Reddit's new paid ads look exactly like user posts

ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world to Technology@lemmy.world – 1343 points – Reddit's new paid ads look exactly like user posts
zdnet.com

Calling them "free-form ads," Reddit said the new advertisements are its most native format ever, designed to look and feel like community content shared by real people.

The ads, meant to mimic the site's megathreads, will enable advertisers to utilize a variety of formats in one post, including images, videos, and text.

According to numbers from Reddit, free-form ads got 28% more clicks than all other types of ads on the site and saw a jump in community engagement.

The next time you see an interesting post in your Reddit feed, take a closer look - because it might just be a paid advertisement.

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I honestly find it impressive how Reddit continues to find new ways to enshittify the platform

I honestly find it impressive how quickly the word "enshittification" is brought up in Lemmy comments

(/s, but we do talk about it a lot here)

You mean like Linux?

I use Ubuntu, btw

Is it really enshittification if you can just turn it off if you don't like it? Adding useless features alone doesn't seem to be enshittification to me- it's when those useless features become inescapable where the problem lies.

To be fair, it's often brought up accurately. Contemporary internet is a deeply enshittified place.

I mean, I'm here specifically because of enshittification. Had reddit actually gotten better over time, I'd still be there; but every year came with another handful and anti-user bullshit. Finally threw my hands up, said fuck it, deleted my account, and started scouring the internet for an alternative. Eventually stumbled into Lemmy and haven't had a reason to look back.

......I don't think my story here is especially unique, either. Seems just about everyone here is a pissed off ex-redditer, so enshittification is hot on all of our brains.

People who don't care about enshittification, or who don't think about it specifically in connection to Reddit, aren't here because they're using Reddit instead.