Reddit, the public company, recently concluded its second earnings call, and CEO Steve Huffman hinted at potential significant changes to the platform.
Huffman stated that later this year, the company will commence testing AI-powered search result pages, which will summarize and recommend content, enabling users to delve deeper into products, shows, games, and discover new communities on Reddit.
The tests will utilize both first-party and third-party models, though Huffman did not specify the exact timing for the commencement of these tests.
Huffman acknowledged that Reddit’s search function has remained largely unchanged for a long time, but he sees it as a significant opportunity to attract new users.
He also suggested that search could eventually become a substantial source of advertising revenue for the company.
Huffman hinted at exploring other non-advertising revenue streams as well. He mentioned the possibility of experimenting with paywalled subreddits as the company looks to monetize new features.
Huffman emphasized that the existing, free version of Reddit will continue to exist and thrive, but the company will also explore new use cases and types of subreddits that may offer exclusive content or private areas.
A Reddit spokesperson declined to elaborate on Huffman’s remarks. However, it is well-known that the company has been exploring new avenues to expand its business since going public earlier this year.
It has secured multi-million-dollar licensing agreements with Google and OpenAI, and has blocked search engines that are not paying the company.
“Some players in the ecosystem have not been transparent about their use of Reddit’s content, and in those instances, we block access to protect Reddit content and user privacy,” Huffman said.
“We want to know where Reddit data is going and what it’s being used for, and so those are the terms of engagement.”
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