It's a very difficult decision to wind down a profitable business But in this case, I think its the best one for current @gummy_search customers, as well as myself I wrote up the "why" here, as well as what what to expect in this final chapter gummysearch.com/final-chapte…

The Final Chapter for GummySearch

A message from Fed regarding upcoming changes to GummySearch

gummysearch.com

Nov 6, 2025 · 4:30 PM UTC

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You've all raised some great thought-provoking questions/ideas and I've tried to answer them here
Fed 🐻
 @foliofed
Nov 7
Tons of good questions raised about the shutdown decision The tactical ones are answered in my post, the more interesting ones below - Wait but why? - Can you _______ to stay up? - Why not just sell it? - Platform risk sucks, huh? - Are you mad at Reddit? - Whats next for you?
Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Should @gumroad acquire?
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Well from a brand name perspective the synergies are strikingly gelatinous
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
this sucks! always loved the project and seeing you build it :(
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Thanks for your support Ian 🤍 I'll be back with something more resilient soon
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Can't you just pull Sam Altman? Run it as a non-profit and have a for profit wrapper manage it?
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Isn't he being sued for this?
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more replies
Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Shame, I always wondered how you got this working since I saw all other Reddit tools shut down. Curious how the process/conversations around this looked like with them?
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Can't share those details unfortunately, but I can say I gave it as much of an effort as I could have
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Replying to @foliofed
Thanks for sharing mate. Platform risk striking again? "It comes down to the Reddit API requiring paid products to obtain a commercial license. I went for it, it didn't work out." Why exactly @gummy_search can't get the commencial license?
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Unfortunately can't answer this one
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Damn. I hate to see this. But I also cannot wait to see what you build next!
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Next one will be bigger :)
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
if you hadn’t applied for the commercial license, do you think you could’ve kept it running for at least a few more months or even years and possibly made another million? or was the shutdown triggered directly by reddit?
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Good question - and one I'll never know the answer to. But my hunch is that this action accelerated the inevitable
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Sad it is ending this way One of our main inspirations for starting CrowdReply Would love to see if we can acquire it. A great fit for both of us
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Prob not the best fit from my end unless you have a commercial agreement with Reddit
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Is this cause of legal pressure from Reddit?
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Hey this is a huge mistake. You can run this scraping, without using their API, and yes legally.
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Wait Reddit's api doesn't allow commercial usage? at all? I don't understand
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
This night be a good chance to launch a competitor based on a third party scraping api. Or build a scraping api first then build this. Who would do this with me ?
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Sorry to hear this @foliofed as an early adopter it's sad to see Reddit do this. I hope you'll find a buyer to lock in all the hard work you put into GummySearch - Hell Reddit should hire you to make this a part of Reddit's advertiser apps 😀
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
so sorry to hear this 😔
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Sorry to hear this Fed. Maybe reach out to some bigger players. They might be able to negotiate for the Reddit commercial license.
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
@grok why gummy search closing?
Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Sorry to hear, my friend.
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Sorry to hear buddy 😢. I hope someone with a commercial license can come around and buy the product
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
sorry to hear this.
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Oh boy.. didn’t see this one coming. Have you tried getting acquired? Maybe a bigger company (who acquires you) can manage the challenge with Reddit
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
@adrian_horning_ and I are sharks in the water. Can we setup a `stickysearch` that does this business?
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Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Why not sell it instead - im sure there's plenty of people who would be interested
Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Oh my! Sucks to learn you’re closing the curtain on this one. @alexisohanian is there anything that can be done to help an indie dev with Reddit API? 🥹
Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
That really sucks to hear. You built a great business and wish you all the best in your next endeavor.
Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Platform risk is so real - what a run tho 💪
Replying to @foliofed @gummy_search
Tough read… but I’m glad you’re still honoring existing subscribers and not shutting things down at once completely. Excited to see what you build next. I know it’s going to be even better
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