Nostr Web Client

I need to build a business on Coracle if I want to keep working on it. One thing that makes this hard is that I refuse to make my users the product. I will not sell your data.

However, what does everyone think of a referral/ad model? Sponsored results in search, sponsored relay suggestions, etc, with an option to pay to turn them off. Is this unethical?

Of course, my ideal business model would be a freemium service — get the basics for free, pay for some bells and whistles. But that would require much more development effort to get started.

Now I'm just brain dumping, but I guess I could start a freemium model on a purely volunteer basis, and issue a badge or something for supporters, ala patreon/kickstarter?

What do you guys think?

Andrew 2y ago

This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I actually don't think the referral/ad model is that bad of a revenue model for products like a social network, HOWEVER, that's only if the ads don't involve:

1. Data collection on the user in order to target the ads

2. Excessive frequency of ads

3. Disruptive placement of ads in the interface that get in the way

I think at their best, ads that are done correctly and don't do those 3 things are essentially a product discovery/recommendation tool for users that also allow their nostr client to remain free.

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Discussion

hodlbod 2y ago

Thanks, I definitely agree. Unfortunately, once you introduce ads, there's always a slippery slope towards data collection and more disruptive ads. But as long as the software is open source, I suppose it can be cloned and cleaned.

Andrew 2y ago

Yeah that's the beauty of open protocols like Nostr. Clients that misbehave can be forked and have the crappy parts removed, or users can just switch to a dif client altogether and still keep their social network and profiles.

τέχνη 2y ago

If your note is unencrypted, it is only a matter of time before it is data mined.

All unencrypted notes are fair game for anyone and everyone to mine and abuse. You should assume an adversarial model rather than one built on good will.

petri 2y ago

The problem comes with the model. If you're tied to the model and your (paying) customers ask for better results for their money (targeting) it's hard to say no.

There will also be some players that will just do the features that attract the advertisers and give them what they want.

Similar to Gresham's Law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gresham%27s_law , your good intentions will drive you out of business or to the margin.

It's not black and white but doing it right takes some guts and firm beliefs (and maybe lowered expectations).

OpenAI is the latest example. AI for all non-profit flipped when the opportunity was too good to miss.