I'm not saying there was ever any other strategy before, but the Steemit, Inc. 2017 Roadmap makes no mention of any kind of revenue strategy, at this time. So this means, at least until 2018, the only revenue model is speculation on the STEEM token, and that's it.
Why isn't there a plan for ROI (Return on Investment)? Most companies show their expected revenue from certain products they outline on their roadmap. Something plausible, like ad revenue.
Why not ads?
- Steemit, Inc. currently wants to remove the barrier to entry for new users and they see ads as a barrier to entry.
- If steemit.com starts monetizing by ads, anybody could set up steemit2.com without ads and display the same content.
Got it. No ads.
Why invest in STEEM?
Official answer: We need more eyeballs.
This is fine, but it's not a direct path to any kind of ROI. I can see how greater attention to the platform will boost the value of STEEM. But that's indirect. That's speculation, not an ROI.
Where's the ROI?
If I give you $1,000, what's the exact mechanism you'll use to give me back $1,001?
There is no strategy for this apart from pure speculation. The advantage of not defining a clear ROI is that no promises are being made or implied.
Is speculation enough?
Steemit, Inc. apparently believes it is. It's a young platform. Other platforms, without a blockchain, have offered even less for investors, yet many of them were successful.
Although, that last point might require heavy use of confirmation bias.
It would be interesting if people could buy ads for the side areas of the browser that are largely empty now, and have any such ad be done by purchasing with steem or sbd. Then perhaps have that payment be recycled back into the reward pool. This way you could have the normal inflationary reward pool + the additions to that pool from ads. This way everyone in the community would see benefit from ads, and the reward pool would not be 100% inflationary as it currently is.
there is a third reason. ads just don't make that much money unless youre a huge website.
As an example, i think i read once that 2p2 made about 300 a month from their banner advertising, and theyre a huge (if specialized) forum with a top 5 search engine exposures.
I agree with you about the speculative nature of the project being troubling (and, imo ultimately unsustainable) but ad revenue is simply not a viable solution.
Ads make it a Marketing platform ala Faceboo and Twitte. And if it's no different than those two, then what makes Steemit different?
Remove bots, and all that STEEM is back in the pool for creators.
just a thought.
How do you remove bots?
I wouldn't know. It's just a thought. Not even suggesting the removal of bots. But if they were gone, then who takes their place? Peeps.
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i love this symbol