Surfer
Web and SaaS
image sharing platform
SHOW HN2014
80points
78comments
#369of 2,272 in 2014
Top 17%of 2014 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
6 positive, 22 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 18 critical, out of 48 comments about the project. Thread score -0.23.
Idea: 3 for, 11 againstDesign: 1 for, 3 againstPerformance: 1 for, 2 againstPricing: 0 for, 1 againstExecution: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Interesting concept of sharing ad revenue with users
From 3 comments
It's a really interesting concept, if it takes off it would be nice to see how it affects the types of content people are posting (whether having the incentive of payment pushes…
Robadob on HNI think you have a really good idea. I also agree that a lot of users would use an image sharing site if they know potentially they could make some money instead of none. There…
ivanbrussik on HNAwesome concept. It was about time someone made a system like this. As an avid redditor with quite a bit of useless reddit-karma, I'll give your site a try. If you were selling…
atko on HN
Site design looks clean
From 1 comment
Cool idea! I really like the site design. Coincidentally enough, the color scheme and flat design style looks almost exactly like something I'm working on haha
Xcelerate on HN
Objections
Slow image loading compared to Imgur
From 2 comments
A good thing about imgur is that images load very quickly. I am not getting the same experience from your website. http://imgur.com/99kuTjE took 3000ms to load,…
ttsda on HNConcept is interesting. I'm a photographer... is this thing worth it? How many views do I need to generate 1 US Dollar? BUT you site is too slow. I will not predict a bright…
therealmarv on HN
Copyright and DMCA liability for paid user uploads
From 4 comments
What's your plan to handle instances where users generate ad revenue from images they don't own?
Splendor on HNbasically, you're soon going run into the same problem as Youtube, i.e. having to create your own ContentID system. This should be feasible through something like tineye.com, but…
dalek2point3 on HNDMCA and Ad compliance are core to the business model. They cannot be ignored by pointing your users to this link.
halayli on HNManual verification like that could very well make you lose your safe harbor protections under the DMCA and Section 230.
dublinben on HN
AdSense may ban the site over a single inappropriate image
From 2 comments
adsense or any ad server can block your account/domain because of a single inappropriate picture. How will you deal with that?
halayli on HNAny idea why they got banned from adsense?
Blahah on HN
Reddit prefers direct links that earn nothing
From 2 comments
Not only that but they claim to be going after the Reddit/Imgur crowd but Reddit prefers and uses direct links to images; they rarely link to the full HTML page which is where…
nacs on HNThis seems like a really cool idea! I'm not sure how well this would go over on reddit since they prefer direct-link images usually, but I love the idea. Good luck, I hope it…
bratsche on HN
Requests
State the revenue cut clearly during sign-up
From 2 comments
You could state that somewhere. I was assuming you take a cut and purposefully didn't mention how big it is.
MzHN on HNThis is something Surfer is going to have to state clearly during the sign-up process to avoid being villified by the Reddit and Imgur crowd.
frakkingcylons on HN
Allow uploads without requiring signup
From 2 comments
You get an internal server error if you submit the signup form on the front page without filling any fields. You should probably let people just upload their pictures without…
Jhsto on HNWhy do you require registering to upload? You want it to be as quick to get started with as other services and on top of that you get to collect the ad revenue until they decide…
swinglock on HN
Support in Reddit Enhancement Suite
From 1 comment
Support for Surfer on Reddit Enhancement Suite will be crucial for this to do well on Reddit. Gfycat did this and it has paid off for them.
frakkingcylons on HN
Fix faster image resizing and EXIF rotation handling
From 2 comments
Seems nice, but it seems to ignore the exif rotation/orientation data... is that something that should be handled when the image is uploaded?
scottw on HNYeah, the first time it loads at a certain size it makes a resized copy so that's probably the lag you're seeing. I'll update so it does the resizing on image upload and see how…
rgbrgb on HN
Questions
How is ad revenue paid out legally and what transfer service is used
From 2 comments
This seems like a really cool idea! I'm not sure how well this would go over on reddit since they prefer direct-link images usually, but I love the idea. Good luck, I hope it…
bratsche on HNHow does the payout of ad revenue work legally? Normally you can't just write checks to people without either employing them or requiring them to have a company.
Kiro on HN
How the site makes money and what cut it takes
From 1 comment
Do you take a cut? How do you make money?
state on HN
Alternatives named
Imgur
From 2 comments
Good initiative but it lacks severely. First of all you will face all sorts of intellectual property problems. Then, you will have to deal with adoption. Imgur users are often…
pearjuice on HNHm. Not sure I completely understand what's going on here. Is this supposed to be better than imgur? I'm always a bit leery of something that immediately wants my credentials…
state on HN
MediaCrush
From 1 comment
If you want to be in control of your own images, videos, audio, whatever: set up your own instance of MediaCrush. It takes less than 10 minutes and you have complete control. You…
Sir_Cmpwn on HN
MediaGoblin
From 1 comment
If you have slightly different needs, MediaGoblin is also a good choice. http://mediagoblin.org/
dublinben on HN
Tumblr
From 1 comment
I see what you did there. At least Tumblr gives credit to the actual artist. http://redd.it/20fb5v…
julianwachholz on HN