This past year was a big one for SEO, with major changes in how Google ranks content.

According to SISTRIX’s latest IndexWatch report, the year’s biggest winners were platforms focused on user-generated content (UGC), AI-powered tools, and large ecommerce brands.

Reddit emerged as the leader among standout performers, but its dominance raises questions about Google’s practices.

Here’s a breakdown of the top-performing sites and what drove their success.

Top Performers in Search Growth

The report highlights Reddit as the year’s top performer, nearly tripling its visibility in Google’s US search results.

Reddit climbed higher in rankings for a variety of keywords, from product reviews to niche discussions, making it a major competitor to traditional content and e-commerce sites.

Other big winners in search visibility included:

  1. Reddit.com: +190.9% growth
  2. Instagram.com: Significant increases driven by its visual and video content
  3. YouTube.com: Continued dominance through video SEO
  4. Spotify.com: Strong gains in music-related searches
  5. Wikipedia.org: Consistent growth as an authoritative content source

Reddit’s Dominance Raises Questions

While Reddit’s success is significant, it raises ethical and strategic questions for the SEO community.

Google’s policies, such as its stance on “site reputation” and “scaled content” abuse, discourage websites from publishing content outside their established topical authority. This policy aims to prevent sites from piggybacking on their existing authority to rank for unrelated keywords.

Yet Reddit appears to be exempt from this rule. The platform ranks for an incredibly wide range of keywords, from precise technical terms to general lifestyle topics, without being tied to a single area of expertise.

This begs the question: why does Reddit get to rank for everything while other sites are penalized for straying too far from their core focus?

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Source : https://www.searchenginejournal.com/does-google-favor-ugc-reddit-leads-in-search-growth-study/538145/