Reddit removes the last unpaid result from its search page
Reddit says search now shows only sponsored results because users were there to shop anyway.
"...was technically an organic result, but nobody had clicked it since March," a Reddit spokeswoman said Wednesday. "So we stopped asking people to scroll past it."
Reddit confirmed that its internal search now returns only sponsored placements. The change expands a recent test in which ads appeared above results for queries like "espresso station." Company data showed searchers tapped the ads and ignored the unpaid links, so the links were let go.
"People open Reddit search to find out what to buy," the spokeswoman said. "We have removed the step where a stranger with an anime avatar tells them first."
A search for "best espresso machine" now returns six ads for espresso machines and a grey button marked "ask a human," which costs $6 and opens an ad for a coffee subscription. Reddit said the new page better serves what it calls ready-to-buy users, a group that, as of Wednesday, includes everyone on the site.
The move comes as Google's AI answers keep more of the traffic that once reached Reddit by accident. Executives said the site could no longer give advice away free to visitors who were, in revenue terms, a rumor.
Some users logged out in protest. Reddit said it respected the decision, and confirmed that searching "Reddit alternatives" returns six ads for Reddit.
