Reddit to Donate 10 Percent of 2014 Ad Revenue to Charity
No profits? No problem. Reddit gets in the giving spirit.
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In an announcement made over the weekend, entertainment and news website Reddit pledged 10 percent of its ad revenue for 2014 to the less fortunate.
This magnanimous move came as something of a surprise, since the site has never turned a profit. Many wondered how it could afford to part with such a large chunk of its revenue.
One possible answer is that the charitable undertaking could discourage the website's users from employing ad-blocking software. The more ads a reader blocks, the less money websites displaying the ads make. Generally speaking, readers don't like ads very much—but ads that make money for the sick or the poor could tug a few heartstrings and convince users to turn off AdBlock.
In a blog post on Friday, Reddit's CEO Yishan Wong wrote that the company aims to increase its ad revenue by 11.1% this year. "We intend for all ad revenue this year to benefit not only Reddit as a platform," Wong wrote, "but also to support the goals and causes of the entire community."
As a cherry on top, Reddit's users get to select the 10 "verified 501(c)(3) organizations" that will share the charity funds at the end of the year, and to vote on which ones get the biggest slice of the pie.
Via: redditblog