The Problem With “Pay To Be Seen!”

“Pay to be seen” is often presented as practical, even necessary.

It’s framed as a way to support platforms, help businesses grow, or improve relevance. But over time, it creates a predictable outcome: visibility becomes a function of budget, not quality.

That’s when trust erodes.

Once people suspect that what they’re seeing is influenced by payment, discovery stops feeling organic. Recommendations feel transactional. Smaller players quietly disappear, not because they’re worse, but because they can’t compete financially.

You only have to look at Google search results, where the top 3-5 spaces are taken up by paid advertising.

We didn’t want to build something that relies on that dynamic.

Removing pay-to-be-seen mechanics simplifies things in an important way. If something appears, it’s there for the same reason as everything else. No hidden boosts. No promoted placements dressed up as relevance.

When visibility can’t be bought, what’s left has to earn its place in a more honest way.