Reddit has launched a new AI-powered search tool called Reddit Answers. Reddit is already appearing regularly in Google Search returns. The new interface provides a way users can utilize a conversational model to get answers directly from the social platform. “Once a question is asked, curated summaries of relevant conversations and details across Reddit will appear, including links to related communities and posts,” according to Reddit. Whether users will want to skip their usual go-to search engines in favor of querying Reddit alone could have long term ramifications for the 19-year old social platform, which went public in 2023. Continue reading ‘Reddit Answers’ Wants to Gain More Users Searching In-App

Reddit is expanding its keyword targeting advertising program, introducing it in more places and adding AI-powered recommendations to help ads appear in the most relevant environments across the platform. Keyword targeting is now available for feed ads in addition to conversations, which were previously the only placement available. Reddit is also launching an AI feature called dynamic audience expansion that works with keyword targeting to place ads before a wider range of viewers based on the objectives of the campaign. Since going public on the NYSE in March, Reddit has been under pressure to increase ad revenue. Continue reading Reddit Drives Precision in Conversation Keyword Ads Using AI

Reddit will soon add AI-generated summaries atop its search results, co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman told investors on a Q2 earnings call last week. The company will later this year begin testing AI-powered search result pages that “summarize and recommend content,” said Huffman, who expects the technology will help Reddit users “dive deeper” into content and aid in discovery. Huffman mused monetization strategies, including boosting ad inventory and possibly installing a paywall to differentiate premium content. The discussions accompanied news that Reddit lost $10.1 million in Q2, which saw revenues of $281 million, a 54 percent increase year-over-year. Continue reading Q2 Report: Reddit Adds Users, Narrows Losses, Preps for AI

Instagram is testing unskippable ads that will appear in users’ feeds. Screenshots of the new ad unit, which users can’t scroll through, began circulating on sites like Reddit and X, prompting general outrage, followed by confirmation that the test is underway. The ads include a countdown timer like those used in some streaming shows that prevent the ability to fast forward and also lock users onto the message without the ability to browse elsewhere on the site until the ad plays through. The approach is similar to the YouTube model for ads that appear before and midway through videos. Continue reading Instagram Users Angered by Test of ‘Unskippable’ Video Ads

Elon Musk wants to bring videos posted to X (formerly Twitter) to a bigger screen. The social platform plans to launch a YouTube-like app on smart TVs, starting with Samsung TVs and Amazon Fire TVs. Since purchasing Twitter in October 2022, Musk has emphasized its evolution to a “video-first” platform as part of its rebranding as X. Internal research claims X users watch videos in eight out of 10 visits, which would make it an obvious opportunity for expansion. In the early stages, it appears the focus will be long-form video, which can more easily accommodate advertising. Continue reading X Teases Launch of a YouTube-Like Video App for Smart TVs

Reddit is moving ahead with its IPO and plans to raise between $682 million and $748 million on a fully diluted valuation of between $5.8 billion and $6.4 billion. Although no date has been announced, the IPO is expected to take place sometime this month. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday, Reddit says it will offer 22 million 15.3 million Class A common shares and 6.7 million insider shares from investors including CEO Steve Huffman and COO Jen Wong. Pricing will be between $31 and $34 per share. The proposed market cap is $4.9 billion to $5.4 billion. Continue reading Reddit Hopes to Raise $748M in IPO Aimed at $6.4B Valuation

Community message board and social news aggregator Reddit, founded in 2005, has filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange in an IPO observers say may be complete in a matter of weeks. It is the first social media company to go public in many years, with Snap Inc.’s 2017 offering cited as the most recent stock market splash. Reddit’s bankers are reportedly seeking a $5 billion valuation, about half the $10 billion it was valued at for a 2021 private funding round. Reddit filed with the SEC the same day it announced an “expanded partnership” with Google to use Vertex AI. Continue reading Reddit Announces IPO on Heels of Expanded Deal with Google

While YouTube and Facebook are the most-used platforms among U.S. adults, TikTok is the fastest growing, according to a new Pew Research survey on social media usage. Google’s YouTube led in popularity by a wide margin, with 83 percent of the 5,733 U.S. adults polled reporting they had used it at some point. Meta Platforms’ Facebook took second place, with 68 percent of respondents having at least tried it. Those two platforms also stood out for having the majority through each age demographic subset. Instagram, also owned by Meta, took third place, with 47 percent of respondents attesting they had used it. Continue reading YouTube, Facebook Most Popular Social Apps Among Adults

