Reddit Battles Meta and Google Using Ads Based on Topics — Not Your Data
Without as much personal information, Reddit lures marketers by touting interests and conversations
After an initial public offering in March, Reddit looks to become more of an advertising platform.
Photographer: Michael Nagle/BloombergReddit Inc. spent more than a decade known as the internet’s edgy bulletin board, a site where mostly anonymous users could post memes and share wild opinions on topics ranging from investing advice to Taylor Swift’s love life. It was also a service many advertisers tended to avoid.
Now, six months into life as a publicly traded company, Reddit is winning over advertisers by showing that it’s different than other internet platforms, which often rely on users’ identities and personal information to target ads. Instead, Reddit is targeting people based on their interests, relying on the site’s deeply detailed communities — called subreddits — to match advertisers with potential customers.