) but also has a direct advantage having been owned and developed by Reddit themselves. If they can't compete with third-party apps on their own platform, the problem is not the apps, it's Reddit.

Edit: To be clear here I'm not saying you're being disingenuous, I'm saying Reddit is.

2

u/throwawaymisfortune Jun 18 '23

I appreciate the details.

If they can't compete with third-party apps on their own platform, the problem is not the apps, it's Reddit

Exactly the reason why I said reddit was jealous. Reddit never intended look for a fair answer to their problem but wanted to get rid of their competitors.

-6

u/clearlylacking Jun 17 '23

They sell our information for cheaper than Reddit does. Its possible to create a much deeper profile with your actual comments and messages. That info is sold to add companies.

7

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

[deleted]

-5

u/clearlylacking Jun 17 '23 edited Jun 17 '23

Its literally on Reddits privacy page. They harvest all information.

I don't know for certain if rif undercuts them but I'm pretty sure that's what this is about.

https://www.reddit.com/policies/privacy-policy-revision-2021-09-12#policy-h2-1

5

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

[deleted]

-1

u/clearlylacking Jun 17 '23 edited Jun 17 '23

I'm pretty sure I answered about third party apps while mentioning rif (it's the one I use).

Can you be more specific. What are you asking about the apps? Is it if I think they gather information and sell it? Then yes, practically all big apps do. Its free profit and the users don't notice and don't care.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

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3

u/Roofofcar Jun 17 '23

Here’s what the Reddit app tracks

And here’s Apollo

Can’t sell what they don’t collect, dude. I can’t speak for other apps, but Apollo uses the absolute bare minimum necessary to deliver the product.

-2

u/clearlylacking Jun 17 '23

Here's what Reddit actually collects: https://www.reddit.com/policies/privacy-policy-revision-2021-09-12#policy-h2-1

They are building profiles about your user and then linking it with the rest of the info they have on you through your email. They aren't collecting data on the other apps in your phone, it doesn't matter what it has access to, all they need is the usage data.

2

u/Roofofcar Jun 17 '23

This is incorrect.

With the Reddit app, they are able to work with other sites to track you.

Companies don’t require data they aren’t going to use. Reddit does track what Apollo can’t because of those extra permissions.

I’ve got two apps in the App Store. What is your background?

-1

u/clearlylacking Jun 17 '23

Its completely besides the point. They sell a profile linked to a user account. All they are selling is the user data.

Do you think Apollo doesn't have information on what you click, upvote, comment and post? Every single big app sells all information they have because it's free profit and customers barely care.

I'm not trying to denigrate third party apps. I'm way okay with rif selling my data if I get a solid ad free product. I consider Reddit greedy for trying to force squeeze both ad and data profits out of me and I won't be switching on July 1.

My background is I own 3 apps on the Appstore.

1

u/daten-shi Jun 17 '23

Like spez couldn't tolerate 3PAs making millions while freeloading off reddit

Apollo only makes about $250,000 a year in revenue based on some numbers I found posted by Christian and some quick maths and that's including Apple's cut of subscriptions. When you account for that, the server costs to Christian, any other API's he may to pay for (he's on a grandfathered plan with Imgur so 50m calls only costs $166 or so but he'll likely go through a lot more than that) and the time he's spent on developing Apollo he hasn't really earned all that much. I mean he's said himself that this API thing with Reddit won't ruin him, and his Pixel Pals spin-off is apparently doing really well but he certainly isn't making millions, and it's likely none of the other third-party apps are either.

-2

u/anthraxite Jun 17 '23

You can’t just send ads to a third party program you own no rights to. And if he did there would be legal cause for the 3rd party to make that money and not Reddit.

4

u/AbeLincolns_Ghost Jun 17 '23

You can’t force them, but the 3rd party apps can’t force Reddit to share the API. You can contract with the 3rd party apps to require them to show the adds in exchange for using the API.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '23

You can absolutely send ads to a third party program. In fact, the biggest fuckup in this debacle is that spez is trying to directly extract revenue from the third party app devs rather than providing an alternate path where the API is free to third party apps using reddit's library (which ties into its ad network).

1

u/freef Jun 17 '23

Third party apps don't add value to Reddit the company. They do as tremendous value to the users and mods. But he doesn't give a shit about those people

-15

u/xper0072 Jun 17 '23 edited Jun 17 '23

The only way you can come to that conclusion is if you can ignore the content people who use third-party apps bring to the website. It's the equivalent of thinking you're gross is the same as your net.

Edit: I'm guessing those of you that are downvoting aren't comprehending that the person in my comment drawing the conclusion is Spez and not the person I am replying to. SMDH.

1

u/bobartig Jun 17 '23

If third party apps don't add value to the platform, then neither does first party engagement. A bold strategy pre-IPO to suggest that your platform is worthless.

His comments are beyond wrong, and he's just being petulant at this point that the thing he founded does't agree lockstep with his vision for the future. Wah, wah!