Reddit Strikes Data Sharing Deal With Google For $60 Million Per Year
Ahead of its IPO next month, Reddit is making another strategic move by agreeing to give Google exclusive access to its data for use in Search and generative AI projects, for a cool $60 Million per year.
In comparison, access to the top tier of X’s data API is priced at around $2.5 million per year – so what makes Reddit’s data API so valuable?
It looks like real human insight and user experiences are surging in value, at a time when online product reviews can easily be faked or skewed with the help of AI bots and other fraudulent methods.
The declining trust in on-site reviews is leading many people to search either directly on, or to append their Google search terms to include ‘Reddit’, in order to view real reviews and relevant discussions of a product or service on the platform’s forums.
Reddit shared one example of this in an infographic post just a few months ago, highlighting how its users browse the platform for information, feedback, or reviews before installing a new app — with data showing it’s the most trusted out of all social platforms for offering authentic and helpful information.
A significant value add for search is Reddit’s feature which allows redditors ‘upvote’ or ‘downvote’ responses, so that the most relevant ones with the strongest consensus are highlighted within forums.
“Over the years, we’ve seen that people increasingly use Google to search for helpful content on Reddit to find product recommendations, travel advice and much more. We know people find this information useful, so we’re developing ways to make it even easier to access across Google products”, shared Google’s VP of Engineering on the new deal.
The deal will bring Reddit’s information into Google’s Search and its still-evolving Gemini AI models, through its access to Reddit’s Data API.
By boosting the visibility and access to Reddit’s active forums on more than 100,000 niche topics, the platform’s direct integration with Google will also benefit Reddit’s user traffic and Search business.
The partnership is another step in Reddit’s evolving strategy in recent years to maximize its business potential.
You can learn more about Reddit by visiting its website here, or read Google’s blog post on the new deal here.
