Reddit RDDT is gaining traction as a go-to source for authentic information, posing a challenge to Google’s, owned by Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL, long-standing dominance in the internet search market.
What Happened: Reddit, with its vast array of subreddits and active user discussions, is drawing more people seeking answers to their questions.
A journalist at a conference this week hosted by The Wall Street Journal disclosed that she primarily uses Google Search to access Reddit for information, reported Business Insider.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman confirmed this trend, stating that people are using Google to end up on Reddit. “I think what’s happening is people know that Reddit has answers, advice, perspectives on just about whatever you’re looking for.”
Last month, Bernstein Research showed that younger generations, such as Gen Z and Gen Alpha, are moving away from using “Google” as a verb for “search.”
“Younger audiences are ‘searching’, not ‘Googling,’” said Mark Shmulik in a note to investors.
At the conference, Huffman also stated that Reddit still feels “married to Google”, but noted that more people are discovering that Reddit has “pretty much everything that you’re looking for.”
“If you have questions, there’s just a high likelihood that Reddit, where people have been talking about everything for almost two decades, has an answer,” he concluded.
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Why It Matters: This development comes on the heels of a $60 million annual deal between Reddit and Google in February 2024, allowing Google to use Reddit’s content to train its AI models.
Moreover, the rise of AI-powered search engines like Perplexity, backed by Jeff Bezos, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT are adding to the competition in the search market.
Earlier this month, Perplexity introduced a new “internal knowledge” search feature that consolidates external and internal searches, improving user experience.
AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and AI-powered search engines like Perplexity are also beginning to challenge Google’s supremacy.
At the time, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas said that consumer behavior is moving away from basic keyword searches toward more intricate queries.
This has made platforms like Perplexity increasingly attractive to advertisers seeking higher levels of engagement.
Despite these challenges, Google remains an attractive investment, according to a Wedbush analyst, who last week reiterated an Outperform rating on Alphabet Inc. ahead of its third-quarter earnings.
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