Search is changing fast, and not in a way that favors traditional publishers. With Google AI Overviews providing answers, people turn to websites less frequently. For example, referral traffic decreased by up to 60% for certain publishers, and marketers are now forced to reconsider their budgets and attention allocation.
In particular, Reddit and YouTube have experienced the most significant growth in popularity, as Gemini has learned to trust user-generated content. The reason for this is apparent – ordinary users write more truthful content than companies, so such information is much more likely to be used by large language models when a person asks a question. Consequently, for marketers, it is crucial to study the features of these two portals’ performance in search results.
According to the second quarter 2026 statistics, it is possible to see how significant the difference between Reddit and YouTube is, and what consequences this difference will bring. It is also becoming increasingly important for marketers to choose where to invest their money – in particular, the difference between the two platforms is beginning to be felt at the level of search. More and more often, users turn to AI chatbots and receive answers directly from them – this is why it is so important to get into the results of such search engines.
Reddit’s Advertising Business Is Surging
Reddit announced that revenue from advertisements reached $762 million in Q2, which is 64 percent higher than in the same period last year, making it grow faster than total revenue by three percent. Such a jump in the dynamic of ad revenue testified to the company’s success in advertising.
The number of daily active users worldwide was 130.3 million, which is 18 percent higher than in the same period of 2023. In the letter to shareholders on the occasion of the publication of the report, Reddit founder and chief executive officer Steve Huffman said that the growing popularity of human knowledge as a competitive advantage on the global internet accounted for Reddit’s success. In addition, Huffman noted that the company’s user base reached one million dollars in value per employee, and for the eighth consecutive quarter, the company’s revenue has been growing by more than 60 percent.
However, the way Reddit used its position did not always sit well with the public. For instance, in 2024, the company signed an exclusive contract with Google for $60 million per year, allowing the search engine to use Reddit’s user-generated content. On the one hand, such a partnership allowed Reddit to earn much-needed licensing revenue, which has been steadily growing despite the overall decline in the market. However, on the other hand, Google’s AI search capabilities reduced the number of users who visited Reddit via the search engine, becoming a competitor to the forum in the process. During a recent earnings call with investors, Huffman did not rule out changes to the Google agreement. He said Reddit has seen growing interest from other companies looking to use its data for different purposes and at different scales, and described the AI data marketplace as an expanding opportunity with room for multiple partners. This alone is enough to show that Reddit understands that it is sitting on a gold mine when it comes to data and can use it much more than just with Google to further increase its bargaining position as high-quality training data is sought after more and more in the industry of AI.
When it comes to advertisements, Reddit has been actively looking into ways to monetize some of its popular formats of content. One of such is Ask Me Anything, which is a format that allows brands to connect with Reddit communities. Kia did that recently by organizing a live stream during the WNBA All-Star Weekend when WNBA player Chiney Ogwumike played basketball in a claw machine and answered preselected questions from fans. In only three days of life on the website, the campaign managed to gain 61,000 views and 354 upvotes.
YouTube Holds a Clear Edge in AI Overviews
While Reddit is proving to be a popular destination for advertisers, YouTube has a clear strength in AI generated search results. Based on data from LQ Digital, videos on YouTube are 4.3 times more likely to show up in Google AI Overviews compared to regular search results. Meanwhile, Reddit is the exact opposite, being found in organic search results 3.9 times more often than in AI Overviews.
The most probable reason for this lies in Gemini, Google’s large language model which is explicitly trained on YouTube videos. Given that YouTube is a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, the decision for Gemini to favor YouTube content is almost expected. After all, promoting YouTube within Google’s ecosystem keeps users within the fold, on both platforms.
However, this does not apply to other AIs. Most notably, Profound’s data shows ChatGPT is 2.4 times more likely to cite Reddit than YouTube, with the latter only appearing in 0.99% of responses on average. While LQ Digital’s findings suggest that marketers should prioritize YouTube to get their content in front of Gemini, the same cannot be said for ChatGPT and other AIs. This serves as yet another reminder that different AIs have different training data and, by extension, different strengths and weaknesses.
