Over the past three weeks, Reddit has witnessed a series of protests as users clash with the platform’s leadership regarding the introduction of fees for sure third-party app developers accessing its application programming interface (API). However, the nature of these protests has taken a new turn, posing increased risks for advertisers on the platform.
To provide some context, several developers responsible for popular Reddit-based apps, such as Apollo, have voiced concerns that the new regulations would necessitate charging users a monthly fee to sustain their operations. While Reddit maintains that it intends not to exclude such apps, Jeremy Goldman, Senior Director of Marketing, Commerce, and Tech Briefings at Insider Intelligence, highlights skepticism regarding this claim. There is a belief that Reddit drives users towards its native app to enhance tracking and personalization capabilities.
In response to the platform’s push for users to adopt its native app as the primary means of access, Redditors are expressing their discontent and insisting that the user experience provided by third-party apps surpasses that of the native app. They are vehemently opposed to being compelled to switch to the native app, viewing it as an attempt by Reddit to assert greater control and dominance in the market.
Reddit Protests: Subreddits Go Dark and Hackers Demand Payment
The protests commenced on June 12, prompting large portions of the platform’s user base, totaling around 56 million active daily users, to go dark. Moderators of nearly 8,000 popular community forums, known as subreddits, opted to make them inaccessible to the public, including well-known ones like r/todayilearned and r/gaming. Although some subreddits returned after 48 hours, others have remained offline.
The situation took an even more chaotic turn when a group of hackers, previously involved in a phishing attack on Reddit in February, resurfaced. They demanded a payment of $4.5 million and urged changes to the new API pricing policies.
Redditors have adopted increasingly inventive strategies to express their discontent. One notable tactic involves manipulating the platform’s “NSFW” (Not Safe For Work) rules. Some moderators have mislabeled seemingly harmless subreddits like r/mildlyinteresting and r/TIHI as NSFW. On the other hand, certain moderators have allowed users to post explicit content and pornography in communities that do not require an NSFW tag, directly violating Reddit’s terms of service and Moderator Code of Conduct. This approach quickly gained momentum, flooding numerous subreddits with explicit content.
The repercussions of these actions have drawn significant attention from Reddit’s leadership and the media. According to a source familiar with the matter, Reddit promptly removed moderators who violated the rules regarding NSFW content on the platform. However, it is worth noting that some moderators have since been reinstated.
FYI if you're advertising on Reddit a movement is starting to post porn and possibly gore on mainstream subreddits to make it not brand safe. Might want to pause your ads.
— Jeromy Sonne (@JeromySonne) June 19, 2023
To wit here is a Lincoln ad next to some porn on the /all page pic.twitter.com/UdSAkOjNh2
— Jeromy Sonne (@JeromySonne) June 19, 2023
Brand Safety Concerns: Risks to Reddit’s Advertising Business
The consequences of this “porn-bombing” phenomenon extend far beyond frustrating Reddit’s leadership team and introducing chaos to the platform. It also poses immediate risks to the site’s advertising business, which serves as its primary source of revenue. In 2022, the advertising revenue grew to a substantial $424 million, representing a nearly 40% increase compared to the previous year.
Mike Alton, a social media influencer and head of strategic partnership at social media management platform, “whether the communities are going dark or, worse, being filled with NSFW content, either way [it] creates an unattractive proposition as an advertiser,” says Mike Allton, a social media influencer and head of strategic partnerships at social media management platform Agorapulse. Advertisers don’t want to pay for under-trafficked communities, and [they] don’t want their brand displayed alongside NSFW content.”
Reddit maintains a policy of not allowing advertising in NSFW subreddits or close proximity to NSFW content. According to a source within the company who spoke with The Drum, Reddit asserts that its brand safety controls are functioning as intended.
However, there is evidence that raises doubts about the effectiveness of these controls. Jeromy Sonne, a seasoned professional in the advertising industry and CEO of AI ad agency Daypart.AI shared a screenshot on June 19. The screenshot depicted a Lincoln advertisement below a pornographic video on the r/all page, which essentially serves as Reddit’s homepage.
Advertiser Wariness: Concerns over Brand Safety on Reddit
In speaking to The Drum, Sonne says he’s wary of the risks of advertising on the platform: “Reddit has had a lot of brand safety concerns for a while and the users have always been fairly hostile towards advertising on the platform. Personally, if a brand I’m working with flags content sensitivity or brand safety as a concern, I’m steering them away from Reddit entirely at the moment.”
According to Jeromy Sonne, several advertisers and agencies, including individuals at GroupM, have expressed serious concerns regarding the ongoing protest on Reddit. GroupM, a WPP-owned network, represents significant clients such as Coca-Cola, Ford, Nestle, and L’Oréal. However, GroupM declined to provide a comment on the matter.
In response to the situation, Tinuiti, an independent agency, informed Campaign US that it had advised some clients to reduce their spending on Reddit earlier this month.
Nevertheless, not all experts present the same level of concern regarding brand safety risks on Reddit. Jeremy Goldman from Insider Intelligence suggests that there are more significant brand safety issues on other platforms. He points out that Reddit has not raised red flags in this regard compared to its competitors. The platform has made considerable investments in enhancing brand safety.
