PSPINC Official Company Blog

The Reddit Blackout Explained

Jul

4

Reddit is a forum full of thousands of communities, or subreddits, where people share news, content, and opinions. Seven years ago, Reddit released a free API or Application Programming Interface. With an API, developers can integrate existing software systems into new applications. For example, when signing in to certain websites with your Google or Facebook account, it’s using an API to do so.

Developers use APIs for multiple different reasons, like sharing information between different platforms and carrying out diverse tasks. All while still building out their own interface. With Reddit, whenever a user wants to view or comment on a post from Reddit, the app sends a request to the API. However, this won’t be the case anymore. Reddit announced in April that they’d start charging third-party applications for API access. In other words, developers that made an app for Reddit and those that use its API will now need to pay for requests to use their API.

Why Reddit Users Are (Still) Protesting

The trend of charging for API usage isn’t new, as Twitter did the same after Elon Musk took over. But it also shut down dozens of third-party apps. With Reddit, they’ll be charging $0.24 per 1,000 requests. It doesn’t sound like much until you realize that the app, Apollo, a popular iOS Reddit app, makes upwards of seven billion API requests a month. That’s almost $2 million a month and over $20 million a year, which is just too high of a price for most companies.

When you compare it with Twitter’s API cost, it costs developers anywhere from $100 to more than $5,000 a month. And their plans have limitations set on them. For larger businesses on the enterprise level, it’ll cost much more than that. To protest, Reddit users agreed to what started as a 48-hour blackout called Reddark, where nearly 8,000 subreddits were set to private starting June 12. But even after the 48 hours were up, the blackout persisted, as over 6,000 communities on Reddit are still private. Regardless, it hasn’t deterred Reddit from changing its mind.

Reddit’s API Changes

So, why did Reddit update its API terms? According to its CEO, Steve Huffman, the free API model just wasn’t sustainable. Especially now that Reddit has its own ad network now. Users coming to Reddit via third-party apps don’t see those ads, which greatly impacts how effective and how profitable Reddit’s ad network is. And advertisers won’t want to work with Reddit anymore if they’re paying for ineffective services.

Despite the backlash and online protests, Reddit is moving forward with the API changes. Even though large and popular subreddits have remained private, there are still plenty more that haven’t. They aren’t nearly as sizeable, but it’s enough not to deter Reddit from its plans. Shifts like this seem to prioritize profits over the community-building atmosphere these platforms are known for, which doesn’t sit well with users. So far, Twitter and Reddit are the only large social platforms that charge for API requests. But whether others will follow in their footsteps is yet to be seen.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #api #apollo #applicationprogramminginterface #blog #developer #developers #digitalmarketing #elonmusk #marketing #marketingdigital #reddark #reddit #smallbusiness #socialmedia #stevehuffman #tech #technology #twitter #web #website #websites

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 174 “Asking for Feedback”

Jun

29

We’ve talked about the importance of positive Google reviews, but feedback is important to every business. Especially a small one. Asking for feedback from your customers shows you care. But for businesses, feedback also tells you more about how customers feel about your products, services, and experiences. More importantly, it highlights where you can improve. If you see a lot of the same complaints about a product, reviews will alert you to the problem. The last thing you really want is to have a faulty product and not know about it. And if you don’t know there’s a problem, it also means you can’t fix the problem.

Other than using Google reviews, you can also ask for feedback from customers with an online form embedded on your website or with Opinion Stand. With an online form, you can ask multiple questions tailored to your business and your customers’ experiences. And you don’t even need to know how to code if you use InforMakers. If you’d rather just get a general rating, embed Opinion Stand into your website, emails, and other digital media. Or create a QR code where customers can click on which face best expresses their overall experiences. Book a demo today.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customerfeedback #customerservices #forms #informakers #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #newsletter #opinionstand #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #website #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 172 “The Importance of Positive Google Reviews”

Jun

15

When you want to look for a new restaurant to go to or get your car serviced, the first place you’ll look is Google. The same can be said when you’re looking for any kind of service from a business. After entering your query into Google, the first thing that’ll pop up is a list of businesses in your local area. And right below those business names, you’ll find their overall rating. The last thing people want to do is choose to work with a business with a bad rating.