Ultimately, there is no platform which dominates in AI generated results. Both LQ Digital’s and Profound’s data sets serve as a useful reminder that, regardless of the AI, user generated content is what gets attention. As such, marketers should evaluate which audiences they need to prioritize and what tools those audiences are likely to use.
Google’s Search Business Is Still Growing Too
Despite losing billions of referral traffic to its own AI Overviews, Google’s search business is booming. The company’s search and ads revenue for the first quarter reached $63.3 billion, with the majority of growth attributed to the advancement of AI-related technologies. Similar to Reddit, Google has decided to make its advertising tools more attractive. In April, the company officially exited the beta of AI Max for Search and announced plans to transition its legacy ad formats, including Dynamic Search Ads, to the new system by September.
The update positions Alphabet as a gatekeeper for brands and publishers, controlling the distribution of information on its search engine. As Google leverages its dominance to direct more traffic toward AI-generated responses, marketers and publishers face a critical choice: adapt to Google’s rules or explore alternative platforms. Some publishers have already opted out of Google’s AI advertising products, choosing not to renew their participation agreements. This development reflects an emerging conflict between Google’s efforts to monopolize the search ecosystem and the publishers’ desire to retain traffic and advertising control.
What This Means for Marketers
Despite losing billions of referral traffic to its own AI Overviews, Google’s search business is doing extremely well. The company’s revenue from search and ads hit a record $63.3 billion in the first quarter this year, with the majority of growth driven by Google’s AI-powered products. Similar to Reddit, Google is now positioning its advertising tools as more appealing than ever. The company has exited the beta of AI Max for Search and has planned to migrate its legacy ad formats, including Dynamic Search Ads, to the new system by September.
Alphabet is capitalizing on its role as an advertiser gatekeeper. By forcing more traffic into Google’s AI-generated responses, Google is compelling marketers and publishers to adapt to Google and its conditions. Some companies have already stopped renewing their agreements for Google’s advertising products. A few media publishers have even decided not to renew their AI advertising agreements with Google. This is an advert space monopoly that Alphabet is attempting to create while eliminating its advertising options.The larger shift underway is away from traditional SEO and toward a broader strategy built on organic, user generated content across multiple channels. As AI search continues to reshape discovery, the brands that treat Reddit and YouTube as long term investments, rather than one-time campaigns, are likely to come out ahead. That means committing to consistent, authentic engagement rather than chasing short term spikes in visibility.
FAQs
Q1: How much did the ad revenue for Reddit increase in Q2?
The ad revenue grew to $762 million, showing a YoY growth of 64%. The growth outpaced the overall growth of the company’s revenues by 3 percentage points.
Q2: How many DAUs does Reddit have?
The number of daily active users stood at 130.3 million, marking an 18% YoY growth.
Q3: Is the Reddit data deal with Google still in effect?
The agreement stands, but Reddit’s CEO Steve Huffman has hinted that the company might explore other options for data deals as the interest in its content is growing.
Q4: How often do YouTube videos appear in AI Overviews compared to regular search results?
According to LQ Digital, YouTube videos are 4.3 times more likely to appear in Google AI Overviews than in the ordinary search results.
Q5: Why is YouTube doing so well in Google AI Overviews?
This is because the Gemini model that generates Google AI Overviews uses the videos from YouTube. As YouTube is owned by Alphabet, which is Google’s parent company, Google favors YouTube content in AI-generated answers.
Q6: Does Reddit perform as good in other AI platforms besides Gemini?
Yes. According to Profound, ChatGPT references Reddit in 2.4% of responses, more often than it references YouTube (0.99%).
Q7: How much money did Google search business make in Q2?
The search and other revenue grew to $63.3 billion, in part due to the AI-powered advertising tools.
Q8: What is AI Max for Search?
AI Max for Search is Google’s ad product that was recently moved out of the beta state in April. Google plans to transition advertisers from legacy formats such as Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max by September.