Reddit: the case of the greedy API

[information about these future changes had been circulated even earlier]

• We are updating our terms for developer tools and services, including our Developer Terms, Data API Terms, Reddit Embeds Terms, and Ads API Terms, and are updating links to these terms in our User Agreement.
• These updates should not impact moderation bots and extensions we know our moderators and communities rely on.
• To further ensure minimal impact of updates to our Data API, we are continuing to build new moderator tools (while also maintaining existing tools).
• We are additionally investing in our developer community and improving support for Reddit apps and bots via Reddit’s Developer Platform.
• Finally, we are introducing premium access for third parties who require additional capabilities, higher usage limits, and broader usage rights.

An Update Regarding Reddit’s API
byu/KeyserSosa inreddit

[Christian Selig, creator of super-popular Reddit app “Apollo“, had positive vibes cause actual API price wasn’t yet published]

📣 Had a few calls with Reddit today about the announced Reddit API changes that they’re putting into place, and inside is a breakdown of the changes and how they’ll affect Apollo and third party apps going forward. Please give it a read and share your thoughts!
byu/iamthatis inapolloapp

[Reddit publishes more info about future API tiers. Plus, they’ve added “Finally, to ensure that all regulatory requirements are met in the handling of mature content, we will be limiting access to sexually explicit content for third-party apps starting on July 5, 2023, except for moderation needs”]

API Update: Enterprise Level Tier for Large Scale Applications
byu/FlyingLaserTurtle inredditdev

Apollo made 7 billion requests last month, which would put it at about 1.7 million dollars per month, or 20 million US dollars per year

Christian Selig, Apollo creator

📣 Had a call with Reddit to discuss pricing. Bad news for third-party apps, their announced pricing is close to Twitter’s pricing, and Apollo would have to pay Reddit $20 million per year to keep running as-is.
byu/iamthatis inapolloapp

[Vive la Résistance!]

Don’t Let Reddit Kill 3rd Party Apps!
byu/Toptomcat inSave3rdPartyApps

[list of subreddits is growing]

Incomplete and Growing List of Participating Subreddits
byu/SubManagerBot inModCoord

[That is fun to watch!]

link to reddit post from moderator BuckRowdy

[Reddit made some clarifications. But the situation with Apollo is bad: “Apollo threatened us, said they’ll “make it easy” if Reddit gave them $10 million”]

[Christian Selig seems to have valid points here.

Sync, Reddit is Fun, Relay, ReddPlanet, and more have announced they will be shutting down on June 30th too. Another popular app Narwhal tries to stay afloat.]

📣 Apollo will close down on June 30th. Reddit’s recent decisions and actions have unfortunately made it impossible for Apollo to continue. Thank you so, so much for all the support over the years. ❤️
byu/iamthatis inapolloapp

[the public wasn’t amused by his explanation, especially the part with “Some apps such as Apollo, Reddit is Fun, and Sync have decided this pricing doesn’t work for their businesses and will close before pricing goes into effect“]

Addressing the community about changes to our API
byu/spez inreddit

As of June 13, more than 8000 subreddits have gone dark!

On June 12 Reddit experienced a short outage in some parts of service for a couple of hours.

TheVerge Interview with Apollo’s Christian Selig

Reddit CEO tells employees that subreddit blackout ‘will pass’

There is a plan to stay dark indefinitely

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said Thursday that he wants to bring an end to a user-led protest that has made large parts of the influential website inaccessible this week.

Huffman said in an interview that he plans to institute rules changes that would allow Reddit users to vote out moderators who have overseen the protest, comparing them to a “landed gentry.”

Indefinite Blackout Part II: Updates and more

Mods will be removed one way or another: Spez responds to the API Protest Blackout.

[that’s valid concerns I see here]

Other news:

Apollo’s Developer sums up all Reddit’s false claims