Exploring the Google-Reddit Partnership: Implications for SEO Professionals and Users

When was the last time you whipped out your smartphone, typed in a query on “weight loss” in the Google search bar, and wiped it off as quickly as you typed it because all you could see were Quora and Reddit discussions?

Well, guess what? You are not the only one with concerns and questions about discussion and forum results coming up for most search queries. 

Here’s what Lily Ray, Vice President, SEO Strategy & Research, had to say about this recent development on X;

“For 6+ years, and throughout the QRG, Google has shared that YMYL queries – presumably like “weight loss” – require the highest levels of E-E-A-T. For 6+ years, we’ve seen sites like the CDC and Harvard ranking prominently for these queries, plus Google’s own “symptom search” knowledge panel, which was also supposedly curated using information from the Mayo Clinic and Harvard.

Why, then, is it ok for Google to add a “Discussions and Forums” carousel above all of these E-E-A-T-driven medical results when we see very clearly how Reddit is being overtaken by affiliate spam and scammers?

This is not the only such YMYL query where Discussions and Forums rank so prominently.

Isn’t this a bit dangerous for Google?” 

While we will get to Danny Sullivan from Google’s reply to the above post on X, let’s walk you through all you seek to gain from this blog!

• An insight into the Google Reddit partnership
• Implications of this partnership for SEO professionals and users
• Mavlers’ thoughts on the plausible outcomes of this partnership

As you go through the blog, you will be better positioned to tweak your SEO strategy for your brand to suit the demands of the changing situations and, if you are an SEO professional, how to optimize your SEO and content strategies better.

An insight into the Google Reddit partnership

Before we discuss this path-breaking partnership in detail, let’s examine Reddit.com’s recent traffic trends.

You can see a marked spike of 32% between February and March 2024.

Wondering what’s cooking behind the scenes, let’s hear the tea straight from the horse’s mouth! 😉

This is what Rajan Patel of Google had to say on the 22nd of February 2024, according to a company announcement;

“We’ve had a longstanding relationship with Reddit for many years, and today, we’re sharing a number of ways that we’re deepening our partnership across the company. Reddit plays a unique role on the open internet as a large platform with an incredible breadth of authentic human conversations and experiences, and we’re excited to partner to make it even easier for people to benefit from that useful information.

First, we’re pleased to announce a new Cloud partnership with Vertex AI that enables Reddit to integrate new AI-powered capabilities. Reddit intends to use Vertex AI to enhance search and other capabilities on the Reddit platform.

Reddit confirmed the same through a company announcement on the same date, saying,

“Over the last 18 years, Reddit has become one of the internet’s largest open archives of authentic and constantly updated human-generated conversations and experiences. Aligned with our belief that everyone should be able to find the information they need and the experiences they want online, we’ve expanded our partnership with Google to make it easier to discover and access the communities and conversations people are looking for on Reddit.

With this partnership, and via our Data API, we’re ushering in new ways for Reddit content to be displayed across Google products by providing programmatic access to new, constantly evolving, and dynamic public posts, comments, etc., on Reddit. This enhanced collaboration provides Google with an efficient and structured way to access the vast corpus of existing content on Reddit and enables Google to use the Reddit Data API to improve its products and services – including supporting new ways to display Reddit content and providing more efficient ways to train models.”

In fact, a birdie tells us that the Google Reddit partnership is worth about a neat sum of $60 million per year.

Source

Yup! That was our reaction, too! #ISeeWhatYouDidThere!

Apparently, the deal was centered around using Reddit’s data to train Google’s AI (Gemini) and offering relevant, user-generated content to searchers actively looking for insights on different topics. 

Implications of this partnership for SEO professionals and users

Now that we know about the Google Reddit partnership let’s examine some of its implications for SEO professionals, brand owners, and regular users like you and me!

What does this mean for SEO professionals?

The Google-Reddit partnership has several implications for search engine optimization (SEO) professionals as it changes the landscape of search results and user engagement. Here are some key implications:

1.  Diversification of search results: 

With Google integrating Reddit content into its search results, a broader range of content types appears for relevant queries. This means that SEO professionals need to consider optimizing web pages and Reddit threads, discussions, and communities to ensure visibility and relevance in search results.

