Search engines such as Bing, DuckDuckGo and others no longer display current Reddit content; the platform has excluded search engines other than Google from crawling. At the same time, an important new ad format was introduced.
Google now has the privilege of displaying current Reddit content in search results. Bing, DuckDuckGo and other popular search engines no longer display newer Reddit posts. They are no longer able to crawl, as 404 Media reportsThe exception is Google. Reddit signed a content cooperation deal with the search engine company this year worth 60 million US dollars per year – just in time for Reddit’s IPO.
However, Reddit does not explain the change to the robots.txt protocol with the Google deal, but has given another reason. Meanwhile, the company is expanding its own advertising options.
Even more advertising in the communities?
Reddit goes public
Reddit as a huge content source: Google with advantages
It is obvious that Google’s deal with Reddit could have given the search engine an advantage in displaying relevant content. Reddit content has appeared many times in recent months as a reference source in search engines, sometimes even to an exaggerated extent. The use of the platform itself has also developed positively. In addition, the AI company OpenAI is also relying on the content of the popular platform thanks to a cooperation agreement with Reddit. over 82 million daily active users and more than 16 billion posts and comments and over 100,000 active communities.
But other players will have to do without current Reddit content when displaying search results. For example, a search for “site:reddit.com” on Bing only returns old results. Microsoft has already confirmed that crawling is no longer possible for Bing. end of June announced Reddit a change to the quasi-standard robots.txt protocol and wrote:
(…) In the coming weeks, we’ll update our Robots Exclusion Protocol (robots.txt file), which gives high-level instructions about how we do and don’t allow Reddit to be crawled by third parties. Along with our updated robots.txt file, we will continue rate-limiting and/or blocking unknown bots and crawlers from accessing reddit.com. This update shouldn’t impact the vast majority of folks who use and enjoy Reddit. Good faith actors – like researchers and organizations such as the Internet Archive – will continue to have access to Reddit content for non-commercial use (…).
This did not indicate that search engines other than Google could no longer be allowed to crawl. In a Statement to Engadget the company explains:
We block all crawlers that are unwilling to commit to not using crawl data for AI training, which is in line with enforcing our Public Content Policy and updated robots.txt file.
Reddit assumes that the crawlers of Bing and Co. could use the content of the platform for AI training; however, the company does not want to guarantee this without receiving something in return, such as from Google. If Reddit implements this strategy, it would mean a major change in the digital space, which should be seen as a consequence of AI development. Fabian Peters already asks the question on Basic Thinkingwhether “the time of the open Internet is over”. We eagerly await the reactions of industry players, both search engine operators and platform operators.
Reddit’s Advertising gets a big update: Lead Gen Ads are here
Meanwhile, Reddit is expanding its own monetization efforts beyond content deals. After the launch of Dynamic Product Ads, the revolutionary Free-Form Ads and a lot of AI support for ad creation Now come the Lead Gen AdsThe beta version of the advertising solution was recently released. Complemented by AI automation through Zapier, the option allows advertisers to generate high-quality leads via Reddit. This is particularly interesting for B2B marketers, as the platform can play a major role in product reviews, purchase intent and similar aspects for many users – especially in dedicated subreddits. Advertisers can reach their target groups in precisely these relevant communities on Reddit.
Reddit introduces AI support for ad creation
© Brett Jordan – Unsplash
Source: onlinemarketing.de
