Reddit’s AI play is for the Google crowd, not just the community scrollers

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman says that there are two types of people who come to the social media platform: Scrollers and seekers.

Scrollers are those who come to Reddit’s basic product, which is a conversation in the community and engagement about topics that are passionate, from R/Sourdough to R/Popculturechat. Then there are seekers; People who could enroll their specific inquiry into Google search and eventually get into a “Reddit” to find the actual advice and opinions of real people.

Reddit repliesAi chatbot on AI, which literally corresponds to the answers and abstracts from the existing Reddit posts, is intended for seekers. And the early results suggest that it had already received attraction.

“Until recently, we have not built a product for them,” Reddit’s Executive Director Steve Huffman said on Thursday on the invitation of earnings in the first quarter. “These users do not come to Reddit for the community at that moment. They come to the answer. And I think we can [acknowledge] The case of use that the user also brings us more effective in solving. “

Reddit announced during the call that his product product already has 1 million per week active users from him launched in a beta version in December. Last month, Reddit expanded the answers outside the USA Australia, the UK, Canada and India.

The feature, which is still in a beta version, is currently living in the navigation lane of the application as its own separate experience. Entering in 2025, Reddit plans to integrate deeper answers to the platform in several different ways.

Huffman said that the most obvious way to do this would be to integrate the response into the primary search box, which could allow users to type in a complete inquiry, not just a few keywords.

The Executive Director also said that the company explores the ways of integrating the response to the beginning of the user trip.

“So you are a new user who opens Reddit for the first time, using answers to see what is in Reddit and find out that Reddit almost certainly has what you are looking for,” he said.

The second “point of entry” for answers would be through an external search, “helping [users] Get a concise or simpler version of the answer to Reddit, “Huffman said.

This could also protect Reddit from the grace of Google Search. In the fourth quarter of 2024, a change in the Google Search Algorithm caused a certain “volatility” with Reddit’s user growth, which at the time combined investors, despite their earnings estimates.

“We are open platform and we want people to find Reddit content in [Google] Search, “Huffman said.” Open is raised consciousness and visibility. It can also create a variability, and we expect some bulges on the way from Google, because we have already seen several this year. This is expected in any year, but given that the ecosystem is a large construction, a close term could be more uneven than usual. “

Reddit’s shares have grown in trading after working hours while the company beat the expectations of analysts earnings and a strong user growth. The company reported revenue of $ 392.4 million, which is 61% more than a year, an adapted EBITDA in the amount of $ 115.3 million, and a daily active unique users of 108.1 million, an increase of 31% compared to 21%.

In the second quarter, Reddit estimates the revenue ranging from $ 410 to $ 430 million and adjusted EBITDA between $ 110 and $ 130 million.