Reddit is launching a product reviews hub called Reddit Reviews, a built-in feature for consumer goods that are frequently discussed on the platform. The company said the hub collects and analyzes threads and comments from across subreddits that discuss specific products and pulls that information into a single product page. It will cover 10,000 items at launch in the electronics, health and beauty, home and garden, and fashion and apparel categories.
Each reviews page lists comments where an item is discussed, along with pros and cons and an overall sentiment rating such as positive, mixed or negative. Shoppers can sort conversations by specific attributes, for example filtering comments about the noise cancellation feature of headphones, to narrow down what they are looking for. Category-level pages let users find similar items frequently reviewed on Reddit and filter by price and other attributes. Some item pages will include links to retailers where the products can be purchased.
Reddit said merchants cannot pay to be included in the reviews hub and that it will not take a cut of sales from the retailer links. In a press release, the company said lived experience shows up across Reddit communities, citing r/skincareaddiction, where people share what they have tried for dry skin, and r/espresso, where baristas and home brewers compare their setups. Reddit said Reddit Reviews uses AI to organize those conversations and to surface nuance, context and connection to the original discussion.
Shopping and product research has become a central part of Reddit. The company told The Verge in August that 40 percent of conversations on the platform were commercial in nature. Alongside communities for general categories like skincare and clothing, users turn to specialized subreddits such as r/BuyItForLife, r/PetiteFashionAdvice and r/NYCbitcheswithtaste to ask for recommendations on everything from therapists to work tote bags.
The formalized hub puts pressure on outlets that specialize in product recommendations, such as Wirecutter, as well as general news outlets that publish reviews. It also positions Reddit as a human-driven check on AI, which some consumers use to research items they are interested in.
Brands and agencies have recognized the value of positive Reddit comments and are trying to covertly promote products on popular subreddits, to mixed results. Moderators told The Verge they have found brands attempting to astroturf positive reviews and sentiment for products including beauty items and weight-loss apps, as well as for musicians, hoping to be seen by consumers browsing the platform. Earlier this year, Reddit said it was evolving its spam detection tactics to crack down on highly subtle, coordinated patterns of fake behavior and artificial hype.
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