Inc. Magazine
Reddit plans to turn its huge user base into a search engine powerhouse, merging its search tools with its AI chatbot, Reddit Answers. With 70 million weekly searches and surging revenue, the company aims to challenge Google by focusing on real human conversations over pure automation.
Reddit Wants to Replace Google as the Internet’s Top Search Engine. Investors Are All In
Author: Chris Morris
Reddit is already one of the most visited social media sites on the internet. Now the company is looking to parlay that popularity into search engine dominance.
“The world and the internet are rapidly changing, and I believe Reddit has a once-in-a-generation opportunity,” said CEO Steve Huffman on an earnings call Thursday.
Reddit, Huffman added, has seen its search function used by over 70 million users per week. And a growing number of people outside of the site affix Reddit to their search query when using Google (either by just including the word “Reddit” to whatever they’re looking for or using the site:reddit.com parameter). That’s leading the company to focus more on its own search tools, with plans to make them a much more visible part of the Reddit experience.
“Reddit is one of the few platforms positioned to become a true search destination,” Huffman said. “We offer something special, a breadth of conversations and knowledge you can’t find anywhere else. … This is under heavy development for us right now, and we hope to get that out before too long in the hands of users.”
Investors couldn’t be happier. While Wall Street, on the whole, is having a miserable Friday (dragged down by tariff concerns and an especially gloomy jobs report), Reddit shares were up more than 20 percent in midday trading to $194 per share. That followed the company blowing past analyst expectations in its second-quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday.
Earnings per share came in at 45 cents, compared with an expected 19 cents, while revenue hit $500 million (versus an expected $426 million). The company also said third-quarter revenue will be in the range of $535 million to $545 million, ahead of Wall Street estimates of $473 million.
The focus now, Huffman said, is to concentrate its resources on things that matter—with “making Reddit a go-to search engine” listed as one of the company’s top priorities.
That will mean bringing together the traditional Reddit search functionality and Reddit Answers, an AI-powered chatbot that digs into most of the threads on the site (it skips some, but not all, NSFW subreddits) for its answers. That AI product is now used by six million people, the company said, up from one million last quarter.
“We’re unifying those into a single search experience,” said Huffman. “We’re going to bring that front and center in the app. So, whether you’re a new user opening the app for the first time or returning user opening the app, that search box will be present immediately for users who open the app looking for something specific.”
Reddit’s obsession with search isn’t a new thing. Last October, the company said search was “a key part of the strategy” moving forward. Huffman, at the time, called the relationship with Google “symbiotic,” and some investors worried the company could be overly reliant on the Alphabet-owned search engine. Now Huffman seems more eager to both continue exploiting that bond while also increasing Reddit’s competitive threat.
Google is hardly the only company Reddit will have to compete with in its search ambitions. OpenAI announced plans to get into the search business at the end of last October. Perplexity’s Comet browser is already on the market. And Meta has confirmed it is working on a web search tool in its AI assistant, called Meta AI, which could offer that company some independence from Google and Bing.
While Reddit’s search will include AI components, the company hopes to differentiate itself from the coming wave of AI search engines by highlighting the human component.
“Conversation and connection are becoming more valuable and rare,” said Huffman. “In a world increasingly dominated by algorithms and automation, the need for human voices has never been greater.”
Credits: TCA, LLC.