Following the announcement of new API pricing, Reddit has found itself in the firing line of online communities. The pricing changes have caused anger among many groups, and this has resulted in subreddits going dark for days after the announcements. However, the CEO of Reddit, Steve Huffman, said that he was confident that these blackouts were temporary, and that the situation would soon improve.
Huffman informed Reddit employees that they should ignore the 'noise', assuring them that the new API pricing would remain in place, and that the blackouts would soon pass. The comments were found in a memo from the CEO, which was sent internally to Reddit staff. However, despite telling employees to remain calm because the situation would improve, the CEO also warned employees not to wear Reddit 'gear' in public due to the upset that has been caused.
Thousands of groups have been taking part in protests since the new API pricing was revealed. They are demanding that the policy is changed back or refusing to go back online. Huffman claims that the blackout has had no significant impact on revenues and continues to claim that things will soon get back to normal without the need to rescind the API policy change.
Industry Expert Opinion
Alexander Bachmann, CEO of Mitgo, the parent company of Admitad, one of the leading partner networks that help monetize content platforms, said, "The motivation of Twitch and Reddit management members is straightforward: for a considerable time, they witnessed substantial financial streams bypassing their infrastructure. These platforms did not receive any percentage from the direct audience and content creator interactions with brands or third-party applications. Consequently, both platforms made the decision to block these outgoing money streams, although with varying outcomes."
It was further noted that this move by Reddit is not an isolated incident, but more of a pattern that has been seen across a variety of platforms. This includes Twitch and youTube which have put into place measures that result in fundamental changes to the monetization of influencer audiences.
Mitgo also said that many bloggers are now looking at alternative revenue sources because of the uncertainty being created by the changes. Affiliate marketing is one of the major options being considered by many, with Mitgo stating that the number of influencers turning to affiliate marketing has increased by 10 percent in the last year.
He stated that content creators are now looking at multiple source revenues by publishing content on a range of platforms rather than focusing on just one. By diversifying their income sources, they are able to benefit from some level of protection, as they avoid 'putting all of their eggs in one basket'.
Given the patterns and changes being seen among these social media platforms, it is thought that more influencers and content creators will look at alternative options such as affiliate marketing. This means more and more people will likely turn to this option, which will result in a growing trend.
