Reddit acquires ML startup Spell

Imagine how easy it would be to sell ads on reddit, the users self select topics. If I subscribed to r/koreancosmetics and r/makeup, do you really need ML to figure out which ads to show?

Having been a long-time user of Wikia (now Fandom) as well as Reddit, it's been interesting to see Reddit go down the same path Wikia did. In my opinion, both websites started out similarly: somewhat simply designed, focused on content, and with room for communities to form themselves. Over time, both websites started pushing harder for monetization and in the process, made changes to prioritize advertising over content, and started pressuring communities to behave and interact in approved ways. It doesn't look like either website is struggling or likely to go under financially, but the charm and community of their younger iterations is definitely gone.

I thought the whole appeal of Reddit was community moderation and escape from algorithms.

Reddit should prioritize their site working on the browser.<p>Clicking a nested thread seems to crash whatever browser I use 1&#x2F;10th of the time, the videos never work, and the time it takes to open a thread is almost unbelievable in 2022.<p>(Never mind the times it won’t let me view content without the app.)

This acquisition is...unusual. I strongly suspect it&#x27;s not a 10x exit. (last raised $15M in 2019: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.crunchbase.com&#x2F;organization&#x2F;spell" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.crunchbase.com&#x2F;organization&#x2F;spell</a> )<p>Reddit obviously has the data for robust machine learning, but not sure how an experiments-management startup aligns with it unless it&#x27;s an acquihire.

Reddit should focus on making their community less toxic, it’s hands down one of the most toxic places on the internet. These problems don’t need ML

It&#x27;s plainly obvious that reddit does not need ML to do what it needs to do.<p>Their investors are being taken on a wild ride.

Whatever they acquire, I just hope they make their search better

Video player fixes? Nope.<p>Search being an open joke? Not going to even look at it.<p>Purchase a few ML people? Oh that will surely increase our valuation.<p>Do something about toxic supermods? That&#x27;s a feature.

I mean, when they dropped the tagline &quot;The front page of the internet&quot;, for the committee engineered &quot;Dive into anything&quot;, you knew it was going down.<p>Reddit is a walking corpse and I&#x27;m happy to participate in the monthly &quot;Reddit is shit&quot; punching bag thread.

Maybe if they can just focus on making their video servers work sometime in the next decade.

It must feel very good to sell your startup right now, congrats to the team.