Show HN: Readup is a reading browser that removes ads and pays writers per-read | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Readup is a reading browser that removes ads and pays writers per-read

readup.com

6 pointsjacamera7 comments

Hey all, Thor from Readup here! I started reading on Readup in Dec. 2019, when it was still just a browser extension and tiny web app. Readup gradually opened a new world for me: the variety and quality of articles I found made me read much more, and more deeply.

Readup hit all the right chords. The read-before-you-comment and ranking algorithm was a great response to my frustration with incumbent social media, and Readup could feed my curiosity like no other venue. Over the course of 2020 I got to know Bill & Jeff better, and in June this year I took a serious leap quitting my job to join the team. I blogged about all that in more detail here https://blog.readup.com/2021/09/08/why-I-joined-readup.html. Glad to answer any questions!

How would you say this compares to the Web Monetization standard (https://webmonetization.org/) and Coil (https://coil.com/)?

I guess the question is from both a content creator and a reader's point of view.

What's better about your offering?

There are several differences:

- Readup is universal. As a content creator you don't have to opt in by creating an account or adding new metadata to your site. You can send me a link to a blog post you published 5 years ago and after I read it using Readup you'll have a balance in our system.

- Readup is specifically focused on reading articles. This means content creators get paid only when an article is read in full vs. a time-on-page metric that the Web Monetization API and other services like Flattr use.

In addition to what Jeff said, from the reader's point of view, Readup's mission is to make a home for deep reading on the internet first. It's not only ad-blocking and monetizing for creators. We already have article discovery/ranking based on our read tracking algorithm, and future developments will improve the reading experience even more. For example, by being able to construct your own feeds with your favorite RSS & newsletter sources, topped up with our metadata, or expanding on the ability to organize & curate your reading socially. A comparison with "the next Pocket" might be appropriate from that perspective, or to a "Spotify for reading" (a nice read on this trend: https://readup.com/read/protocol/spotify-for-readers-how-tec...).

Our universal monetization model indeed draws comparisons to Coil, Brave Rewards, Flattr, Twitter Blue... we have in common that we try to make the web more ethical & sustainable. For a writer or publisher, we're one more monetization source for which they don't have to do extra work. And we come with a community of readers that you can interact deeply with (example: https://readup.com/comments/organizer-sandbox/ginny-our-litt...).

Coil had [an article discovery Reddit-clone](https://coil.com/blogs), but they have moved that to [Write.as](https://write.as/) now. I invite you to look at Readup's ranking and compare what you see!

Hey HN: Jeff here along with Bill (bill_rr) and Thor (th0rgall) from Readup. We're on a mission to create a viable alternative to the ad-based monetization strategy that plagues the web today. The Readup apps function like a browser with a built-in ad blocker that is optimized for reading articles. What's new about our approach is that we are also tracking all reading activity on the platform down to the individual word. This enables us to:

1. Compensate writers on a per-read basis. Readup takes a 5% cut of subscription revenue and distributes the rest to the writers (and in the future, publishers) that you read, in proportion to the time you've spent reading them.

2. Rank articles based on deep reading activity rather than knee-jerk upvotes or likes in response to a headline.

3. Only allow those who have actually read an article to rate it and participate in the comments on it.

We launched our subscription service in May and are closing in on $1K MRR with an average subscription price of $9.46. The average number of articles read in full per month per subscriber is 14 which yields a median pay rate of $0.82 per read. We're really excited about scaling a business model that rewards high-quality writing instead of clickbait and makes it fun to read and comment online again!

Some suggested reading:

- Our privacy policy. You're our customer, not our product: https://readup.com/privacy

- How the read tracking tech works: https://blog.readup.com/2020/11/02/how-readup-knows-whether-...

- How we distribute subscription revenue to writers: https://blog.readup.com/2021/06/08/how-readup-pays-writers-w...

- Our read tracking patent: https://patents.google.com/patent/US11082508B2

Relevant HN discussion:

- Reading in the Age of Constant Distraction: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19147316

Excellent post, Jeff! Hello, hackers!

Hey everyone. I'm Bill, CEO of Readup and Jeff's co-founder.

FYI: We applied to YC and we're still waiting to hear back. They asked to provide a revenue update a few weeks ago. We grew a lot in September (50% increase in total # of subscriptions, MoM) so that was good. Fingers crossed!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com