Reddit and SEO: Should Forums Be So Visible in Search?

If you’ve Googled, well, anything recently, you’ll have no doubt seen Reddit appearing in your search results. This is because there’s been a huge explosion in Reddit’s visibility on Google, with its website traffic reportedly up 39%.

Now in some ways this has been great for search. Google is full of unhelpful, SEO-focused content that doesn’t give us the answers we need. We want real people’s real opinions, and we want them quickly. Reddit provides this.

But the SEO community aren’t convinced. Are these people really qualified to offer us advice? And are we relying too heavily on their opinions?

The consensus in the SEO community is that there are a couple reasons:

1. Unhelpful content dominated search results. People were fed up with over optimised (or AI-generated) articles that didn’t answer their queries. They wanted to know what real people thought. So there was an influx of people adding ‘Reddit’ to their Google searches, in a bid to find real experiences and opinions. Google noticed this and rewarded Reddit with more visibility.
2. Google struck a deal with Reddit. It agreed a $60 million deal to use Reddit content to train Google’s AI. Reddit’s visibility in search has increased since this deal leading to speculation that it’s all linked (it probably is).
   Either way, it looks like Reddit’s here to stay. At least for now.

Either way, it looks like Reddit’s here to stay. At least for now.

Here at Energy, we think Reddit definitely has a place in search. When looking for a product, we’ve all been victim to unhelpful SEO-focused reviews, written by brands, not people (and probably crammed full of affiliate links). Are they valuable? Almost certainly not. This useless content doesn’t help you decide on a product, it just shows you which brands have the biggest advertising budgets.

But with Reddit, you’ve got access to real opinions. They’re from actual people, not the brands. They’ll have used the product themselves, so they can base their opinions on personal preferences and first-hand experiences. On top of this, Reddit allows us to explore a range of thoughts and comments, not just the thoughts of one skilled SEO writer. Personally, I regularly find myself searching Reddit for exactly this reason. It can be genuinely helpful, which is ultimately what Google aims to be.

Now it’s probably not a coincidence that Reddit’s visibility in the SERPs boomed after its deal with Google. But do we care? Not really. As long as Reddit’s providing value for our searches, it’s all good.

Or is it?

Experience, expertise, authority and trust (E-E-A-T) are buzzwords in SEO right now. Google said that content should demonstrate E-E-A-T, and SEOs are following suite. So, the big question is ‘do Reddit users have the experience, expertise, authority and trust to rank so well?’

Anyone can sign up for Reddit, and anyone can share a post. Therefore, anyone can appear in the Google results. This has many within the SEO and digital PR community up in arms. Their carefully crafted content (that may have taken years of work) is suddenly being outranked by a Reddit post shared by User56375267312. Why does their content need to demonstrate E-E-A-T, when Reddit’s doesn’t?

It’s a fair question, and a difficult line for Google to tread. On the one hand it wants to satisfy searches with genuinely useful answers written by real people. On the other, it doesn’t want to punish brands who are creating exactly that.

Our take is Reddit (and other forums) have a key role to play in search, particularly for things like reviews and personal experiences. Reddit helps people get the answers they need, so it makes sense that Google rewards them with more visibility.

However, more sensitive topics should be a different ballgame altogether. But right now they’re not. People searching for sensitive YMYL (your money or your life) topics are also being shown Reddit results. Google argues that ‘actual searchers seem to like it’, but we’re not so sure.

Someone searching their symptoms online should be shown accurate, objective information from trusted healthcare sources, like the NHS. They shouldn’t be subjected to personal thoughts and experiences. User56375267312 can’t prove that they’re a doctor with years of medical experience, so they shouldn’t be offering advice on sensitive, medical topics.

We saw how dangerous this can be with Reddit answers appearing in Google AI Overviews. It’s a recipe for disaster (in some cases quite literally).

Google AI overview suggests adding glue to get cheese to stick to pizza, and it turns out the source is an 11 year old Reddit comment from user F*cksmith 😂 pic.twitter.com/uDPAbsAKeO

— Peter Yang (@petergyang) May 23, 2024

Social media algorithms constantly analyse our behaviour and feed us relevant content – enforcing (or even creating) opinions. I’ve noticed this happening more often than ever. The second I start a YouTube video; my first instinct is to read the comments, instead of watching the video and making my own mind up.

Now Reddit is so visible in search, it’s not just YouTube comments that are influencing people. People are making massive decisions based on the thoughts of a random Reddit user. For searchers looking for personal opinions and experiences, this is great. But for searchers looking for advice on sensitive topics from trusted professionals, it’s not so good.

Has Reddit’s visibility in Google gone too far? Do we need regulation on who can provide advice on YMYL topics? Or do we just need better moderation?

Honestly, we’re not sure. But it’s clear that Google needs to make some changes. And whatever happens, we’ll need to adapt our SEO and digital PR strategies accordingly.

Need a hand with your digital PR? We can help. Get in touch with Louise at louise@energypr.co.uk.