Google admits Reddit Blackout made search results worse: Report

The executives said that the problem could be partially resolved by Perspectives, a new feature that began rolling out globally last week. (Image: AFP)

Earlier this month, more than 3,000 subreddits went "dark" to protest Reddit's API changes that would force third-party apps like Apollo and Sync to pay for access to the platform's data APIs.

This seems to have had a domino effect on Google's Search engine with many users unhappy at not being able to gain more comprehensive information by adding the "Reddit" modifier to their searches.

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Because of the blackout, many of the results lost relevance and made more information inaccessible to lots of users.

According to a leaked audio of an all-hands meeting obtained by CNBC, Google's Senior Vice-President of Search, Prabhakar Raghavan admitted that people were, "not quite happy" with the results during the blackout.

Responding to an employee that asked about the negative impacts of the irrelevant search results, Raghavan said that the team was, "iterating and building all this new stuff and yet somehow, users are still not quite happy".

Alphabet and Google CEO chimed in saying people did not want to see, "blue links" but wanted to see "comprehensive answers", which is where the Reddit-aided results come in.

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The executives said that the problem could be partially resolved by Perspectives, a new feature that began rolling out globally last week. The search filter is found on top of the search results providing a curated selection of information ranging from articles, video, audio, images, and even discussion boards and social media.

In a statement shared with CNBC, Google spokeswoman Lara Levin said, "Features like the Perspectives filter are part of how we’re making sure people continue to find the most helpful info on Google from a wide range of sources and formats".