The ongoing protests over Reddit’s API pricing changes on July 1 are troubling the Reddit community, but they’re not the only ones affected. Those who search for Google advertising results, search-engine-optimization (SEO) by adding “Reddit” to their query will also see their experience fail. According to CNBC, Google knows that its search results need to be optimized through extensions like “site:reddit.com.” However, Google’s response to this problem fails to address the main reasons why people change their search results: There is a need for results that provide the voice of people (not influencers) and that are not written by people who interfere with Google’s algorithm.
People rely on Reddit to hack Google search results to avoid content that often floats to the top of the search results pages—websites that are built on SEO but lack credibility or relevance. But since Reddit’s shutdown began on June 12 and was followed by other types of user protests, that trick doesn’t work. As of this writing, over 2,400 subreddits are still private for protest, according to the Reddark_247 counter on Twitch, while others are read-only, labeled as not safe for work (NSFW), or dedicated to John Oliver images.
On Monday, CNBC, citing a recording of a company meeting from earlier this month, reported that Prabhakar Raghavan, Google SVP who leads Google Search, “acknowledged that users are not happy when employees asked about the suspension of Reddit and its effect on results. .”
“Many of you may wonder how we have a research team that is iterating and building these new features but somehow, users are still not happy,” said Raghavan.
At the meeting, a Google employee reportedly asked how Google could better embed “real conversations” in search results. According to CNBC, Google CEO Sundar Pichai responded by saying that Google users who add forum names like Reddit to their searches are looking for “more answers” than “blue links.”
Misconceptions
CNBC reported that HJ Kim, Google Search’s VP of engineering, pointed to Perspectives as a response to the disappointing results of social media search, while acknowledging that the sector has room for improvement. Perspectives is a filter at the top of Google’s search results that users can choose to view only “long and short videos, images and text that people have shared on forums, Q&A pages, and social media,” according to the May 10 announcement. Google blog post. Images on the blog show results from Reddit, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, and Quora. It started as a filter on the Top Stories news feed and provided search results on Friday, Google said via Twitter.
However, users of Reddit search are often not looking for TikTok influencers or YouTube videos full of supporters. They are not just after social media; they just want to quickly find people’s voices and thoughts in a non-digested thread or discussion. A feature that is a social media filter does not solve the problem that Google search is often useless because it plays well with Google’s search algorithms. Google did not immediately respond to Ars’ request for comment on the reported company meeting or on how Perspectives avoids people who use SEO techniques to promote unhelpful content.
Google’s release of Perspectives, however, is timely, as Reddit continues to face user backlash for refusing to drop API pricing and removing user anger. Interestingly, Reddit originally said it wanted to charge for access to the API to prevent AI chatbots, such as Google’s Bard, which is partially trained on content created by Reddit users, from taking advantage of it for free. When critics pick up Reddit and shut it down briefly, they remind Reddit how much it relies on free, user-generated content. Now Google is inadvertently getting that reminder, too.
The clock is ticking
As Google tries to make users less dependent on search, Reddit’s protests continue ahead of the July 1 API change. Thousands of subreddits are black, some remain off-limits, and many moderators told Ars Technica that they are considering leaving their volunteer gigs.
Recent developments have seen moderators of many subreddits write open letters called “Forging A Return to Productive Conversation” and request Reddit, hoping to receive a response by June 29. Some of the requests seek to give moderators more control and respect, even if they are not paid employees. But while moderators contribute millions of people unpaid to keep Reddit’s content relevant and safe, this doesn’t seem to be what Reddit wants to do.
Some of the requests include Reddit’s commitment to explore “ways in which third-party apps can recoup revenue,” to improve display and accessibility features on Reddit’s old and new and mobile platforms, and to “ensure that future events that may affect administrators, service providers, or stakeholders will be announced no later than one quarter of the financial year before the start of operations.”
The letters also call for Reddit to appoint a new CEO at the company. While this seems like a reasonable job to have in the company, it can be a long time. Reddit has been open about being unprofitable and says it plans to break even this year. The company said it laid off about 5 percent of its workforce earlier this month and cut annual new hires to 100 employees, a reduction of 200 positions.
Reddit, for its part, announced the updates available on the current devices on iOS and Android that will start rolling out on July 1 and later, as well as the goals of changes around “management, titles and articles, topics, notifications, internal updates. , color differences, [and] font size.”
However, critics argue that administrators and users with accessibility needs should not be forced to adapt to new devices. Ars also heard from mods expressing disbelief in Reddit’s ability to provide reliable, successful tools.
Advance Publications, which owns Ars Technica’s parent Condé Nast, is the largest shareholder in Reddit.
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