The social media platform Reddit announced it will end support for RSS feeds and shut down public API access, citing a surge in automated data collection. The company stated that RSS has become a “common surface for largescale scraping and automated abuse” as AI chatbots increasingly scrape content from the site. This move affects users and third-party tools that rely on direct access to Reddit updates. The fast-growing AI ecosystem has brought a few challenges in its wake, specifically regarding data distillation.
End of an Era for RSS
Reddit plans to retire RSS feeds on November 13. The company noted in its announcement that it is “grateful to everyone who used it to stay connected to Reddit,” acknowledging the format’s long history on the open web. RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, previously allowed users and applications to subscribe to updates in a standard format, a feature popular during the early days of blogging. Known alternatively as Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary, RSS feeds allow users and applications direct access to updates to a website as it happens and in a standard format.
Public API access is set to close on March 2027. This change will impact various tools that used programmatic access to Reddit conversations. The shutdown affects social listening products, research tools, and AI assistants that rely on Reddit data to answer user questions. After the access ends, these AI products will likely need commercial deals with Reddit to obtain the information.
Shifts in Revenue
The decision arrives as Reddit profits from licensing its user-generated content database to AI companies. In the second quarter, the company’s “other revenue” grew 24% year-on-year to $43 million. This shift toward data licensing suggests a strategic pivot away from free data access toward paid arrangements for large-scale content use.
Reddit joins a list of companies that have restricted access to their data in response to the rise of AI. The platform stated that the change was prompted by the need to protect its content from mindless automated abuse. While Reddit is not the first to restrict access, the decision highlights a growing conflict over how AI companies collect and use web data. Back in 2013, Google had closed down its Google Reader claiming then that competitors like Feedly had swiped off considerable market share. With Reddit, the decision was forced by AI chatbots intent on scraping data off websites when they can and do it without proper authorization.
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