Google working on new ‘content-forward’ ways to surface more Reddit

Google today announced an “expanded partnership” with Reddit that sees it get access to the forum website’s data for training and other product uses.

Google now has access to the Reddit Data API for “efficient and structured access to fresher information, as well as enhanced signals that will help us better understand Reddit content” like public posts and comments. 

Besides using that data to train large language models (LLMs) more efficiently, Google is “developing ways to make it even easier to access” information from Reddit across its “products.” That implies beyond just Search, which already prominently shows Reddit results. In the future, we’ll get “more content-forward displays of Reddit information,” with another goal being to “make it easier to participate in Reddit communities and conversations.”

By making Reddit content and communities easier to find, we’re able to uphold our belief in the open internet while better serving current users and reaching new audiences.

Reddit

In 2022, Google introduced a “Discussion and forums” section in Search to more prominently highlight “first-hand advice.” It reflects how people frequently append “reddit” to their search query to get better results.

Meanwhile, Google has a “Perspectives” Search filter to see more personal and human results. This includes “long- and short-form videos, images, and written posts that people have shared on discussion boards, Q&A sites, and social media platforms.”

Meanwhile, a Google Cloud partnership sees Reddit use Vertex AI to improve its site search and other capabilities. 

For Reddit, this Google contract is reportedly worth around $60 million per year.