Reddit ends data scraping and retires RSS, but keeps its Google and OpenAI deals

Reddit is retiring its RSS feeds on 13 November and phasing out its legacy public data API, with remaining access shut down in March 2027, while confirming that its existing content agreements with Google and OpenAI are untouched. The platform said both routes had enabled large-scale scraping and abuse, and is steering moderators and developers toward its Devvit apps instead. More than 14,000 apps and bots are registered on the platform, and new public API requests will no longer be accepted after 31 October. The strategic point is blunt: Reddit is walling off its data so that only paying partners get access. Chris Shelbourn, organic search director at IDHL, told MediaPost that "AI engines tend to trust the kind of content Reddit is full of", which is why it is a frequent source in AI answers. An IDHL study found users chose a Reddit result 23 billion times within Google searches last year, and that 26% of consumers search Reddit for product opinions, with 85% trusting recommendations there.

The crux

Reddit is converting its research of human conversation into a paid data asset, and cutting off the free routes by which publishers and marketers once piggybacked on it.

Sell-side read

this is a reminder that data moats are being monetised at the platform level; publishers without their own first-party audience data are left buying it back, or watching it get priced out of reach.

Watch

whether the March 2027 API shutdown pushes more community traffic into Reddit's own ad surface, or drives moderators and communities off-platform.