I understand they have expenses, but how can they charge for this when all the content is copyrighted that they don’t own? Great concept for a product!
Ozzie said:
I understand they have expenses, but how can they charge for this when all the content is copyrighted that they don’t own? Great concept for a product!
These prices sound unreal. $9k a year?! That’s on par with Twitter API costs that aren’t justifiable.
@Kirby
A flat fee of 9k for unlimited usage doesn’t seem unreasonable, especially for larger companies utilizing it.
Ben said:
@Kirby
A flat fee of 9k for unlimited usage doesn’t seem unreasonable, especially for larger companies utilizing it.
This is tough for smaller creators, but for big companies like Discord and Microsoft, it’s not a big deal.
Ben said:
@Kirby
A flat fee of 9k for unlimited usage doesn’t seem unreasonable, especially for larger companies utilizing it.
If you’re charging for ‘unlimited’, users will test that meaning.
If you can’t handle 10PB, you shouldn’t offer ‘unlimited’ access.
@Vail
There are definitely limitations on ‘unlimited’ written in the terms of service. It’s in the fine print at the bottom of the image.
@Kirby
Is that pricing directed at Discord or WhatsApp? Or Google?
It’s not meant for you to pay just to share memes with friends.
Ozzie said:
I understand they have expenses, but how can they charge for this when all the content is copyrighted that they don’t own? Great concept for a product!
They saw how little Reddit was impacted when they imposed a huge paywall on user content via API and wanted to do the same.
@Drew
Exactly, when you create a free API that offers total access, it’s often not good for business. Certain people were making money with their own apps that utilized the Reddit API to compete directly against Reddit. They were using Reddit posts while running their own ads on the feed, which meant Reddit was losing money by hosting an API that allowed others to bypass their app.
The same applies to GIPHY – if they provide unrestricted access to their content for free, how do they stay profitable? How do they cover their hosting costs?
@Marin
Sure, these companies need to cover their costs. But with Reddit, their API fees appeared intentionally predative to eliminate competitors. Other devs were monetizing Reddit’s content, but the Apollo developer built an app that was user-friendly since Reddit didn’t prioritize that. That effort benefitting a marginalized user base shouldn’t be done without compensation.
@Drew
Reddit didn’t have competitors; they had customers on a free developer plan. A true competitor would be responsible for their own infrastructure and associated costs.
The pricing structure aimed to attract legitimate users of the API, like Microsoft, who currently pay Reddit for data access. This pricing model prevents a competitor to Reddit from profiting off the platform.
Ozzie said:
I understand they have expenses, but how can they charge for this when all the content is copyrighted that they don’t own? Great concept for a product!
They have licensing agreements; this is likely a form of advertising for those license holders. I’m unsure about the user-uploaded content aspect, though.
Ozzie said:
I understand they have expenses, but how can they charge for this when all the content is copyrighted that they don’t own? Great concept for a product!
They’re not selling the images themselves.
They’re selling the API and the hosting services.
Ozzie said:
I understand they have expenses, but how can they charge for this when all the content is copyrighted that they don’t own? Great concept for a product!
This is all about greed; they know that most subscribers will be companies.
I appreciate how they left the placeholder fine print in the graphic.
Poe said:
I appreciate how they left the placeholder fine print in the graphic.
And that’s why placeholder text should always be clear and unobjectionable.
Poe said:
I appreciate how they left the placeholder fine print in the graphic.
Points for not just using lorem Ipsum, but rather including something appropriate that’s technically correct.
Not a lot of points, but some.