Reddit thinks it has what it takes to become more than a social platform – it wants to be a place people go to search for answers.
The company says its forums offer something that’s hard to find elsewhere: real conversations from real people. As reported by Business Insider, Reddit said in its second-quarter report that millions of users already come to the site each week looking for advice, and it’s now working to turn those visitors into regular search users.
As of now, Reddit’s built-in search has about 70 million weekly users. Its AI-powered tool, Reddit Answers, has drawn 6 million so far. The feature lets people type a question into a search bar, then uses AI to pull together a summary of on-site content, followed by a breakdown with links to Reddit posts as sources.
The setup looks a lot like Google’s AI-generated search results, which also offer a quick overview with links underneath. In a recent test by Business Insider, both Reddit Answers and Google gave similar summaries when asked how to smoke a brisket. Each included suggested methods with sources to back them up. The key difference was that Google’s links point to a mix of outside websites – including Reddit – while Reddit’s tool only links to its own content.
During a call with investors, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said the company plans to merge its two search products – its regular search and Reddit Answers – into one. He explained that Reddit Answers will become a “capability” in the core search system rather than a separate feature. COO Jen Wong added that the company wants to market Reddit’s search tools more actively, hoping users start to think of Reddit as a go-to place to find information.
Behind the scenes, Reddit’s recent push into search and AI has been paired with stronger financial performance. The company posted its most profitable quarter ever, with revenue climbing 78% year-over-year to $500 million. Net income hit $89 million, and the company expects higher numbers in the third quarter, projecting $535 million to $545 million in revenue – well above analyst forecasts.
Reddit went public earlier this year with a $6.4 billion valuation. Since then, it’s reported strong user and revenue growth. The number of daily unique visitors rose 21% to 110.4 million in the quarter ending June 30. Logged-in daily users also rose 27%, but a bigger jump came from users who weren’t logged in – up 51% – many of whom land on Reddit through Google searches.
Some analysts are uneasy about this reliance on Google. Reddit has a deal allowing Google to train its AI using Reddit content. In return, Reddit gets access to Google’s Vertex AI tools. But critics say this setup could backfire. Analysts from Redburn Atlantic rated Reddit a “sell,” warning that too much of its traffic comes from people who don’t stick around. The users often arrive through search, read a post, then leave. That kind of traffic is harder to turn into ad revenue.
“Much of Reddit’s growth is being driven by people who aren’t logged in,” the Redburn analysts wrote, pointing out that these users tend to spend less time on the site and are harder to monetise. They also warned that Reddit’s recent traffic gains may have peaked – and that Google could one day stop sending as much traffic its way.
Even Reddit’s CEO, Steve Huffman, has acknowledged the trend. “People go to Google to get to Reddit,” he said. But whether Reddit can turn that habit into long-term growth remains unclear.
(Photo by Brett Jordan)
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