There's a larger issue at play with all the API drama, and its not with the end-users, but users of these APIs: indie devs and start-ups.<p>Free (or cheap) APIs have been a way for whoever makes them to discover new segments/markets with low risk/investment. If its good enough, its an opportunity for an indie dev or start-up to get acquired and make an exit, if it isn't, then all the risk was on the indie dev or start-up to begin with.<p>If you go back years into these API ecosystems, you'll see stories like this Apollo/Reddit one aren't new, since the API owners aren't required to buy anyone out, they could either cancel your access or simply clone the way you're using their API and be done.<p>What is new, is how these API dramas are accelerating, either APIs are no longer free, they are putting more locks on how the data can be used or they are getting so expensive you can't make a business case waiting to get acquired or noticed. Simply search for stories about APIs related to Youtube, Reddit, Bing in the past months.<p>My suspicion about this dynamic, is the bigger elephant in the room is ML/AI. For many sites, their lifeblood is their data and they're not going to part with it as easily, since a couple of API calls can mean they're going to get passed over entirely in this ML/AI era. Its do or die for many sites, even if it means pissing off the symbiotic relationship many had indie devs & start-ups.