Under the new test, entering terms like "espresso station" can surface targeted promotions for related products such as beans, mugs, or espresso machines. The search pilot expands an inventory that already features sponsored threads, AMAs, video units, and feed placements. It arrives on the heels of major platform updates, including restrictions on "Old Reddit" access and dedicated Following and For You feeds. Reddit is also moving toward a logged-in-only requirement to prevent Google from scraping site content for artificial intelligence training.
Key points
Commercial promotions will now populate user search results based on the contextual relev…: Commercial promotions will now populate user search results based on the contextual relevance of specific keywords.
The advertising pilot follows platform adjustments such as new discovery feeds and strict…: The advertising pilot follows platform adjustments such as new discovery feeds and strict limits on Old Reddit access.
Restricting site access to logged-in users serves as an effort to stop artificial intelli…: Restricting site access to logged-in users serves as an effort to stop artificial intelligence scraping by outside companies.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Reddit is testing ads on another area of its platform: search. With this update, ads will appear within your search results “based on a range of factors, including contextual relevance to a search query,” according to Reddit.
Reddit is adding more ads
Searching for an ‘espresso station’ on Reddit could surface ads for espresso machines, beans, or mugs.
Searching for an ‘espresso station’ on Reddit could surface ads for espresso machines, beans, or mugs.
That means searching for “espresso station” could present you with ads for espresso, machines, beans, or mugs, while a search for a “home office setup” may yield ads for monitors, desks, or office chairs. Reddit currently shows ads across its feeds in a variety of formats, including images, videos, sponsored posts, and AMAs. It also shows ads within threads.
Reddit has announced a number of changes to its platform over the past several weeks, including new Following and For You feeds and limiting who can access “Old Reddit.” The company most recently announced plans to make Reddit a “logged-in-only experience” to fight Google’s AI scraping, contributing…
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