Positive Google reviews act as social proof, making your business look more trustworthy. And they influence potential customers to purchase from you, which can make a major impact on sales. On the technical side, it also helps with optimizing your business website for search engines. Google’s algorithm favors new and original content, and customer reviews feed into that. Having good search engine optimization (SEO) helps your site’s overall visibility. If you’re looking for some extra help on better optimizing your site for search engines, reach out to us at PSPINC. We have experts ready to help!

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #google #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #sales #searchengineoptimization #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #website

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 171 “Reminder to Switch Over to Google Analytics 4”

Jun

8

In case you missed it, Google Analytics is sun-setting Universal Analytics (UA) at the beginning of next month. In 2020, Google Analytics introduced Google Analytics 4 (GA4), giving users the option to use either. Now, to favor GA4 over UA, Google Analytics will stop collecting and processing data for UA properties starting July 1st. With more users becoming concerned about their privacy online over the last few years, many opt out of tracking cookies when surfing the web. UA relies heavily on cookies to track user behavior, but GA4 uses event-based modeling to gather data.

If you haven’t already opted out, it’ll automatically switch your site over to GA4, but we recommend you make the switch sooner rather than later. The sooner you switch, the more data you’ll collect in the new system. With that data, it’ll help determine trends and insights to help you improve your upcoming business and marketing plans. For directions on how to switch manually, head over to one of our older blog posts. If you need more help to migrate your data from UA to GA4, give us a call! We have experts ready to help you with your SEO and other marketing needs.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #ga4 #google #googleanalytics #googleanalytics4 #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #pspinc #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #ua #universalanalytics #web #website #websites

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 170 “What is Content Marketing?”

Jun

1

Unlike traditional marketing efforts, content marketing doesn’t promote by directly selling to potential customers. Instead, it pulls people in with educational and entertaining content. This content can be through blog posts, social media posts, videos, and email content among others. With content marketing, you aren’t trying to sell anything; instead, your goal is to educate and entertain people, hoping they’ll be interested in buying something from you later. But your content can’t just be random, otherwise, there won’t be any connection between your content and your company.

Content marketing helps establish your brand as an authority in the field and helps with audience retention. The more high-quality educational content you have for potential customers to find, the more authority your company will have in their eyes. If your content is relevant, informational, and interesting to potential customers, they’ll likely stay on the page for longer. And they’ll come back for more. But regardless, producing high-quality content consistently while juggling other business tasks is difficult. But the effort will be well worth it in the end. For more marketing help, reach out to our experts at PSPINC.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #blog #branding #business #businesstips #businesstools #contentmarketing #digitalmarketing #emailmarketing #marketing #marketingtips #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #searchengineoptimization #seo #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #web #website

Meta’s New Text-Based Twitter Competitor App

May

30

Ever since Elon Musk acquired Twitter, many users have been itching to find a viable replacement. So far, some have found solace in Mastodon and Bluesky, a newer app launched and endorsed by co-founder and former Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey. But now, Meta’s thrown its hat in the ring with its upcoming text-based app. It currently doesn’t have an official name, but internal Meta staff members call it either “P92” or “Barcelona”. There also isn’t an official launch date released just yet. But digital media marketing expert Lia Haberman, who first reported on this new app, says it could launch as early as the end of June.

Regardless, Meta granted early access to high-profile influencers and celebrities, which will only encourage more people to join the platform. While this new app will be in direct competition with Twitter, it’s not why Meta’s working on this new app. Or it’s at least not the only reason. Social media platforms have switched their focus toward direct messages (DM) over the last few years based on user behavior. And it also explains why Meta reintegrated Messenger back into the Facebook app and the thought behind Instagram Channels.

What Makes It Different

a phone open to twitter on a table next to a mug of coffee

Meta’s new text-based app will eliminate major obstacles that have prevented others from fleeing Twitter. With Facebook and Instagram under their belt, users can log in with their Facebook/Instagram credentials, keep their Instagram username, and keep their verification status (if applicable). It’ll also encourage their Instagram followers to follow them on the new platform, and carry over blocks and hidden words, optimizing the overall transition.

Unlike Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, Meta’s new text-based app will be decentralized, much like its competitor, Mastodon. According to Haberman’s sources, each post has a limit of 500 characters, and much like tweets and Facebook posts, users can include links, photos, and videos up to five minutes long. Based on the only screenshots we’ve gotten of the new app (via a slide Haberman received and posted to her Twitter page), it’ll have a feed where users can like, reply, and share others’ posts.

