If the market for initial public offerings recovers in the new year, one company that aims to go public early on is Reddit. An IPO will put the spotlight on the prospects for Reddit’s advertising business, which has fallen short of ambitious growth targetsoutlined by executives two years ago. ...
I agree and I also think companies will (or are) going to try more “organic” marketing by going into comments and pretending to be customers and recommend their products.
I thought about that when I went to a new hair salon and in their new customer form one of the questions was “how did you hear about us” and one of the options was Reddit.
I kind of would rather have ads if I had to because they are easier to identify. Now I can’t trust people in the Reddit comments.
If an advertiser figured out how to orchestrate that swarm of comments getting behind a recommendation that all seem very natural it would be difficult to tell that it’s an ad and not just organic feedback.
I share your worry as well that it may already be happening.