• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, May 9, 2024

The number of daily active users on the Reddit platform has skyrocketed to 82.7 million in the quarter since the company went through its initial public offering (IPO) in March -- up 37% compared with the same period last year.

The surge in user engagement and need to expand its services will no doubt attract advertisers looking to reach those searching on its platform for information on specific topics, giving brands another platform in which to advertise products.

Trending search terms will attract brands. Top Reddit search term data gathered by clickstream data provider Datos shows that the most popular search queries on the platform ranked from the most-searched term to the least-searched, where “1” means the most-searched. 

Datos estimates the relative popularity of each search request by dividing the number of searches for each specific keyword by the number of searches for the most popular keyword, which is "nsfw" in this case.

Reddit offers a wide range of information. Which topics gain the most attention and which gain the least?

For example, the most recent data pulled from the first quarter of 2024 shows “nba” was searched less than twice as often as “nsfw” -- not safe for work -- which seems to attract the most searches.

Reddit has blocked access to mature MSFW content on its platform via third-party apps, and requires users to log in to the official Reddit app to view explicit content.

Aside from “nsfw” and “nba,” search terms that gain the most attention include “nfl,” “update,” “palworld,” “asian,” “goth,” conservative,” “conspiracy,” “discord,” and “youtube.”

The bottom five words that are receiving the least attention include “twitch,” “steven yeun and thunderbolts,” “sale,” guide,” and bikini.”

Some of the highest-ranking search terms in 2022 included “nsfw,” “discord,” “starfield,” “asian,” “lil tay,” “youtube,” “israel,” “f4m,” “ukraine,” “trump,” “anime,” and “code.”

In 2022, the most searched on terms included “ukraine,” “trump,” “nsfw,” “discord,” “f4m,” “asia,” “russia,” “twitter,” “elden ring,” “nfl,” and “politics.”

A lot of good information can be found on Reddit, but it will be interesting to keep track on where or not the platform changes its policies to eliminate some of the more provocative terms. No doubt it will be based on advertisers’ response.

Earlier this week, the company released its first earnings report, reporting that revenue reached $243 million, up 48% year-over-year (YoY), in the quarter that ended March 31, 2024.