Google has significantly increased the amount of Reddit answers it includes in its search results in an effort to surface real user opinions, but it's becoming increasingly clear that this is having a negative impact on the quality of search results. There is. Everyone but Google seems to know it.
I don't have any specialized knowledge, but it has meaning.
User-generated content, typically found in product reviews, travel reviews, Reddit, and web forums, are opinions formed by anonymous people with unknown experience or expertise. This is based on personal opinions and biases limited to each person's experience, and unfortunately, lack of experience does not prevent anyone from expressing their opinion.
The appalling quality of user-generated content commonly found on Reddit means that if an opinion is “meaningful” (regardless of its factual accuracy), similarly experienced people who don't have the expertise to distinguish between opinions That opinion is virtually guaranteed to be upvoted by all other users. “Meaningful” inaccurate opinions and factually accurate opinions.
All you have to do is watch the SEO community move from trend to trend. Because ideas make sense and are inevitably discarded.
Meaningful ideas are like hallucinations in AI. AI hallucinations “sound right,” but hearing right is not the same as being factually accurate. The legacy of meaningfulness is the idea that the sun revolves around the earth, which has “made sense” for thousands of years.
Common sense is a big issue on Reddit. Because people without experience or expertise can share plausible but factually incorrect opinions.
I asked Chef Jen Allen (Facebook profile) about her culinary expertise and discussing recipes on Reddit.
She shared her expert opinion:
“Reddit is not a reliable place to get recipes. From untested recipes to poor measurements and missing instructions, it's nearly impossible to find reliable recipes on Reddit. People don't have good intentions. However, most responses to recipe requests guarantee disappointing results if you actually try to make the suggested recipe.
Reddit is not designed for experienced recipe developers to share tried and tested recipes. ”
Examples of facts and opinions on Reddit
There are many examples where a Redditor's lack of expertise leads to opinions and biases that override the facts, negatively impacting the quality of the content.
This is an example related to SEO.
Two facts about links:
- Google employee Gary Illyes explained at Pubcon Austin that links are no longer in the top three ranking factors.
- Second, in March 2024, Google's spam policy page de-emphasized links by stating that links are a ranking factor, but considering that it no longer says that links are an important ranking factor. Let's look at.
Today on Reddit, some people note that links don't play as powerful a role as they used to.
Screenshot of Reddit post about link
And several Redditors disagree, including sine, who joined Reddit within the past few years and may have completely missed the heyday when links were the undisputed #1 ranking.
Here's one person's response:
Here's another example. Reddit's top ranking thread on how to make birria de res, a Mexican meat stew recipe for cooking goat meat that originated in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
The first person to answer is the one who guesses the type of meat suitable for birria.
Redditor guesses the answer
People posting speculation is a typical response given not just in that Reddit thread, but in any discussion. That's not to say there aren't experts on Reddit, but for someone with years of experience in SEO, when was the last time he asked Reddit for SEO advice?
Lack of EEAT in user-generated content
The idea of ranking real people's views probably makes more sense in some situations than others. For example, when it comes to saltwater fishing, I rely on the opinions of people posting on dedicated East Coast fishing forums like Stripers Online, as well as those in Surfcaster's Journal with decades of actual fishing experience. I accept the writer's opinion 100%. I value his Surfcaster's Journal expertise so much that I pay for access to his content. That's very good.
But what about Reddit? I have expertise in saltwater and freshwater fishing, but honestly, Reddit is the last place I go for fishing advice.
For example, it's well known that the best time to fish for striped bass on the East Coast is at night, when striped bass sneak around in the dark and ambush their prey. Although you can fish during the day, the best time to catch larger keeper-sized fish is definitely at night.
However, many of the top-ranked discussions on Reddit focus on daytime fishing.
Examples of personal bias in Reddit answers
Compare this to the Surfcaster's Journal logo and it becomes clear that night fishing is central to the sport of striped bass fishing.
Comparison of recipe sites and Reddit
Casey Markey (@MediaWyse)a respected search marketing consultant who specializes in optimizing recipe and food blogs, agrees that Reddit threads in search results are a poor experience for users.
He explained:
“Google claims that the popularity of Reddit results is to provide a more direct experience to guide users, but this rarely results in better results in the recipe niche. Especially for more complex recipes, the detailed step-by-step instructions and expert tips that come with those recipes are better than what you'll find in a ranking Reddit thread.
For example, a complex recipe like “Beef Wellington” has a lot of potential for failure, especially when it comes to the phyllo dough and clean cuts when finished. Just look at the Reddit results returned for this query and compare them to many better written and more detailed recipes to see how much of a difference there is between the expertise presented. Masu.
You should never rely solely on Reddit threads to make even the most complex recipes. The results will not be satisfactory. Most of the threads on Reddit are “too general” and don't really provide the level of expertise needed to get a recipe “perfect” the first time. ”
Top reasons why Reddit shouldn't rank higher
- lack of expertise
This is already self-evident. - Anonymous
With millions of users, Reddit's anonymity makes it easy for anyone to do anything without experiencing the self-policing effects of a forum community where expert members are always nearby to pick up bad advice. You can post. - bias
Reddit answers tend to reflect users' biases, some of which stem from a lack of experience - subjective
Posts on Reddit tend to be based on preconceptions and preferences that may have more to do with geographic and cultural background than facts, experience, and knowledge. - echo chamber
This is a well-known effect of like-minded people coming together and reinforcing each other's preconceptions and prejudices. - cognitive bias
A common feature of social media and user-generated content is that it amplifies cognitive biases like the Dunning-Kruger effect. The Dunning-Kruger effect is when non-experts overestimate their knowledge of a subject, leading to poor overall comprehension. - oversimplification
This relates to Casey saying the Reddit thread was “too general.” One of the reasons, he says, is that the people answering the questions lack understanding of context and all the nuance that goes with it, and end up oversimplifying certain things. topic.
Google is using content with questionable expertise
The definition of suspicious is unreliable or questionable. Opinions shared on his Reddit by people who have no expertise and share their opinions anonymously are considered questionable. But not only is Google favoring Reddit in its search results, it's also paying millions of dollars for access to content that lacks expertise, experience, authority, and credibility.
Google says it prioritizes content from real people with experience, and this makes sense in certain situations, like product experiences. But has Reddit's content prioritization strayed too far from surfacing content with real expertise?
See also: Aifficiency: The real story behind the Google and Reddit deal
Featured image by Shutterstock/Roman Samborskyi