Google has made an agreement with Reddit that grants the search engine access to posts from the online forum for the purpose of training their AI models and enhancing services like Google Search.

On Thursday, it was revealed that Reddit has entered into a deal worth approximately $60 million. As part of the arrangement, Reddit will have access to Google’s AI models to enhance its internal search function and other capabilities. Reddit has chosen not to provide further comments or address inquiries beyond its official statement regarding the deal.

The company, based in San Francisco, has announced its intention to go public on Wednesday. In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Reddit revealed that it made a net profit of $18.5 million in the last quarter of 2019, marking its first profit in two years. This was achieved with a revenue of $249.8 million. The company plans to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange using the ticker symbol RDDT.

This agreement between Google and Reddit marks a significant milestone for the platform, as it heavily depends on unpaid moderators to oversee its expansive range of unstructured and diverse discussions. These moderators have openly expressed their disapproval of previous Reddit choices, such as the recent site-wide blackout in response to the announcement of potential fees for third-party apps to access Reddit’s content.

An anonymous source has stated that the agreement with Google will not lead to any data-based alterations in the way Reddit operates. The source, who wishes to remain unidentified, is able to speak freely during the “quiet period” mandated by the SEC before an IPO. Unlike other social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube, Reddit does not rely on algorithms to predict user interests. Instead, users can search for specific discussion forums and participate in ongoing conversations or create new ones.

The person also mentioned that the deal entails Google following Reddit’s guidelines for users and privacy, which may vary from those of other social media platforms. Unlike other sites, Reddit permanently deletes posts and content when users choose to do so, leaving no traces behind. As a partner of Reddit, Google is obligated to do the same in order to honor user decisions on the platform.

The agreement to share data is crucial for Google, as it seeks access to human-generated content to enhance its AI models and improve their comprehension of the world. This will enable them to provide more relevant responses in a conversational manner.

In a press statement, Google commended Reddit for being a hub of genuine and diverse discussions and personal stories. They emphasized their goal of further enhancing accessibility to valuable information through the platform.

Google downplayed its potential use of Reddit data to train its AI systems, focusing instead on its plans to streamline user access to Reddit information through Google products. This will include features such as product recommendations and travel advice.

This process was referred to as “content-forward displays of Reddit information” with the goal of improving Google’s tools and enhancing user engagement on Reddit.

Source: wral.com