Reddit is evaluation ads in its own hunt results pages alongside a choose collection of eligible advertisers.
The business announced the test in a abbreviated newsroom article on Tuesday and stated it volition measure how users react so it can refine the cognition complete time. The article doesn’t say how advertisers were chosen or whether others can ask to join.
How Reddit Says Search Ads Are Chosen
Reddit’s article reads:
“These placements leverage existing ad targeting in hunt results pages on Reddit, which have elevated acquisition and hunt intent.”
“Ads in hunt may appear according to a range of factors, including contextual relevance to a user’s hunt query.”
The article does not citation what alternatively would aspect into which ads appear. In the example, a individual searching for “espresso station” power see ads for coffee beans, mugs, or espresso machines, and “home agency setup” may guide to promotions for desks, agency chairs, or monitors.
Example screens in the article display the mobile type of the Reddit use following searching for “home agency setup”. Each display shows a cardstock tagged “Ad” containing a image of a merchandise (with a website address) and a “Shop Now” button. One example shows a cardstock sitting under a blurb citing subreddits as its sources. Another example shows a cardstock placed between two posts.
From No Search Ads To A Test
Brooke Osmundson reported that in October 2024, Reddit extended the keyword targeting it uses in its conversation placements to the Feed of the platform.
In its first fourth shareholder letter, Reddit stated that the merchandise placements authorize users searching on the location to browse listings and shop correct from inside those hunt results. In a phone call alongside investors following their Q1 earnings were released (April 30), Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Wong stated that Reddit didn’t “even have ads in certain elevated expanding surfaces akin search, for example.” On this identical call, CEO Steve Huffman reported that “Search WAUqs are up 30% year-over-year.” Search WAUqs is Reddit’s shorthand for weekly energetic uniques who search.
During a Q2 capitalist call, Wong referred to hunt as “a area that we’re eyeing” for promotion and mentioned that Reddit has the infrastructure “already queued up,” according to Roger Montti. Wong additionally referenced Shopping Listing Ads, a format that groups multiple retailers’ products in one module, as examples of the category of promotions she believes could be used on a hunt page.
What Reddit Hasn’t Said
Beyond eligibility, Reddit’s article is additionally silent concerning the another key elements of how the test works, specified as markets, ad format types, ad pricing models, and whether it covers additional than the app used in its examples.
Why This Matters
Reddit is pitching its hunt pages to advertisers on the power of what group category there. For now, Reddit’s hunt ads are constricted to the advertisers it selected for the test. You can ask your Reddit rep whether your document is part of the test and how hunt impressions would display up in reporting.
Looking Ahead
Advertisers exterior the test can observe for hunt to appear among Reddit’s ad placements. The article gives no end date for the test and no timeline for adding advertisers.
Featured Image: FotoField/Shutterstock
