Microsoft confirms Reddit blocked Bing Search
Reddit updated its robots.txt file, preventing most search engines from crawling the site. This includes Bing, which stopped crawling Reddit after the update.
What happened: On July 1, 2024, Reddit updated its robots.txt file to prohibit many search engines and AI tools from crawling the site. However, it did not prevent Google from crawling the site.
Microsoft confirmed that Bing stopped crawling new content on Reddit because of the updated robots.txt file. This means that when you filter Reddit results in Bing Search for the last week, you won’t see anything.
Reddit’s statement: “This is not related to our recent partnership with Google. We have been unable to reach agreements with some search engines since they are unable or unwilling to make enforceable promises regarding their use of Reddit content.”
Why it matters: With Reddit securing a licensing deal with Google, the site can play hardball with other search engines and AI tools. This could potentially leave smaller publishers and content producers at a disadvantage.
In short, don’t expect to see much new Reddit content being surfaced on Bing in the near future.
Source: https://searchengineland.com/microsoft-confirms-reddit-blocked-bing-search-444385