Marketers and their bots have been using reddit to hype up brands. No wonder Reddit feels like shit these days.
this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2026
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Oh, this is great.
Users noticed that Google had too much bad results because of SEO and spam flooded search results.
Users added "reddit" to their search terms, so they get results from reddit, where spam and astroturfing were... there but manageable.
Now the SEO people and advertisers target reddit with AI tools, until it is so enshitificated that we have to find something else (rinse and repeat)
"No, don't leave, we just finished saturating the space with ads!"
"Why do you think we leave?"
I mean astroturfing reddit was never new. It's why /r/HailCorporate existed and tools tried to disenfranchise that sub so much.
It's just 10 times worse because of the phenomenon you described. It also doesn't help that reddit and walled garden social media killed traditional forums so you don't have those to index anymore either. You either have SEO garbage sites trying to bombard you with ads and referral links, links to a walled garden you can't actually see, or reddit posts.
It's a cycle that's bound to repeat, especially with AI. Because that's how MBAs and snake oil salesmen get money, by ruining communal spaces.