From CNET: Reddit announced on Tuesday that it’s testing Reviews, an AI-powered shopping feature that aggregates user comments into product summaries, commerce links, and pros-and-cons breakdowns. In a blog post, the company said it wants to organically use discussions on the platform, from conversations about skin care treatments or coffee to headphones, to help people “understand what a product is really like and feel confident deciding whether it’s right for them.”
The Reviews feature promises to make product research easier on a site that’s increasingly focused on shopping recommendations. But the announcement immediately rankled some Reddit users who are concerned it will degrade authentic human-to-human discussion and advice. Many Reddit moderators, or “mods,” tasked with keeping order of communities called subreddits, believe it’ll be hard to distinguish real opinions from straight-up advertising.
According to Reddit, the upcoming feature will surface product reviews in search results and through highlighted product mentions in comment threads, regardless of a group’s rules preventing the promotion of products by users or brands.
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