this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2023
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Do You Think There Would Have Been a Large Protest if Steve Huffman Just Said We're Charging to Use the API to Increase Revenue? (beehaw.org)
submitted 1 year ago by curt@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org
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I've been a long time Redditor and an Apollo user for about a year. I even paid for it. The main draw for me was the lack of advertising. In the back of my head I kept thinking that it couldn't last. Reddit is losing revenue from the lack of advertising views. It didn't

To me, Reddit's sky high pricing for the use of the API is intended to kill off apps like Apollo and for its users to move to the advertising filled web site or its own app, which I've never used.

If Huffman came out and said this was a revenue move right off would everyone be as upset as they are? Are people upset because Huffman completely mishandled the move or because they got their ad free experience turned off? If Reddit had an app the same quality as Apollo only with ads, would they be OK with it. I've only used Apollo so I can't speak to the other apps.

I can't blame Reddit for wanting to make money. It doesn't make a profit. Investors have to keep pouring in money to keep it going. They're going to want to see a return on their investment at some point. Usually they cash in on an IPO, but IPO's are generally only successful if the corporation looks like it will be profitable or at least the stock price continues to go up. That's how capitalism works.

In my case, I probably would have left regardless. I can't stand adds in my feed. I probably wouldn't have heard of lemmy or kbin if there hadn't been such an uproar. So I'm glad it went the way it did.

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[–] Scary_le_Poo@beehaw.org 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The protest is not about the fact that they are charging for it. The protest is about the fact of how much they are charging for it. When compared to imgur the rates are absolutely insane.

I keep seeing this incorrectly reported and it drives me crazy. No developer is upset about Reddit charging for the API access. What they are upset about is the fact that Reddit has jacked the price of that API access up so high that no third party apps could ever afford to use it.

[–] Auzy@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

At this point of time though, it has grown to be less about that though, and how disrespectful Spaz is treating everyone. Even if he reversed his decision, who can trust the guy now?

He's made it clear that even if you spent the last 10 years working on promoting your community making it successful, that he'll happily ban your account and hijack your community, for a silent takeover. There are some serious shadow government vibes happening.

Given the way Spaz lied about the Apollo developer, even if API access was only $1 per month I wouldn't pay anymore (because I don't feel Spaz should have the money)

[–] Scary_le_Poo@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I understand that, but framing it as "reddit users are mad because reddit wants to charge for API access" paints reddit users as entitled, when what is actually happening is "reddit users are mad because reddit decided to charge for API access with only 30 days notice and set the prices so high that third party app developers would have to pay potentially millions of dollars per year in order to access it".

There is a massive difference between those two statements. One makes reddit users look like a bunch of entitled assholes, and the other frames the situation correctly and truthfully.

[–] Auzy@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

I agree in many ways.. Good or bad phrasing though, I think mostly everyone is on the same page. I also love the fact here that its easy to avoid toxic admins or communities, so we're no longer controlled by whatever makes reddit profit (and admins can do what's right instead)