In a move to bolster its Search business, Google has recently announced an expanded partnership with Reddit.
Reddit’s platform, known for its breadth of authentic, human conversations and experiences, will now be more accessible to Google users, making it easier for them to benefit from the useful information available on Reddit.
This collaboration, which has been in the works for many years, is set to deepen across the company, with Reddit playing a unique role on the open internet.
The partnership is marked by a new Cloud collaboration that allows Reddit to integrate new AI-powered capabilities using Vertex AI. Reddit plans to use Vertex AI to enhance search and other functionalities on its platform.
The initiative comes response to the increasing trend of people using Google to search for helpful content on Reddit, such as product recommendations and travel advice.
In addition to enhancing search capabilities, the partnership also involves Google gaining access to Reddit’s Data API. This API delivers real-time, structured, unique content from Reddit’s large and dynamic platform.
With this access, Google will now have efficient and structured access to fresher information, as well as enhanced signals that will help it better understand Reddit content and display, train on, and otherwise use it in the most accurate and relevant ways.
This expanded partnership does not change Google’s use of publicly available, crawlable content for indexing, training, or display in Google products. Instead, it facilitates more content-forward displays of Reddit information, making Google products more helpful for users and making it easier for them to participate in Reddit communities and conversations.
The deal, reported to be worth $60 million per year for Reddit, also grants Google exclusive access to Reddit’s data for use in Search and within its generative AI projects.
This access to a wider range of Reddit content in a structured format will enhance the ability of language models to understand human conversations and writing styles. As AI is increasingly used in search, this could in turn affect how content is understood and ranked in Google search.
Implications and Future Prospects of the Partnership**
For Google, the deal will result in increased visibility for Reddit discussions in various Google products, potentially including various search surfaces across a range of topics and contexts. This will make it easier for Google to make sense of the information and use it more efficiently, with enhanced signals that will help the tech giant display it in more useful ways.
For Reddit, the partnership with Google will boost awareness of its forums across 100,000 niche topics. This is a significant endorsement of Reddit’s evolving business direction, which has seen sweeping changes to its rules in 2020 to maximize its business potential. The additional exposure benefits could enhance the deal’s value, making it an important strategic initiative.
The partnership is expected to facilitate more content-forward displays of Reddit information, making Google products more helpful for users and making it easier for them to participate in Reddit communities and conversations.
Moreover, the partnership is expected to have a significant impact on the way people search for and find information online. With Google’s enhanced access to Reddit’s content, users will be able to find more direct user experience notes and human insight, especially as on-site product reviews have become increasingly questionable. This could potentially revolutionize the way people use search engines, making them more reliable sources of information.
