Publishers Are Redoubling Their Presence on Reddit As the Platform Rises in Search Visibility

Last September, in an initiative called the Helpful Content Update, Google made many changes to the algorithm that powers its search results.

Despite its innocuous name, the update dramatically reshaped the search landscape, throttling traffic to smaller, independent websites while increasing the visibility of others, according to Ewen Finser, the founder of growth agency ReddVisible.

The update gave heightened search visibility to user forums like Quora and Reddit—Google even added a Forums tab to its search results—and Reddit in particular has since seen its traffic skyrocket. Between August 2023 and April 2024, readership to the 20-year-old platform nearly tripled, rising from 132 million visitors to 346 million monthly visitors, according to data from Semrush.

“No matter where you are in digital, Reddit is the elephant in the room right now,” Finser said. “According to Ahrefs and Semrush, Reddit increased its organic traffic sevenfold in the last nine months. That’s big, exponential growth on an already big number.”

In response, publishers have revisited their audience development strategies for the platform in hopes of funneling some of this burgeoning audience into a new source of social traffic.

Some, such as Yahoo, Puck, and New York Times Opinion, have launched new Reddit accounts in the last several months. Others, such as Rolling Stone, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Independent, the AP, and Newsweek, have restarted existing accounts or dedicated more resources to them.

Publishers redouble their Reddit strategies

For publishers launching new Reddit accounts, turning those presences into substantial sources of traffic could be a years-long effort. 

In the meantime, the platform offers publishers a venue for engaging with subreddits and readers already sharing their reporting, according to Puck chief executive Sarah Personette. This can help drive brand affinity, engagement, traffic, and ultimately subscriber conversion, as these audiences are already exhibiting a strong interest in the publication.

“We’re targeting subreddits where our reporters’ writing is already being shared by members, with the idea that we’re delighting these members with these surprise appearances and helping to drive brand exposure,” Personette said.

For publishers reactivating or revamping dormant accounts, their renewed efforts have already begun paying dividends. Most news organizations were hesitant to share specific traffic data—for many, Reddit is still a single-digit source of overall referral traffic. But the readership is steadily growing. 

At Newsweek, for instance, July was its biggest month for Reddit traffic ever. And before that, June was its biggest. Likewise, one publisher that spoke to ADWEEK on background had its biggest month of Reddit referrals ever in July, up 132% year over year. At The Washington Post, in the last 12 months, traffic from Reddit has occasionally overtaken traffic from Instagram, which had never happened before.

Rolling Stone also redoubled its efforts on Reddit last spring, hiring a member of its audience team dedicated solely to cultivating its Reddit presence. In the last eight months, seven of those increased in traffic year over year.

Responding to shifting traffic patterns

These efforts, which are motivated in part by the increasing search visibility of Reddit, also come as a response to shifting traffic patterns more broadly. 

Social referrals from Facebook have declined 58% since 2018, according to data from the measurement firm Chartbeat. And disruptions to search traffic posed by artificial intelligence—not to mention algorithm updates—have spurred publishers to look elsewhere for new sources of readership.

The strategy reflects the increasing atomization of the internet, as well as how publishers have responded to find and serve their audiences. Just as news organizations have worked to diversify their revenue makeups in recent years, they have also placed a renewed emphasis on cultivating a broad portfolio of traffic referral sources.

“We all know that the era of big social as a traffic driver is over and will never return,” said Josh Awtry, the senior vice president of audience development at Newsweek. “Every publisher is looking to see where its next batch of readers can come from, and Reddit is poised to win in this next era of conversation.”

New tools from Reddit facilitate publishers’ efforts

For publishers looking to work more closely with Reddit, their timing could not have been better. 

Reddit, which joined the public markets in March, has released a suite of new products over the last year designed to make the platform easier to navigate for brands, including news publishers, according to Sarah Rosen, senior director of media business development.

Among these new tools is a simplified version of its AMA feature, which makes the iconic Reddit product far simpler to use. There is also an improved embed product, which enables reporters to more easily include Reddit posts into stories. A tool called Reddit Pro is a free dashboard that displays analytics that helps brands understand how users are engaging with their content.

Publishers including The Independent, Yahoo, Puck, and The Philadelphia Inquirer have all used the new AMA function, which allows them to schedule and promote the AMA ahead of time, add co-hosts, and end it with a note. 

In April, The Independent hosted an AMA with two of its politics reporters discussing the Trump criminal trial, which generated over 200 comments and questions, according to audience editor Valentina Botero.

“We have a renewed focus on how we are supporting publishers, and bridging the gap between publishers and communities is a big part of that,” Rosen said. “Our goal isn’t to make our partners dependent on Reddit—it’s to make Reddit additive to what they’re already doing.”