Study suggests Reddit is preferred over traditional search engines

Is it time to rethink our approach to writing for search engines? Reddit’s latest study certainly suggests that consumer behaviour is changing, with 47% of social media users reporting that ‘irrelevant search terms’ found in traditional engines force many to turn to the personalised advice and recommendations of Reddit.

Surveying 1000 social media users in seven key product areas, including cars, TVs, movie tickets, makeup, credit cards, laptops and refrigerators, participants were tasked with analysing a range of recommendation sources. Close to half of the surveyed participants reported being unsatisfied with the quality of search engines, preferring Reddit’s concise, specific answers.

So, what could this mean for the future of search? It certainly seems to be the case that consumers are beginning to prefer personalised search results that feel like human recommendations, rather than a cold, corporate alternative. After all, as the company claims, “Reddit conversations are the new landing page for business discovery”.

We spoke to Alex Moss, Co-Founder of FireCask and Principal SEO at Yoast.

Expert opinion

Alex Moss, Founder of FireCask and Principal SEO at Yoast

"Reddit’s study reinforces a growing trend in how consumer search behaviour has dramatically changed over the past couple of years. This aligns with Google’s own recognition of the importance of third-party perspectives from their post in May 2023 (https://blog.google/products/search/google-search-perspectives/) where third party opinion is sought after and provides much better context than that of just one party. Whilst some SEOs have claimed that the Reddit x Google deal has made SERPs less useful, this isn't something that will happen in the long term as we shift towards a more conversational and community-driven approach to searching and discovering. For brands and SEOs, this means that, just like it has time and time again, our range of skills must again evolve and expand, utilising multiple channels to help increase visibility. Brands and businesses must engage where discussions are happening - whether that’s Reddit, Linkedin, Discord, or other community platforms. As search engines - both traditional and AI focussed platforms - increasingly surface third-party perspectives, digital word of mouth is more important than ever."

Read more on this in Embryo’s blog- Discover how to use Reddit for SEO