Reddit's recent surge in growth is predominantly linked to its relationship with Google, which has propelled the site as a preferred source of content for users searching for information. Unlike the general web, populated by low-quality content aimed at exploiting search algorithms, Reddit remains a hub of genuine community-driven contributions. This trend is reflected in the increase of logged-out visitors accessing Reddit through Google links. As a result, many users turn to Reddit to find quality answers, highlighting its role as a vital repository amidst the broader decline in web quality.
For years, adding "reddit" to search queries has been a useful trick; now it's both common practice and to some extent done automatically, as Google and Reddit have formalized their relationship.
The web outside of Reddit is increasingly full of stuff created to game Google while skimming a few ad dollars off the top; it's been overharvested to all hell and its soil is depleting.
Is Reddit a centralized, privately owned web within a web, representing a tragic, pseudo-democratic enclosure of the commons? Yes.
The problem is that the web dying, or at least filling with garbage and slop, in no small part because of its economic entanglement with Google, the largest advertising company in the world.
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