“Sociable” is the most recent commentary on essential social media developments and trends from industry expert Andrew Hutchinson of Social Media Today.
Google’s making a strategic move to shore up its Search business, via a recent deal with Reddit that may give Google exclusive access to Reddit’s data for use in Search and inside its generative AI projects.
Late last week, reports circulated that Reddit had signed a recent deal to sell its data for $60 million per yr to “an unnamed large AI company”. Many (myself included) assumed that this might be OpenAI, as a part of its broader push to challenge Google’s search dominance, but it surely seems it was actually Google, with the deal set to bring Reddit info into each Search and its evolving Gemini models.
As per Google:
“Over the years, we’ve seen that individuals increasingly use Google to search for helpful content on Reddit to search out product recommendations, travel advice and rather more. We know people find this information useful, so we’re developing ways to make it even easier to access across Google products. This partnership will facilitate more content-forward displays of Reddit information that may make our products more helpful for our users and make it easier to take part in Reddit communities and conversations.”
Which is a clever move, considering that, as Google notes, people have been increasingly appending their Google searches with “site:www.reddit.com” in an effort to get more direct user experience notes and human insight, especially as on-site product reviews have turn into increasingly questionable.
As you possibly can see in this instance, by searching Reddit, you possibly can get forum links that provide real, human conversations about products and their features, all up and downvoted to focus on essentially the most relevant matches.
This content is a big value add for search, and within the age of generative AI, where increasingly product review sites are employing AI bots to create harder-to-detect fake endorsements, the worth of that might turn into much more significant.
“Google now has access to Reddit’s Data API, which delivers real-time, structured, unique content from their large and dynamic platform. With the Reddit Data API, Google will now have efficient and structured access to brisker information, in addition to enhanced signals that may help us higher understand Reddit content and display, train on, and otherwise use it in essentially the most accurate and relevant ways.”
Direct integration with Google may even profit Reddit, in helping to spice up awareness of Reddit’s forums across 100,000 area of interest topics. In this sense, it is a deal that might never have been done up to now, because Reddit once hosted essentially the most chaotic, controversial communities, and was a core facilitator of among the worst points of web interaction, including hate speech, gore, revenge porn, etc.
But that each one modified back in 2020, when Reddit made sweeping changes to its rules, which resulted within the immediate expulsion of 1000’s of its most controversial subreddits. The goal back then was to redefine Reddit interaction, in an effort to maximize its business potential, with a view to a future IPO, and this recent Google deal is a solid endorsement of that approach.
And while an additional $60 million per yr won’t be a revolutionary boost to the corporate’s overall intake (Reddit reportedly brought in $800 million in ad revenue last yr), the extra exposure advantages could enhance the deal’s value, making it a crucial strategic initiative.
And really, Reddit’s data doesn’t even must appreciate. For a recent company buying in, as a challenger to Google, you’ll assume that the worth here can be that Reddit’s growth could up the worth of its dataset over time. But with Google, it doesn’t even need that, it just needs Reddit to maintain providing it with all of its information as a complement to Search, warding off any potential competition with that insight.
It’s an interesting partnership, and a big endorsement of Reddit’s evolving business direction. The platform continues to be reportedly planning its IPO next month, and it’ll be interesting to see what it may possibly reveal about its partnership with Google before then.
Read the complete article here
