#Reddit shown excessively in Google product review search results, study finds
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Google has a severe diversity issue in Search results as Reddit absolutely dominates the Discussions and forums SERP feature.
Why we care. Reddit can be a valuable resource for searchers but has an obvious spam problem. More than half of Reddit’s top-ranked threads have spam as the top comment, as called out in the analysis by author Glen Allsopp, who wrote that “Google’s promotion of them feels excessive,” adding these “current search results are the worst I can recall seeing.”
By the numbers. An analysis of 10,000 keyphrases found that Discussions and forums appear 77% (7,702) of the time. Overall, 766 individual forums appeared, but just Reddit and Quora had 3X greater visibility than every other forum:
- Reddit appeared in 7,509 results and was featured 14,263 times.
- Quora appeared in 3,513 results and was featured 3,832 times.
- Every other domain (766 of them), combined, appeared 4,989 times, with most sites never getting a second listing like Reddit. Some were inactive but there were no new forums or any forums with a low number of posts.
Over-correction? So why is Google pushing Reddit so hard? It could partially be in response to multiple stories over the last couple of years discussing how users add “Reddit” to the end of their queries. But based on the findings of this analysis, perhaps Google has over-corrected for this issue.
The analysis. You can read the full Detailed analysis here: The Discussion Forums Dominating 10,000 Product Review Search Results.
Danny Goodwin has been Managing Editor of Search Engine Land & Search Marketing Expo – SMX since 2022. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as Senior Editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land’s SME (Subject Matter Expert) program. He also helps program U.S. SMX events.
Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
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