Reddit locks down as bots eat the internet. Can online anonymity survive?

Reddit was boosted heavily in Google Search results for years, driving clicks and promoting sustainability. So it’s no surprise that Reddit took a massive hit when AI Overview overshadowed Search, and now Reddit is locking its platform to prevent AI — and people — from accessing it without an account.

Google Search used to be a reciprocal tool that benefited both Google and website publishers. When users searched for a term, Google brought up a list of websites that included that keyword. If the results were relevant, the user clicked, giving the website vital traffic and earning both it and Google some ad revenue. These were much simpler times. Better times, even. But I digress.

You should expect more companies to restrict their platforms as AI bots