Commentary

Reddit Ending Data-Scraping, Will Keep Existing Agreements

Reddit has become a major source of data for artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLM). Google and OpenAI already have separate agreements to access the content.

The billions of real, human-to-human conversations have attracted more than humans. 

This week, Reddit explained in several posts that it will retire RSS feeds on November 13 and phase out its legacy public data API, shutting down remaining access in March 2027.

The company wrote in a post that both have enabled large-scale scraping of data and abuse by automated systems.

Readers will lose RSS access, but moderators and developers can shift common alerts to Devvit apps, which allow creators to build interactive games and apps that live on the Reddit platform.

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Some contributors on the Reddit forum were disappointed, but not surprised, by this news. 

"Disappointed to see this finally happen but I can't say I'm surprised," one Reddit contributor wrote. "Reddit decided a long time ago that its user data was a valuable commodity they could sell to the highest bidder. The shuttering of the public Data API is the final step of a multi-year effort to prevent anyone from accessing that data for free."

Users know they need to migrate their information. 

"I've already been contacted about migrating the bots and scripts used by r/science to Devvit," the Redditor wrote. "I don't have the time nor the energy to undertake such a task. Neither do my co-mods. So everything will just break come March.

More than 14,000 apps and bots have registered on Reddit, as the company continues to closely track migration of highest-activity apps.

This includes complete or near-complete migrations such as DeltaBot, MagicEyeBot, and RemindMeBot, which are known automated helper bots used on the platform. As of October 31, 2026, new requests for public API access will no longer be accepted.

The existing content-sharing agreements with Google and OpenAI remain unaffected by Reddit's decision to retire the RSS feeds, as well as phase out its public data API.

"AI engines tend to trust the kind of content Reddit is full of which is real people sharing real experiences," Chris Shelbourn, organic search director at digital agency IDHL, wrote in an email to MediaPost. "That has made it a frequently cited third-party source in AI search answers across a wide range of industries and topics and, inevitably, a target for digital marketers."

He wrote that LLMs regularly cite dozens of third-party sources, which can vary substantially by industry or topic, not just Reddit.

The key remains that in this new era of search real opinions from real people carry more weight.

Last year alone, users chose a Reddit result 23 billion times within Google searches, actively seeking answers that cut through low-quality content, according to data from a recent IDHL study.

To explain what make Reddit data unique, IDHL's study shows 28% of Redditors are not on Facebook, 36% are not on Instagram, 38% are not on TikTok, 53% are not on X, 61% are not on Pinterest, 73% are not on Discord, 75% are not on LinkedIn, and 75% are not on Snapchat.

There is no shortage of Reddit-related data from agencies calling out the company's importance.

A report released earlier this week -- which combines Semrush's proprietary search, traffic, and AI visibility data with Emplifi's consumer research, and a survey of more than 1,600 shoppers provides -- shows that 26% of consumers worldwide search on Reddit for products to find customer opinions, and 85% trust product recommendations shared by other Reddit users.

While Reddit maybe pulling back on the amount of data it will share, the company in September continued to build out its advertising options, releasing what it called a “15-second Engaged Video Views," a new video optimization goal and billing option, into public beta globally.

The offering allows advertisers to reach Reddit users who are most likely to watch a video to completion or for at least 15 seconds, giving them enough time to deliver their messages, tell stories, and drive deeper attention. The video creative focuses on trailers, product demos, feature explainers, and testimonials.

The offering came with automated bidding options to remove guesswork from manually adjusting cost-per-view bids.

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