Reddit the Search Engine & Our Fragmented Digital Future

Welcome to this week's issue of the Niche Media Publishing Newsletter.

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Let’s get started with this week’s topics.

Reddit Search is Coming

It’s not arriving with the fanfare of SearchGPT. It’s not being announced as a “new feature”. It’s a classic case of “watch what we do”.

And these bread crumbs tell a story…

Follow the money.

Longtime readers will recall I’ve highlighted how Reddit could be one of many new search players (Multipolar Search), but it appears Reddit is already well on their way to this reality.

Specifically, Reddit hired Jyoti Vaidee as VP of Ad Product, an 11 year (!) Google veteran.

It’s interesting how Reddit is positioning this. They want to "monetize” internal Reddit Search, but I can’t find any reference to them specifically wanting to build a search engine.

But if you plan to monetize a “Search Product”, you sure as shit are building a search engine.

Perhaps Reddit blocking search engines (other than Google) was an opening salvo in a much longer strategy, under the guise of a hard-nose business partnership. Keep your enemies closer, they say.

Learn More About Reddit (Free Virtual Event)

I’ll be on a webinar this afternoon talking about Reddit. Please come!

My co-panelist is Nick Andrews, a 15(!) year veteran of marketing on Reddit. I’m so excited to learn more from him.

The Fragmented User Journey

Speaking of search disruption, there’s a great piece out in Adweek about the increasingly fractured customer (user) journey in digital…

Between multipolar default (and de facto) search, the rise of Reddit, the re-invention of newsletters, and AI overviews, publishers & brands face risk and opportunity.

It may be too early for the funeral, but it appears the era of Google hegemony in digital is approaching it’s terminal stage.

That doesn’t mean the era of content is over.

For publishers, there’s a significant role to play as critical reference nodes both on specific alternate platforms AND as data inputs to feed the AI beast.

Publishers who have a keen awareness for how this new digital economy works AND can create useful, human “upvote-able” content, stand to gain.

My prediction is that forward-thinking brands will increasingly enlist or seek to convince content creators, or “input pipelines” to aid in these efforts.

Every piece of content, comment, video, or upvote might be a point on someone else’s knowledge graph!

This may play out very similarly to how brands enlisted publishers, creators, taste makers, and influencers to evangelize their products with partnerships. Sound familiar?

Need Traffic? Want to Build Community?

I’m “all in” on Reddit right now as the fastest way to acquire users and build community.

As such, my course is a fluid, evolving project. I’m adding new modules weekly!

Other Things I Read Recently

These are some articles I enjoyed, but don’t really have anything to add to!

Other Newsletters Worth Following

Here are some other publications I subscribe to, author, or co-sign.

If you are operating a newsletter (or even just interested), this next one is one of my “must opens” every week as a newsletter operator myself:

For some of the best breakdowns of creator success stories:

If you want to go deeper with Reddit (one of my favorite creator ecosysystems right now), check out my sister publication:

And don’t miss Amy’s excellent insights into wants happening in the world of content marketers.

Interested in Booking an Ad?

I’ve put together a resource sheet over at Passionfruit here.

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OK, that's it for this week...

Please do reply to this email with any feedback or suggestions.

Ewen