2. Focus on user-generated content: 

Reddit is known for its user-generated content and discussions covering various topics. With Reddit content appearing more prominently in search results, SEO professionals may need to prioritize optimizing user-generated content on Reddit to capitalize on this visibility. This includes encouraging user engagement, monitoring discussions, and ensuring the quality and relevance of content posted on Reddit.

3. Engagement with Reddit communities: 

SEO professionals can leverage the Google-Reddit partnership to engage with Reddit communities directly. By participating in discussions, answering questions, and sharing relevant content, SEO professionals can build relationships with Reddit users, drive website traffic, and increase brand visibility within these communities.

4. Reputation management challenges:

 Reddit discussions can be candid, opinionated, and sometimes controversial. SEO professionals must be aware of the potential risks of negative sentiment, brand mentions, and reputation management within Reddit threads appearing in search results. Maintaining a positive brand image and reputation is essential to monitoring and addressing concerns effectively.

5. Opportunities for content promotion: 

With Reddit content integrated into Google’s search results, SEO professionals have new opportunities for content promotion. By creating high-quality, relevant content that resonates with Reddit communities, SEO professionals can increase the visibility and reach of their content, driving organic traffic and engagement from Reddit users.

6. Understanding user intent and behavior: 

Integrating Reddit content into search results provides valuable user intent and behavior insight. SEO professionals can analyze the types of Reddit discussions and queries that appear for relevant keywords, helping them better understand user interests, preferences, and search intent. This information can inform content creation, keyword targeting, and overall SEO strategy.

Overall, the Google-Reddit partnership presents both challenges and opportunities for SEO professionals. By adapting their strategies to incorporate Reddit content, engaging with Reddit communities, and effectively managing their online reputation, SEO professionals can capitalize on this partnership to enhance their visibility, drive traffic, and improve user engagement.

Remember the tweet by Lisa Ray, quoted in the beginning, seeking answers from Danny Sulivan on the sudden spurt of Reddit results for YMYL queries? Well, this is what he had to say on X;

“That unit appears automatically if the systems think it might be relevant and useful. It’s not like someone said, “put it first for that particular query” — which I know you understand, but others reading this might not.

I also know some of the SEO folks who tend to be vocal on this platform really dislike seeing more forum content in our search results. But actual searchers seem to like it. They proactively seek it out. It makes sense for us to be showing it to keep the search results relevant and satisfying for everyone. 

Some actively seek content. Others appreciate that we might show relevant content — including forums, blogs, websites, whatever — as part of a results set overall. It’s similar to other things. If you search for some news event, people generally don’t expect to type in the topic and add “news” at the end. They expect we’ll show news-related content naturally. Same thing with forum content. If they’re looking for help, for example, about why their smart window blinds are disconnecting from an app, they may appreciate both what a manufacturer has to say, what some blogger that has reviewed them might say, as well as what people who have used them and shared on a forum have to say. That’s a real example I did yesterday and the forum results I got solved my issue quickly. But I wouldn’t have thought to name any particular forum to get there.”

TLDR? 

Source

Well, here’s the long and short of it: According to Google, people actually seek out such user-generated relevant content, and the search engine is just trying to meet the expectations of regular surfers.

How does the Google-Reddit partnership impact brand management?

The Google-Reddit partnership has significant implications for brand management, affecting how businesses monitor, engage with, and influence their brand perception online. Here’s how the partnership impacts brand management:

1. Visibility and exposure: 

With Reddit content integrated into Google’s search results, businesses’ presence on Reddit becomes more visible to a wider audience. Relevant discussions, mentions, and user-generated content from Reddit communities may appear prominently in search results, increasing brand exposure. This heightened visibility underscores the importance of actively managing and participating in Reddit discussions related to the brand to shape the narrative and perception.

2. Reputation monitoring and management: 

The partnership necessitates vigilant monitoring of Reddit discussions for mentions of the brand, feedback, and sentiment. Businesses must actively engage with Reddit users, address concerns, and respond to feedback to manage their reputation effectively. Negative comments or criticisms can quickly gain traction on Reddit and impact brand perception, highlighting the importance of proactive reputation management strategies.

3. Community engagement and brand advocacy:

 Reddit communities are known for their passionate and engaged user base. Businesses can leverage the partnership to authentically engage with Reddit communities, participate in discussions, and cultivate brand advocates. Positive interactions and contributions to Reddit discussions can foster goodwill, loyalty, and advocacy among Reddit users, amplifying the brand’s reach and influence.

