Reddit Inc., known for its popular social media platform, experienced a significant surge in its stock value by nearly 9% after the company announced a crucial update to its policies. The update revolves around blocking automated website scraping, aiming to enforce its Public Content Policy effectively.
The changes were detailed in a blog post by Reddit, shedding light on the modifications made to its Robots Exclusion Protocol (robots.txt file). Reddit emphasized the use of rate limits and blocking unknown crawlers to prevent unauthorized parties from scraping its content. The move comes amid reports of prominent AI companies like Microsoft Corp.-backed OpenAI, Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc.-backed Anthropic, and Nvidia Corp.-backed Perplexity AI allegedly disregarding publishers’ robots.txt files.
Expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks, Reddit’s update will not affect the majority of its users, ensuring that researchers and non-commercial organizations, including the Internet Archive, can still access Reddit content. Mark Graham, Director of Wayback Machine at Internet Archive, expressed gratitude for Reddit’s efforts to preserve digital records for future generations.
The decision to strengthen its robots.txt file reflects Reddit’s proactive approach to safeguarding its content and user interests. With concerns over tech companies using publisher content to train AI algorithms, the platform’s move is seen as a protective measure.
In the stock market, Reddit Inc.’s stock closed at $61.38, marking an 8.68% increase for the day. However, in after-hours trading, the stock saw a slight decline, resting at $61.20. Over the past year, Reddit’s stock has displayed a 21.69% rise, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
The announcement from Reddit Inc. signifies a strategic step towards maintaining control over its content and ensuring the privacy of its users, setting a precedent for other social media platforms to follow suit.
By adhering to stringent policies and implementing robust measures, Reddit aims to fortify its platform against unauthorized scraping and uphold the integrity of its content ecosystem.
