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Google's deal with Reddit could hopefully make for better searches and AI
- Google and Reddit have confirmed a content licensing deal, worth a reported $60 million.
- The search giant will use Reddit content to train its AI models.
- It also turns out that Google will make Reddit content easier to access across its products.
Loads of people append “Reddit” to their search queries, to the point that Google now offers a “Reddit” button to quickly find results on the platform. Now, the two companies have confirmed a content licensing deal, and it sounds like there might be encouraging news for your web searches.
The two companies revealed on their respective blogs that Google will indeed use Reddit content to train its AI models. But the firms also noted that this deal will allow Google to display Reddit content in “new ways.”
Google broadly outlined how it’ll make things easier for users who want to see Reddit content:
We know people find this information [Reddit content – ed] useful, so we’re developing ways to make it even easier to access across Google products. This partnership will facilitate more content-forward displays of Reddit information that will make our products more helpful for our users and make it easier to participate in Reddit communities and conversations.
We really hope this makes for more relevant search results without necessarily having to append “Reddit” to the search term. Google announced a so-called Perspectives feature last year, to display results from Reddit and other platforms, but this feature still hasn’t launched widely. More improvements here would be welcomed nonetheless.
What else to know about the deal?
Either way, Google will also use Reddit to train its AI models and services. This is a sensible idea on paper for the search giant as, in addition to the platform’s wealth of knowledge, the informal nature of Reddit content could theoretically make for a more human-sounding Gemini assistant.
Furthermore, the deal will see Reddit using Google’s Vertex AI tech to improve “search and other capabilities” on Reddit itself. So those unhappy with the platform’s search capabilities might have a solution in the pipeline too.
Reuters reported that this deal is worth $60 million per year. The agreement also comes as Reddit launches an initial public offering.