On: Ask HN - How do Quora, Reddit and SO monetize?

[artie_effim]

You know, and this got me off the Facebook: "If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold."

I'll wager dollars to doughnuts that all those sites are selling user data to Madison Ave et al.

[christonog → artie_effim]

So what about credit cards and bank accounts that have no annual fees (essentially free to use)? I suppose your money is the product being sold (in terms of interest) in this case.

[pavel_lishin → christonog]

Stores have to pay to use Visa, etc. So you're still paying for that credit card via slightly higher prices.

[cbg0 → artie_effim]

You'd lose a lot of doughnuts.