Reddit Rolls Out AI-Organized Product Reviews

Reddit has launched a built-in product research feature that uses artificial intelligence to organize users’ discussions into dedicated pages. The rollout covers iOS, Android and the web in the United States, with about 10,000 products initially included across consumer tech, personal care, household and outdoor goods, and clothing and accessories.

Each page brings together comments about a product, summarizes what users say they like or dislike, and shows whether the conversation is generally positive, negative or mixed. Shoppers can filter comments by topics such as a particular feature, visit the original discussions to ask questions, and compare products through category pages. Some pages will also link to retailers. Reddit says merchants cannot pay to appear and the company will not receive a share of sales through those links.

The company began testing the feature in February, first covering a smaller set of categories, and expanded the trial in September. It says the service is based on the firsthand experiences people already share across its communities.

The approach also raises concerns about brands trying to manufacture favorable attention through fake comments. Reddit says its rules, spam-detection systems and community moderators will help guard against such activity. The platform has previously said it was improving its ability to detect coordinated and subtle forms of artificial promotion.

Reddit plans to add more categories and eventually make the feature available outside the United States. The launch comes ahead of the holiday shopping period, when consumers often research purchases online.