Now it is revealed that Google is the undisclosed AI company that Reddit has entered into a content licensing agreement with, as reported by Reuters.
Significance of the Matter: Reddit had already been under scrutiny from SEOs due to Google’s apparent preference for the platform in the Discussions and forums SERP feature. In some cases, Reddit is even surpassing the original sources of content.
Naturally, some individuals may question whether Reddit’s increased visibility in Google’s highly valuable search results is a result of this deal. Is Reddit’s prominent presence in Google Search an effort to rectify the trend of searchers appending their queries with “reddit”? It’s plausible that both scenarios hold some truth.
The Agreement: Allegedly, Google is compensating Reddit $60 million annually for the purpose of training its artificial intelligence models such as Gemini. Despite this, neither Reddit nor Google has officially acknowledged the deal, which was purportedly finalized “earlier this year” as Reddit moves closer to an initial public offering (IPO).
- On February 16, Bloomberg (subscription required) initially disclosed that Reddit had struck a deal with “a large AI company.”
Enforcing Payment: In April of last year, Reddit explicitly stated its intention for AI companies like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI to pay for utilizing its content. Presently, it seems Google is complying with this directive. Steve Huffman, Reddit’s founder and CEO, conveyed to the New York Times (subscription required):
- “The Reddit corpus of data holds significant value. However, we are not inclined to provide all that value to some of the world’s largest companies free of charge.”
Surge in Rankings: Concurrently, as highlighted by Glenn Gabe, an SEO consultant at G-Squared Interactive, the number of URLs ranking on Google surged from 22 million in May last year to 41.1 million presently, based on Semrush data:
- “This increase is substantial… indicating not only an enhancement in rankings but also a surge in the sheer volume of pages ranking.”
Here is Gabe’s detailed post:
The number of URLs has increased from 22M to 41.1M -> It appears that Google has engaged in a collaboration with Reddit to refine its AI using Reddit’s content. Furthermore, the introduction of the “hidden gems” feature in the fall of 2023 led to a surge in Reddit (and other forums). With this partnership, does Google now have unrestricted access to Reddit’s content? i.e. Is Reddit… pic.twitter.com/24uVJydTQb
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) February 22, 2024
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About the author
Danny Goodwin has served as the Managing Editor of Search Engine Land & Search Marketing Expo – SMX since 2022. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as the Senior Editor. Apart from covering the latest search marketing news, he oversees Search Engine Land’s SME (Subject Matter Expert) program and contributes to organizing U.S. SMX events.
Goodwin has been involved in editing and reporting on the newest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. Previously, he held the position of Executive Editor at Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managed Momentology (from 2014-2016), and edited Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has been a speaker at numerous major search conferences and virtual events, and his expertise has been featured in various publications and podcasts.