4. Content strategy and messaging:

Integrating Reddit content into Google’s search results underscores the importance of aligning content strategy and messaging across platforms. Businesses must ensure consistency in brand messaging, tone, and values across Reddit discussions, website content, social media channels, and other online platforms. This cohesive approach strengthens brand identity and fosters trust and credibility among audiences.

5. Opportunities for insights and feedback: 

Reddit is a valuable source of insights, feedback, and consumer sentiment for brands. The partnership allows businesses to gather real-time feedback, monitor consumer trends, and identify emerging issues or opportunities. By actively listening to Reddit discussions and engaging with users, businesses can gain valuable insights to inform product development, marketing strategies, and brand positioning.

What are the implications of this partnership for users?

The Google-Reddit partnership has several implications for users, shaping how they discover information, engage with content, and interact with brands online. Here are some key implications:

1. Access to diverse content:

 With Reddit content integrated into Google’s search results, users have access to a wider range of content and perspectives. Relevant Reddit discussions, threads, and communities may appear prominently in search results, providing users with diverse viewpoints, opinions, and insights on a variety of topics.

2. Real-time updates and discussions: 

Reddit is known for its real-time discussions and user-generated content covering a wide range of interests and topics. The partnership lets users access up-to-date information, discussions, and reactions from Reddit communities directly within Google’s search results. This enhances the timeliness and relevance of search results, allowing users to stay informed and engaged with current events, trends, and discussions.

3. Engagement opportunities: 

Users can engage directly with Reddit content, participate in discussions, and explore niche communities and interests within search results. By clicking on relevant Reddit links, users can access threads, comments, and discussions on specific topics and contribute their thoughts, questions, and insights to the conversation.

4. Discovery of niche communities: 

Integrating Reddit content into search results exposes users to niche communities, interests, and subreddits that they may not have discovered otherwise. Users can explore various topics, hobbies, and interests by clicking on relevant Reddit links in search results, uncovering new communities, and connecting with like-minded individuals.

5. Validation and social proof: 

Reddit discussions and recommendations can serve as valuable sources of validation and social proof for users. Seeing relevant Reddit threads and discussions appearing prominently in search results can validate users’ interests, questions, or concerns, providing reassurance and confidence in their decisions. Additionally, positive recommendations and endorsements from Reddit communities can influence users’ perceptions and choices.

Overall, the Google-Reddit partnership enhances users’ search experience by providing access to diverse content, real-time discussions, engagement opportunities, discovery of niche communities, and validation through Reddit recommendations. Users benefit from a richer, more interactive search experience that reflects their interests, preferences, and online behaviors.

Mavlers’ thoughts on the plausible outcomes of this partnership

We contacted Shashikant Mane, an SEO expert at Mavlers, to get the team’s insights on their conjecture about this development. He shared the following candid insights.

“To begin with, I feel this is like a double-edged sword which can swing in either direction. In other words, this development can have both positive and negative implications for SEO professionals and users.

Firstly, I feel spamming will increase as instances of spammy and unverified UGC content can crop up more easily, even for YMYL searches.

Also, the genuine sites that get replaced on SERPs with such Reddit results might lose out on valuable traffic.

Secondly, this can be a boon or a bane for users who actually want to seek genuine UGC reviews and product/service recommendations. The only problem is confirming the veracity of these UGC discussions because it can be difficult to discriminate between genuine and promotional user-generated content (UGC). 

For instance, suppose you want to find a woman’s daily skincare routine. You search for the same on Google and come across Pond’s skincare routine blog, which covers the routine you should follow only until twelve PM in the day. This blog will promote Pond’s products and share information about other products and routine steps. 

However, you might come across a Reddit discussion that offers insights into the daily skincare routines of different people who have used different products and shared their experiences.

There is a fine line of difference between promotional and genuine discussions on these forums that is hard to discern.”

The road ahead

While the ultimate tilt of the scales towards positive or negative implications of this development remains to be seen for the SEO world, the fact is that Reddit results are most likely here to stay. It makes sense to craft brand SEO strategies that accommodate this development so that your traffic and ROIs don’t take a hit.