Reddit Inc (RDDT)

[TRUISM]

It's not just you: Reddit is taking over Google
EXCERPT
Hugh Langley Apr 17, 2024,
BUSINESS INSIDER



* Google's AI search engine and the rise of forum posts like Reddit and Quora are upheaving SEO.
* Google's shift to promoting more human, helpful sites has led to a surge in traffic to Reddit.
* This rise in Reddit's visibility is being exploited by spammers, raising concerns.


If you think you've been seeing an awful lot more Reddit results lately when you search on Google, you're not imagining things.

The internet is in upheaval, and for website owners the rules of "winning" Google Search have never been murkier.

Google's generative AI search engine is coming from one direction. It's creeping closer to mainstream deployment and bringing an existential crisis for SEOs and website makers everywhere.

Coming from the other direction is an influx of posts from Reddit, Quora, and other internet forums that have climbed up through the traditional set of Google links.

Data analysis from Semrush, which predicts traffic based on search ranking, shows that traffic to Reddit has climbed at an impressive clip since August. Semrush estimated that Reddit had over 132 million visitors in August 2023. At the time of publishing, it was projected to have over 346 million visitors in April 2024.


Organic search traffic to Reddit over the past two years Semrush


None of this is accidental. For years, Google has been watching users tack on "Reddit" to the end of search queries and finally decided to do something about it.

Google started dropping hints in 2022 when it promised to do a better job of promoting sites that weren't just chasing the top of search but were more helpful and human.

Last August, Google rolled out a big update to Search that seemed to kick this into action. Reddit, Quora, and other forum sites started getting more visibility in Google, both within the traditional links and within a new "discussions and forums" section, which you may have spotted if you're US-based.

The timing of this Reddit bump has led to some conspiracy theories. In February, Google and Reddit announced a blockbuster deal that would let Google train its AI models on Reddit content. Google said the deal, reportedly worth $60 million, would "facilitate more content-forward displays of Reddit information," leading to some speculation that Google promised Reddit better visibility in exchange for the valuable training data. A few weeks later, Reddit also went public.

A Google spokesperson told BI: "Our agreement with Reddit absolutely did not include ranking its content higher on Search."

Indeed, SEO experts have watched this Reddit bump since August when Google rolled out a crucial search update six months before the deal was announced.

It's not just Reddit. Q&A forum Quora is getting a huge visibility bump in Google search results, per Semrush and Sistrix data. Google says "hundreds" of other forums and communities across the web are also getting the bump.

Still, given Reddit's size, its rise is the most noticeable. Per Sistrix data, Reddit is now as visible in top Google Search results as Instagram.


Reddit's visibility in Google Search now matches that of Instagram Sistrix


Steve Paine, marketing manager at Sistrix, called the rise of Reddit "unprecedented."

"There hasn't been a website that's grown so much search visibility so quickly in the US in at least the last five years," he told Business Insider.

Right now, Reddit ranks high for product searches. Reddit's main competitors are Wikipedia, YouTube, and Fandom, Paine said, and it also competes in "high-value commercial searches," putting it up against Amazon. The "real competitors," he said, are the subreddits that compete with brands on the web.


Giving the people what they want

Why is Google doing this, and why now?

The company's stance here is simple: it's giving users what they want.

"Our research has shown that people often want to learn from others' experiences with a topic, so we've continued to make it easier to find helpful perspectives on Search when it's relevant to a query," a Google spokesperson told BI. "Our systems surface content from hundreds of forums and other communities across the web, and we conduct rigorous testing to ensure results are helpful and high quality."

A Lady Gaga Google Search shows how AI is upending the world's most profitable online business. 'Site owners are terrified.'
Responding to a post on X, Google search liaison Danny Sullivan said users not only like seeing "forum content" but that they "proactively seek it out."

This shift in search behavior has already been happening for several years. In July 2022, Google's search head Prabhakar Raghavan said younger users were turning to alternative sources such as TikTok and Instagram for information and recommendations. Last year, during the Reddit blackout in June, Google Search got considerably worse.



TRUISM ENDORSED