[brian-armstrong]

I don't think they'll want to, if they're ad supported. Adblockers don't run on native apps, and in general apps have better access to relevant ad sell info. A lot of ad supported companies are giving up on the web.

[krn]

I take this as the best explanation why Reddit is pushing its app so hard, even though it has a one of the most visited websites in the world. It's not about user engagement with content. It's about user engagement with ads.

[pjc50]

Indeed. A lot of work has been put into degrading the mobile experience with banners and prompts and delays to force users onto the app. Sensible people use BaconReader, but I wonder how long that will be allowed to continue.

[snaky]

Why not open source apps like RedReader?

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.quantumbadger.redreader/

[shostack]

Are there in fact forced delays? Couldn't be sure it it was my connection or js bloat.

[badpenny]

Every third-party Reddit and Facebook app I've tried has seemed as if it was throttled or blocked.

[heavyset_go]

There's also the fact that native apps can collect more data on a user than web apps.

[bad_user]

I’ve said it multiple times ... aggressive ad-blocking is hurting the open web, because publishers need a revenue stream to survive and they won’t go down without a fight.

This means shitty native apps, walled gardens and DRM.

[AlexandrB]

Ads hurt the open web, because advertisers normally don't want to show up alongside even moderately risqué content. If we want sites with real freedom of expression, we have to find a real way to pay for it - via crowdfunding, micropayments, or whatever.

[heavyset_go]

> This means shitty native apps, walled gardens and DRM.

This was the case before ad-blocking was popular.

Native apps with spyware and malware were the norm before web apps became a viable way to ensure people couldn't copy software.

DRM was around before most people had internet access, for example, CSS on DVDs was introduced in 1996[1].

For a lot of people, their first introduction the internet was through a walled garden[1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_Scramble_System

[2] AOL's 'Walled Garden' (2000): https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB968104011203980910

[bhouston]

yes, you can not block ads in a native app. And they are so annoying on the reddit mobile app.

[pedrogpimenta]

That depends. Blokada [1] does a pretty good job!

[1] https://blokada.org/

[heavyset_go]

Blokada is great, however I believe Reddit does a lot of paid native advertising and interweaving of ads within content.

I don't believe the ads in the latter category are pulled from an ad server, they're served from the same source as real content. Could be wrong though, I haven't used Reddit in a while.

[pmlnr]

You can block hosts on rooted phone easily, so if it's an ad network, it can be done. If it's first party, or in-content, ala tumblr, it's not been done yet, as far as I'm aware - that doesn't make it impossible though.

[wilgertvelinga]

Yes you can, although it's slightly harder than installing a browser extension: https://pi-hole.net/

[eli]

Most people don’t run Adblock on mobile and probably aren’t getting any better ad rates running native ads vs mobile web.

[snaky]

Mobile app can gather a lot more user data.

[eli]

Yeah it can, but I don’t believe it generates much more revenue for the publisher.

[brian-armstrong]

I'm not sure what the numbers are, but I'd bet most Reddit users do run an ad blocker.

[eli]

On mobile web? I think I’d take the other side of that bet.