Reddit is opening some of the most visited real estate on the internet to advertising. The platform now offers a new ad type called "Trending Takeover," which allows companies to place branded content on the Popular feed and search bar for 24 hours.
This gives advertisers a chance to place their content next to the biggest trending topics on the website, whether that's a cat video or a coronavirus update.
"One of the most popular parts of Reddit is our popular tab and the search bar," Shariq Rizvi, vice president of ads product and engineering at Reddit. "These are parts of the Reddit app that are visited by more than a third of our users on a daily basis."
The new offering marks Reddit's push to diversify beyond simple banner ads and promoted content. The site chose the Popular feed and search bar because they are core to Reddit's model of curation and discovery.
"These are the parts of the app where users go to discover the new trends, the conversations, the fads, which are born every day on Reddit," he said.
Reddit attracts upwards of 430 million users per month, according to the company.
Despite this expansive readership, the company has historically focused less on revenue than fellow social media giants such as Twitter and Facebook. But over the last year, it seems to have taken a renewed interest in boosting ad sales.
In April 2019, Reddit hired Jen Wong, formerly a senior executive at Time Inc., as chief operating officer. It also started pitching agencies more aggressively, according to a CNBC report.
"We've been growing our ad business in an aggressive way," Rizvi said. "We have seen tremendous growth year-over-year."
Supergoop! is a skincare brand whose products are what the company says is 100% dedicated to sun care. Amanda Baldwin, CEO of Supergoop!, joined Cheddar News to discuss why sunscreen is important to add to daily routines. "What I love about this company is ... it really is based on scientific fact," Baldwin said. "90% of the signs of aging comes from the sun ... one in five of us will be diagnosed with skin cancer in our lifetime so making sunscreen a daily habit is probably one of the most simple things you can do for your health."
College enrollment rates for high school graduates in the U.S. has been on the decline since 2009. Sean Behr, CEO of Fountain a high-volume hiring platform, joined Cheddar News to discuss why high school graduates are benefitting from the value of attending a trade school, especially in today's economy.
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how people work, including in creative industries. The famous Tribeca Film Festival featured some projects recently that used A.I. that some filmmakers say make it more creative. Cheddar News took a peek at some of those films.
No one likes to have to take their clothes to the laundromat. But a new bar in Brooklyn, called Pearl Lee’s Washtub, is spicing up the chore by creating a laundromat that's also a full bar.
