Jen Wong

While Reddit’s ad business is ascendent, it’s still working on a strategy for getting the most out of its generative AI deals.

Happy first IPO-aversary, Reddit. (And happy 20th birthday.) The market got you a present. Reddit’s stock soared nearly 18% in after-hours trading on Thursday thanks to a revenue beat in the first quarter.

Reddit’s ambitions to build its own AI-powered on-platform search business suggest even Google’s allies need to find ways to protect themselves from its influence – sometimes by copying its playbook.

Reddit COO Jen Wong shares how the company is banking on AI to push its conversation-driven performance marketing platform forward.

Ad revenue grew 56% YOY even without some of Reddit’s shiny new ad products, including generative AI creative tools and in-comment ads, being fully integrated into its platform.

Advertising is still Reddit’s meal ticket – but until its ad revenue tops the $2 billion per year mark, it can’t really be considered competitive with other social platforms.

Advertising accounted for $222.7 million, up 39% YOY. CEO Steve Huffman attributed this growth to a boost in search traffic from Google.

No business is immune to signal loss. But Reddit, which will host its first-ever earnings call as a public company on May 7, is making the case that its platform is “signal resilient.”

In today’s newsletter: The CMA still has a bone to pick with the Chrome Privacy Sandbox; the FCC fines mobile carriers for selling customer location data to data brokers; and the Financial Times is the latest publisher to strike a licensing deal with an AI company.

In today’s newsletter: The DOJ publishes its antitrust suit against Apple; Reddit’s stock pops on its IPO day, but its long-term prospects depend on Google; and Amazon’s hollowing out Twitch.