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{Weekly Discussion} Google finally releases reason why Reddit ranks first
Source: SE Roundtable
Why does Google show it so often? "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. We explained more about the value last year here," he wrote. We covered that over here in November. Google actually started showing these forums back in 2021.
Sullivan added:
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.
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1 Reply
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It’s *so* heavy-loaded towards Reddit, though. Here he sounds like it’s a decent split but it’s crazy how many top positions go to Reddit. I barely even see blogs within the first scroll of search anymore
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As an SEO, I’d been appending Reddit to my searches for a while. I support it.
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Got it. So instead of writing blog content, we shift back to forum content.
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Now the question is, is subreddit the SEO the same as website SEO or does Google rank it using different metrics?
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Thanks for sharing. If the update, once completed, retains all these results with Reddit and Quora. This means that all bloggers/webmasters (but also spammers, scammers) will have to create subreddits and (fake) answers on Quora with a link to their articles in order to attract visitors. Ultimately, this means Reddit and Quora will receive a flood of spammy links (we’ve known this has been happening for a while now).
What happens when Reddit is unable to filter content? The website is already cracking (server down, double posts, comments not showing) because there are too many visitors. What happens when Google, which sends most Internet users to Reddit, actually sends them to all this spammy content. The Internet will be pretty useless.
It only takes few minutes (you can test it) for a post on Reddit to appear in the top ten results of Google with keywords related to the post’s title… (while I have to wait months for an article on my site to be referenced). Do the math, the whole world is going to spam here. The loop is completed.
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In his analysis he forgets the most important part. Reddit users use Google to search for posts on Reddit, because reddit’s search engine sucks.
So now google is no longer a search engine, but a reddit search plugin/add-on.
Then the price of Google’s valuation in the markets will become subject to the Reddit price. As the crypto market is with Bitcoin.
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“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.”
1/3 of this is a lie
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Lol. That explanation is a bunch of BS. There is a technical answer but he can’t obviously say since spammers would take it and run.
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What a load of bollocks. They want Reddit to be more popular so they can train their AI
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As a user I also search Reddit for new product recommendations. Why? Because if I don’t use “Reddit” at the end I only get the item that has the best SEO implemented, not the one with honest answers. Most of the time the SEO optimised pages have a set of affiliate links or are biased to show their own products.
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Anddd cue the Reddit parasite SEO en masse. Quora, LinkedIn, and Medium too.
Anyone else notice how Google is now extracting content from websites, showing it at the top of the SERPs, not crediting the sites they’re taking this content (word for word) from, and taking click-throughs by the thousand?
Yes, those sites utilize affiliate monetization, but those same sites are also investing countless dollars to have subject matter experts create useful content to provide the best user experience possible.
We’ll see how things will progress I guess. Hopefully, for the sake of these sites and these site owners’ trust in Google, things change soon.
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Not too much here is ChatGPT generated link spam like the rest of Poople search results.
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In short, because people click on it.
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They made an AI deal with Reddit, nuff said.
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Looks like making your website is becoming like spending money in collecting DVDs since now. Furthermore these decisions could lead to big corps as the only owners of places where contents are, and they could increase gains on it with time. Is like putting more centralized layers to the web objectively, for people that can understand what it means. All happening even thanks to the fast and short term gratification of likes on your social media posts. Anyway things could change and we can’t predict, but a new AI algorithm that will really understand and look for true value in the web could come, and the few that will resist could have a lot of benefit; will be interesting to see the next 12 months. In conclusion, I just want to say this to myself: “ok boomer”
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