New Delhi, July 26: Reddit has reportedly decided to ban several search engines, which includes Microsoft Bing, DuckDuckGo and Mojeek while continuing to allow only Google. The decision might have surprised many users and raised questions about the reason behind it. According to the reports, Reddit aims to control and optimise how its content is accessed and indexed by search engines.

As per a report of Times Now, Reddit's decision to ban Microsoft Bing, DuckDuckGo, Mojeek and more search engines except Google might be primary reason to achieve better management of its data. The change is reportedly a part of a Reddit's new policy that restricts search engines from indexing its posts and comments unless they enter into a paid partnership with the platform. Google Maps New Features: Google Announces AI-Powered Features in Its Maps for India, Offers Alert About Road Widths, Flyers, EV Charging Stations.

The decision reportedly comes after Reddit updated its robots.txt file, which is a protocol that tells search engines how to interact with a website. The update was implemented to prevent unauthorised data collection, where bots collect content from the site without permission.

According to reports, Microsoft has acknowledged that Bing, their search engine, is no longer able to crawl or index content from Reddit. The change occurred because Reddit updated its robots.txt file on July 1, which now prevents any search engine from accessing its data. Ben Lee, the chief legal officer of Reddit, clarified that this new policy serves as a signal to those who do not have a formal agreement with Reddit, indicating that they should not attempt to access or retrieve data from the platform. Microsoft Outage Update: CrowdStrike Responsible for Global IT Outage Offers USD 10 Gift Card As Apology.

Why Google Is the Only Search Engine That Works on Reddit

According to multiple reports, it is believed that Google is currently the only search engine capable of displaying recent results from Reddit. It is because Google has reportedly made a payment of USD 60 million to gain access to Reddit's data for training their AI models. As a result, users who rely on Google for their searches may have an advantage in finding up-to-date information from Reddit.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 26, 2024 12:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).