Reddit rakes in US$100m ad revenue as it moves away from programmatic ads

Reddit saw its first US$100 million ad revenue quarter in Q2 2021, representing a 192% increase compared to the same period last year. This follows the company's shift away from programmatic ads. The company told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that on 30 April, it removed the last remaining programmatic ads on its platform, and moving forward, all ads on Reddit will be native ads sold through its direct sales channels or on its Ads Platform.

"As we continue to scale our business, we remain committed to meeting the needs of our growing advertiser base. We are proud of the strength of our native Ads business and the growth this change represents," the company added. At the same time, it is also investing in its products and diversifying the Reddit experience to include new ways for communities to connect through video and audio.

This comes as the company aims to raise up to US$700 million in Series F funding, led by Fidelity Management and Research Company and including other existing investors. This funding round values the company at over US$10 billion and comes months after its Series E funding announcement in February this year. Back then, Reddit raised more than US$250 million and double down on advertising, video and international expansion.

Reddit put its international expansion plans to action, launching an office in Canada in March followed by Sydney in July. According to Reddit previously, Australia is core to its international growth strategy and its new team comprises locally-based community, engineering and sales staff. It brought on board David Ray as country manager and the Australian business is managed by Reddit's head of international, Tariq Mahmoud. That said, the company has no immediate plans to launch in Southeast Asia or Greater China.

Separately, Reddit also doubled down on its in-house creative offerings with the formation of an agency named KarmaLab. Led by global director Will Cady, the in-house creative agency's offering includes social listening and trends reports, step-by-step community management, creative workshops, and bespoke 360 campaign development, among others. KarmaLab previously operated under Reddit's creative strategy function.

Photo courtesy: 123RF

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