Fans of Reddit, the social news website, say that traffic volumes of the site have been unfairly reported at low numbers. The likes of Compete, Nielsen and Quantcast have been reporting that Reddit on average receive less than 1 million unique visitors a month. Reddit says otherwise. According to a Google Analytics screenshot the site actually enjoys over 8 million unique visitors a month.
Clearly Google Analytics will give more accurate statistics than outside analysts, but nobody is sure why there is such a big difference. Unfortunately for Reddit, advertisers choose to look at the analytics from the aforementioned companies, and as such advertising revenue for the site is less than it deserves to be.
Reddit has seen tough times. The website has been relying on its fans to find a way to keep the site going, pleading for financial assistance from its users. This decision has actually proven to be a success, following suggestions that the site has decided to switch to a ‘freemium’ business model. Users hope that this will provide enough revenue for the site to continue operating.
Of note is that Reddit says its traffic is still growing, with a vibrant community as active as it has ever been. The fact that the company could leverage the loyalty of its fans to raise money is also a good sign. But Reddit will need to rely on future innovation and will need to find a way to prove that a social media site where users themselves curate and create most of the content has a financial future.
