Reddit may allow users to make paid subreddits

You may need to pay to access some subreddits in the future. During an earnings call on Tuesday, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman suggested “new types of subreddits that can be built that could have exclusive content or private areas.”

“I think the existing, altruistic, free version of Reddit will continue to exist and grow and thrive the way it has,” Huffman said. “But now we’re going to open the door to new use cases, new types of subreddits that can be built.” Huffman said he doesn’t think these gated communities would “cannibalize” the site, which has seen an increase in users in recent months. The sites daily active users increased by 51 percentbringing its total to 91.2 million, while its revenue also increased by 54% to $281.2 million.

Based on a statement on Reddit, it appears that the “exclusive” areas mentioned by Huffman could be paywalled. “We’ve had versions of premium community features in the past, like r/goldlounge, that users loved, so we’re exploring new ways to empower moderators and communities to experience unique spaces and content,” said Reddit spokesperson Tim Rathschmidt. On the edge. “We’ll let you know when we have more to share.”

Additionally, Huffman mentioned during the call that Reddit has begun “improving” its search results using its own and third-party AI models. We first heard about Reddit using AI for search in February, as its AI training deal with Google includes access to Google’s Vertex AI tool that helps businesses improve search results.

This more aggressive approach to business is part of Reddit’s plan to achieve profitability, but it will need to ensure it doesn’t inconvenience users in the process – something we saw in last year’s site-wide protests against Reddit’s API pricing.