Reddit (RDDT) usage for search has boomed. According to data from Similarweb, the social media platform saw a 39% increase in website visits, year-over-year, while Google (GOOG, GOOGL) reported a drop of 2.2%.
The Wall Street Journal personal tech reporter Ann-Marie Alcántara joins Wealth! to give insight into why internet users are turning to Reddit for search over Google.
“So we’re seeing this happen across all social media sites, not just Reddit, but people are turning towards more real experiences. Things that feel like it’s coming from a person versus a publisher or a journalist that they might not know. People are just looking for that extra personality, something that feels real versus just another website that tells them what to do,” Alcántara has found in her research.
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This post was written by Nicholas Jacobino
Video Transcript
Well, turning now to our new weekly segments, tech support, we talked to experts about the latest tech headlines and what they mean for you as both a consumer and an investor.
And today we’re talking about search engines.
Google is such a dominant force that searching something up online is commonly called Just Googling no matter what the site someone is using actually.
But recently, users aren’t feeling so confident in Google’s ability to find what they’re looking for.
Interestingly here now people on social media and journalists finding in their usage that Google has quote gotten worse and as feelings toward Google sour reddit is one reaping the benefits here worldwide desktop and mobile visits to Reddit jumped 39% year over year in May while Google visits decreased 2.2% in the same period.
That’s according to similar web.
So why are people choosing Reddit?
And how well does it really work?
Joining me now is someone who compared the two personally, Anne Marie Al Cantara, who is the Wall Street Journal, personal tech reporter, Anne Marie.
Great to have you here in studio.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Absolutely.
OK.
So you, you took a look at both of them just to see which one actually gave you better search results here.
Uh walk us through what the research really showed you here.
So it was kind of a tie what ended up happening.
So it’s not really clear cut.
Um But basically I, for a week I spent my life Googling as I normally would Google and then adding reddit to the end of my Google searches, which is what people commonly do.
And so for things like, you know, restaurant recommendations, Google was the best because it showed me the menu and images.
Whereas Reddit was telling me not to eat there, which is not useful.
It’s like getting straight to the reviews that Google would also compile as well, but perhaps uh a little bit more of that kind of personal flavor peppered in too to, to some of those search results.
I mean, as we’re thinking about both of these different platforms, one of them we know has a lot of advertisements that take up above the fold results and then you eventually get to the the nitty gritty, the things that are valuable, what you went there for versus another, which is very much leaning towards kind of the reviews, the personal community kind of side of things too.
So how does this change where people might tend to search in the future too?
So we’re seeing this happen across all social media sites, not just Reddit, but people are turning towards more real experiences, you know, things that feel like it’s coming from a person versus a publisher or a journalist that they might not know.
Uh, so it’s, people are just looking for that, you know, extra personality, something that feels real versus just another website that tells them what to do.
What is the best way to use reddit to search because, I mean, I, I run my own searches as well if I’m going on a vacation and I wanna know, OK, what are the, the top spots that I have to visit when I get to this destination that I’ve, I’ve never been to before.
What are the top ways to search on Reddit right now?
So most of the people I spoke to for this story said to definitely add Reddit to the end of your search.
You don’t have to do anything fancy.
You can just do that and you know, it’ll pop up on your Google.
Uh And then, you know, go through the results, see what’s been uploaded, which is the term on Reddit.
You know, that basically means this is the comment that one on Reddit, the Reddit post.
Uh And usually that’s the best comment you’ll find for whatever you’re looking for.
Um But also it is social media.
So people tend to write about their bad experiences the most.
So if let’s say you’re going on vacation and you wanted to go visit a museum, if there’s a bad review, you know, maybe take it with a grain of salt because you might still enjoy it and this person just might have not liked it a lot.
What are other social sites that people are using to, to find the, the, the results that they’re looking for when they run a query?
Essentially Pinterest is a big one.
Thinking of your vacation.
Search history.
Uh tiktok, of course, youtube, Instagram, you know, people wanna see what the place even looks like, what this museum, whatever it might be, product, etcetera, what it might look like in real life.
Um So it’s across all social media.
Absolutely.
Thank you so much, breaking this down.
All right, I got some searches to run here.
So we got a jet.
Thank you so much, Anne Marie Alcantara, who is the Wall Street Journal, personal tech reporter here in studio with us.
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