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Reddit may still be considering ending its licensing deal with Google.

Like any company, Reddit reports quarterly earnings, and its CEO, Steve Huffman, addresses investors during those reports. It’s not always about just sharing numbers, though: This quarter, Huffman took the opportunity to voice concerns and criticisms about Google’s AI Overviews feature, which automatically summarizes search results on most user queries.

First, there was a letter to investors, wherein Huffman spun his narrative about Reddit’s value proposition and general strategic direction amid the proliferation of AI tools.

He wrote:
As the internet becomes flooded with synthetic content, people are craving real human perspective. We are the antidote to an automated web. AI compresses the internet into summaries. Reddit delivers the opposite: deep discussions, passionate debates, and lived experiences. People don’t want a summary of Reddit; they want Reddit.
The letter also said:
As AI makes information more abundant, the challenge is no longer finding content—it’s finding context, personal opinion, and first-hand accounts. Everything online feels flat, polished, generated, or sponsored, so consumers are overwhelmed and increasingly skeptical. We’ve never had more information, but we’ve never trusted it less.
And then, in comments around the earnings report, he added:
What we see is, 10 blue links has driven tremendous value and growth to the broader ecosystem… from where we sit, AI Overviews has yet to make a similar level of positive impact, and I think that’s consistent across the broader landscape, right? As businesses, publishers, retailers, we’re still looking for that win-win.
...read more at arstechnica.com
93 sats \ 0 replies \ @Aeneas 3 Aug

God help me, I do find sites like Reddit, where absolute normies just give their normie opinions about whatever, to be useful. Many of those opinions are dumb, but it's just like listening to conversations out on the street; and you do find intelligent commentary often enough to make it worth it.

The AI shit can just be ignored by:

(a) Just not using Google (which I guess is what this is about)
(b) Ignoring or turning off the summary if your alternative like Brave Search has an AI summary. Google doesn't even let you do this, so all the more reason to do A.

IMO people just shoot themselves in the foot. Who the hell holds a gun to their heads and forces them to use Google?

It's hardly convenient if "Muh Convenience" dooms civilization

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As the internet becomes flooded with synthetic content, people are craving real human perspective. We are the antidote to an automated web. AI compresses the internet into summaries. Reddit delivers the opposite: deep discussions, passionate debates, and lived experiences. People don’t want a summary of Reddit; they want Reddit.

Soon to be stacker news

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141 sats \ 2 replies \ @gmd 2 Aug

haha imagine SN taking the helm at the top of google search results 🚀

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One can dream

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Passionate debates? I agree with Trump, lifetime ban, E true hollywood story

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Gemini is stupid

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