The One Rule

There is never any advertising.

Not now. Not later. Not “just one sponsor.” Not “partner posts.” Not “we’ll only do tasteful ads.”

Zero ads. Forever.

That rule isn’t a vibe — it’s the product, the business model, the tech stack choices, and the governance.

What I built for you right now (runnable MVP)

I put together a working starter platform called AdFree Photo:

  • Accounts (email + password)
  • Upload photo + caption
  • Chronological feed
  • Profiles
  • Likes + comments
  • Follow/unfollow
  • No trackers / no ad scripts / no third-party junk

Download the project: adfree-photo.zip

Run it locally

cd adfree-photo

docker compose up –build

Then open:

  • http://localhost:8000

That’s a real, running foundation you can extend into a full platform.

The Ad-Free “Constitution” (how you keep the promise for real)

If “never any advertising” is the premise, you need it locked in at 4 levels:

1) Product rules (UI/UX)

  • No ad slots in the design system.
  • No sponsored-post feature.
  • No paid boosts.
  • No “promoted” anything.
  • Feed defaults to chronological (recommendations can exist, but never monetized).

2) Data rules (privacy)

  • No selling user data.
  • No third-party tracking pixels.
  • No ad identifiers.
  • Keep analytics first-party + privacy-friendly (aggregated, no surveillance).

3) Business rules (how it survives)

Ads are a business model. If you remove them, you must replace the oxygen.

Good ad-free revenue options:

  • Membership subscription (core)
    • Free tier: limited uploads + community access
    • Paid tier: more storage, high-res, pro tools, backups
  • Creator support (optional tipping)
  • Print marketplace (you take a small transaction fee)
  • Team/Studio accounts (photographers, collectives)
  • Paid add-ons that are not ads (extra storage, custom domains for portfolios, etc.)

4) Governance rules (trust)

  • Put the “No-Ads Pledge” in your public docs + Terms
  • Publish transparency reports (what data you collect and why)
  • Optional: open-source the client or the ad-free pledge enforcement layer

Platform blueprint (what this becomes when you scale it)

Your MVP is running. Here’s the path to turn it into a legit platform.

Core features that match the ad-free vibe

  • Chronological feed + optional “curated” feed (human or transparent algorithm)
  • Albums/collections
  • Tags + search
  • Image EXIF controls: strip by default vs preserve for photographers
  • Reposts/remixes? (optional)
  • DMs (optional — and moderation-heavy)

Safety + moderation (you need this early)

  • Reporting + review queue
  • Block/mute
  • Rate limiting
  • NSFW labeling + filters
  • Copyright/DMCA pipeline

Tech architecture (production-grade)

When you outgrow on-disk uploads:

  • Store images on S3-compatible object storage
  • Serve via CDN
  • Generate sizes via background jobs (queue/worker)
  • Use signed URLs for upload/download
  • Add search with Postgres full-text → later OpenSearch/Meilisearch

High-level flow:

  1. Client uploads → storage
  2. Worker generates thumb/medium → storage
  3. API saves metadata → DB
  4. Feed reads metadata fast → CDN serves images

What you can do next (immediate upgrades)

If you want to go from “MVP demo” to “real platform,” the next steps that matter most:

  1. Swap local disk → S3 + CDN
  2. Move image resizing → background worker
  3. Add rate limiting + brute-force protection
  4. Add email verification / magic links
  5. Add billing (membership) so ads never become “tempting”
  6. Add moderation basics (reports, blocks)

If you tell me what vibe you want (minimalist Leica-forum energy vs. mainstream social), I’ll shape:

  • the feed logic (pure chrono vs. curated),
  • the creator tools,
  • and the membership tiers
    so the whole system screams ad-free on purpose, not “ad-free for now.”