Steve Huffman

While Reddit had plenty to crow about on the advertising front, it was less sanguine about the rise of generative AI search, which CEO Steve Huffman said is “not a traffic driver today.”

While Reddit’s ad business is ascendent, it’s still working on a strategy for getting the most out of its generative AI deals.

Happy first IPO-aversary, Reddit. (And happy 20th birthday.) The market got you a present. Reddit’s stock soared nearly 18% in after-hours trading on Thursday thanks to a revenue beat in the first quarter.

Reddit’s ambitions to build its own AI-powered on-platform search business suggest even Google’s allies need to find ways to protect themselves from its influence – sometimes by copying its playbook.

Ad revenue grew 56% YOY even without some of Reddit’s shiny new ad products, including generative AI creative tools and in-comment ads, being fully integrated into its platform.

Advertising is still Reddit’s meal ticket – but until its ad revenue tops the $2 billion per year mark, it can’t really be considered competitive with other social platforms.

Advertising accounted for $222.7 million, up 39% YOY. CEO Steve Huffman attributed this growth to a boost in search traffic from Google.

Reddit generates “substantially” all of its revenue through advertising, and its S-1 filing reveals its strategy for licensing data and becoming “the leader in contextual advertising.”

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. More Like Fixalate, Amiright? Pixalate just published its October made-for-advertising (MFA) report. And it isn’t pulling punches. Most MFA reports don’t detail revenue contributions by specific media companies or SSPs. Or, if they do, it’s just to pick on Google. Pixalate does pick […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Seeing Reddit The mass desertion of Twitter users and advertisers should be a bonanza for Reddit.  Unlike Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, Reddit is text-based, like LinkedIn or Twitter. But LinkedIn’s over earnest, your-bosses-are-watching vibe is a poor fit for Twitter types. Reddit […]