After teasing the idea of paid subreddits for "exclusive content or private areas" last year, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said in a thread discussing the company's latest earnings call that work on the feature has been sidelined (via The Verge). Instead, Reddit is prioritizing its existing strengths—like being one of the few ways to still get useful search results in the era of steadily degrading Google quality.
"To stay focused on what matters most, we’re shifting resources away from a few areas, such as work on the user economy. This includes what some have referred to as paid subreddits," Huffman said. "It’s still an opportunity we believe in, but right now, we're all-in on strengthening our core product, making Reddit the go-to place for search, and accelerating international growth."
