Given Reddit partnership with GoogleThis is an interesting addition to the platform.
Today, Reddit launched “Reddit Answers”, which is actually the same as Google AI Insightsbut in Reddit form.
As you can see in this (extended) screenshot, Reddit Answers will allow users to ask questions and get AI-generated answers, with information from relevant subreddits.
As explained Reddit:
“With Reddit Answers, writers can ask questions and receive answers using a new conversational interface powered by AI. Once a question is asked, curated summaries of conversations and relevant details on Reddit will appear, including links to related communities and posts. Editors can easily read relevant excerpts and responses from real writers online, access the full conversations, and dig deeper with their own or suggested follow-up questions.»
Which, again, is pretty much exactly the same thing as Google’s AI previews, but limited specifically to Reddit. Which I can’t imagine Google being entirely happy with, and given that Google has caused a huge increase in traffic on Reddit Lately, this seems like a risky bet for Reddit.
But again, Reddit replies will only be relevant to Reddit users, of which there are currently less than 100 million. This is therefore unlikely to hamper Google’s dominance in search, while Google also benefits from human-generated product information in its results, due to its data sharing agreement with the company.
So Google might not care too much anyway. But it’s a nice addition, one that could make Reddit a discovery hub for more people.
Reddit has become a valuable source of data in the current race for the AI generation, as its forums see real humans sharing a bunch of practical, real-world information about their experiences, many of them with products. This has attracted the attention of AI developers who need human insights to improve the value of their generative AI responses.
Reddit signed an agreement with Google to share its data in February this yearwhich Google now uses in various ways, notably within its Gemini chatbot.
But with this, Reddit seeks to offer the same experience as other applications with its data, within Reddit itself.
Which makes sense, but it will be interesting to see if this will impact how other platforms plan to handle Reddit on their data offerings.
Reddit says Reddit Answers is initially rolling out to a limited number of users in the United States, with support currently in English. It will look to expand to other languages and locations in the future (you can sign up to receive updates for your region here).