As the pressure ratchets up for AI companies to go beyond the wow factor and make money, Stability AI has formalized three subscription tiers as it seeks to expand commercial use of its open-source, multimodal core models. The Stability AI Membership offerings include a free tier for personal and research (i.e., non-commercial) use, a professional tier that costs $20 a month, and a custom-priced enterprise tier for large outfits. The company says that with the three tiers it is “striking a balance between fostering competitiveness and maintaining openness in AI technologies.” Continue reading Stability AI Is Offering Paid Membership for Commercial Users

Crypto ID project Worldcoin, co-founded by Sam Altman, is integrating with Microsoft’s “Minecraft,” as well as Reddit, Telegram, Shopify and Mercado Libre. Concurrently, the company is debuting World ID 2.0 in Mexico and Singapore. World ID 2.0 enhances the privacy features of Worldcoin’s “digital passport for humanness.” Rolled out in July, World ID provides identify verification, claiming to allow easy distinction between bots and humans online. “Retailers are losing an estimated $100 billion per year from return fraud, bots and coupon stacking,” the Worldcoin Foundation said in making the announcement. Continue reading Worldcoin Brings Privacy to Shopify, Reddit, Telegram, Others

The latest Entertainment Technology Center student challenge launched on October 5. Technology and processes in the entertainment industry are changing rapidly, yet the goals of the entertainment and experience industries remain the same. Students from the schools of cinematic arts, engineering, business, communication, and innovation were asked: How can we forge alliances between the legacy community which has a deep knowledge of the storytelling arts and the rising filmmakers and creators helping to shape new tools and resources? How would you like to access these amazing legacy talents as you develop your own storytelling skills using new tools? How would you like organizations and institutions around you to support your ideas? Continue reading ETC Student Challenge: Future of Creative Media Resources

More U.S. adults say they regularly get news from TikTok, according to a Pew Research study that says this bucks the general trend of news consumption declining or remaining flat at other social media sites over the past few years. Since 2020, regular TikTok news consumption among American adults has more than quadrupled to 14 percent, from 3 percent, Pew finds. Among younger adults, news consumption is even higher, with 32 percent of those ages 18 to 29 claiming to regularly get news on TikTok. This compares with 15 percent of those 30 to 49. Continue reading TikTok on the Rise as News Source, Facebook and X Decline

Amazon’s live-streaming video service Twitch has begun testing a vertical presentation it’s calling the “Discovery Feed” designed to make it easier for users to browse and find new content. The interactive gaming and entertainment platform is the latest to emulate TikTok’s flagship vertical scroll, joining recent converts YouTube, Reddit, Spotify and Amazon. Beginning this week, select users will be able to access the new viewing format, although initially it will be populated with horizontally-framed creator clips, Twitch says, explaining that the framing will switch to vertical “as the feed evolves.” Continue reading Twitch Is Testing New Vertical-Scroll Feed to Boost Discovery

OpenAI has shared instructions for training to handle content moderation at scale. Some customers are already using the process, which OpenAI says can reduce time for fine-tuning content moderation policies from weeks or months to mere hours. The company proposes its customization technique can also save money by having GPT-4 do the work of tens of thousands of human moderators. Properly trained, GPT-4 could perform moderation tasks more consistently in that it would be free of human bias, OpenAI says. While AI can incorporate biases from training data, technologists view AI bias as more correctable than human predisposition. Continue reading OpenAI: GPT-4 Can Help with Content Moderation Workload

Google has updated transaction policies to allow for blockchain-based digital content, such as NFTs, to be placed within content distributed through its mobile software marketplace Google Play. Google has been slow to warm to blockchain integration, and the new approach comes with strict transparency requirements. If tokenized digital assets are part of an app or game “developers must declare this clearly,” Google explains, adding that “developers may not promote or glamorize any potential earning from playing or trading activities.” These stipulations intend to prevent the hype that has attached itself to so much blockchain activity from infiltrating Google Play. Continue reading Google Updates Policies Regarding Blockchain in Play Store