What This Means

someone using a laptop that has facebook open on it

With the reported instability on Twitter recently, the market for Twitter alternatives is rife with opportunities. However, there hasn’t been one clear contender that users have flocked to. And the fatigue of setting up a new account on a new, unpopulated platform has become more apparent, which only further deterred users.

Meta, however, has the tremendous advantage of integrating their already-popular apps, Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, which boasts a network of billions of users. With that also comes the ease of setting up a new account and keeping your followers. But Meta also has a history of releasing apps that don’t gain traction, especially those that copy other already-popular apps. So, only time will tell how Meta’s new text-based app performs in the social media space.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#app #business #businesstools #digitalmarketing #directmessaging #dm #elonmusk #facebook #jackdorsey #marketing #marketingdigital #messaging #messenger #meta #news #socialmedia #tech #technology #twitter #web #website #whatsapp

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 169 “Learn Japanese Online”

May

25

If you didn’t already know, Pacific Software Publishing Inc. (PSPINC) started as a one-man operation in 1987 by our founder, Kenichi Uchikura. While we’re known for our web hosting services, the original vision for this company was to popularize the PC in Japan, which was aided by the fact that our CEO is Japanese. Since then, PSPINC has grown immensely as we now offer multiple different digital products and services. But we still boast a focus on offering our services in Japanese. So, it only made sense to also offer Japanese language-learning services as well.

With Japanese-Online (JOL), you can learn how to speak and write Japanese with articles, tutors, and lessons on the Japanese language and culture! Find free language and culture guides and subscribe to our weekly email newsletters by heading over to our website, Japanese-Online.com.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #japanese #japaneseonline #jol #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webhosting #website #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 168 “Business Uses for Web Forms”

May

18

Online forms, or web forms, allow customers to enter valuable information. It could be as small and simple as their name and email address, or it can include payment information. Regardless, businesses can use online forms for multiple reasons:

· Sell products.
· Onboarding new employees.
· Capture new leads.
· Create an email mailing list.
· Gather feedback from customers.
· Collect information to provide a service.
· Many more!

In return, businesses can gain insight into their customers while also configuring, sharing, and managing those forms to optimize them for their business needs. Creating them, however, can be as easy as signing up for InforMakers, our online form builder! Get started for just $8/month.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #ecommerce #informakers #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #newsletter #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #website #websites #webtools

WebdeXpress: New Privacy Policy Feature Available!

May

16

We’re happy to announce that WebdeXpress, our web-building tool, now has a new feature! Now, while building your website, you can add a privacy policy notice above the contact form submission button. You can create this new privacy policy in English or Japanese and add a title, description, and an agreement checkbox description.

For website owners, privacy policies help set data privacy expectations with your website visitors. Adding one will give users an idea of what kinds of data you’re collecting from them, why you’re collecting it, and how they can contact you if they have any questions or concerns.

When you add your privacy policy form field, it’ll look like this:
privacy policy settings in wdx

Once you complete your privacy policy contents, it’ll appear on your contact form at the bottom like this:
privacy policy checkbox contact us form in wdx

privacy policy checkbox contact us form in wdx

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstool #dataprivacy #ecommerce #feature #newfeature #pacificsoftwarepublishing #privacypolicy #pspinc #smallbusiness #tech #technology #wdx #web #webbuilder #webdesign #webdexpress #website #websitebuilder #websites #webtools

Dreamersi Mail V5: New In-Email Spam Reporting Feature!

May

15

We’re happy to announce that Dreamersi, our premiere web and email hosting service, now has a new feature! We will now display an in-email warning for any incoming email that looks suspicious but isn’t caught by the spam filter.

screenshot of new in-email spam reporting feature

screenshot of new in-email spam reporting feature

When you report an email as spam, it will lead you to a page where:

in-email spam email

· The message removal option is checked by default
· You can choose to add the sender to your personal spam filter

When you report an email as not spam (“Looks okay”), it will lead you to a page where:

report email as not spam

· You can click on the “Submit” button to report the email as not spam to help our spam filter system improve its accuracy

In both instances, you’ll also receive a “Thank you for your report” page and a Thank you email.

The 'Report Spam Banner' option is also turned off by default, so unless you manually go in to turn it on, you won't see the report banner. To turn it on, go to 'Spam Filter Settings' and select 'On' in the 'Report spam banner' option at the bottom. Then click 'Save' and you will then see the banner the next time you receive an email that may look like spam.

spam filtering settings in dreamersi

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.