Reddit Dominates Google’s "Discussions and Forums" SERP Feature, New Analysis Reveals

A comprehensive analysis of 145 million US Google search results has uncovered the significant presence and dominance of the "Discussions and forums" SERP feature, appearing in 16.93 million (11.7%) of the analyzed results. The study, conducted by Ahrefs and data scientist Xibeijia Guan, highlights Reddit.com as the most prominent domain within this feature, showing up in 83.9% of global search results where the feature is present, with an average of 1.29 link appearances per SERP. This dominance has seen an increase, with early August data indicating Reddit’s appearance in 86.1% of relevant results.

The research indicates that Reddit is the most prevalent domain in 34 countries, securing second place in countries like India and South Africa, where Quora and Facebook, respectively, take the top spot. An investigation into the top 100 most prevalent subreddits revealed an average age of 16 years and 1 month, with the youngest community, r/ScienceBasedParenting, established 8 years ago. Subreddits like /r/backpain (81,027 members) and /r/wichita (42,000 weekly visitors) were among those with fewer members or visitors, but no unexpectedly young or inactive communities broke into the top 100 most prominent across all of Reddit. The study suggests that Ahrefs Keywords Explorer can be a valuable tool for identifying prominent communities and subreddits relevant to specific industries.

Globally, a mere three domains account for a substantial 76.75% of all "Discussions and forums" link appearances. The top 10 domains collectively represent 84.87% of all links, while the top 100 domains capture 91.51%. Domains ranked between 501 and 1,000 contribute a modest 1.49% to overall visibility, with the top 1,000 domains accounting for 96.81% of mentions.

Facebook emerges as the second most prevalent site overall, largely due to its "Groups" feature, which officially launched in October 2010. Facebook appeared in 38.3% of all instances of the SERP feature in the US, a statistic consistent across all countries analyzed. The research noted Google’s ability to pick up exact AI-generated page headlines directly from Facebook posts. The top 10 Facebook posts appeared for a combined 4,936 queries, and the top 10 Groups accounted for 2.82% of all Facebook link placements. Facebook surpassed Quora in appearing in search results earlier this year, and while official figures are unavailable, estimates suggest 10 million to 70 million active groups on the platform. Facebook was the most prominent domain in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Samoa, and the second most prominent in 23 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.

Quora ranks as the third most prominent site, appearing in 8.22 million search results for queries ranging from the cost of plastic surgery to un-sending emails. Three of its four most prominent threads discussed where to watch movies online. The platform’s AI Assistant, launched around early 2023, appears in many top answers. The study acknowledges the challenge of distinguishing genuine interactions from self-promotional content on such platforms.

The top 25 domains appearing in the "Discussions and forums" SERP feature are led by Reddit (84.71% of discussion SERPs), followed by Facebook (38.29%) and Quora (31.96%). Other notable domains include JustAnswer.com (8.16%), MayoClinic.org (3.26%), and StackExchange.com (1.64%).

The average age of the top 1,000 domains studied was 21 years and 8 months, with the youngest being The Gear Forum, a guitar community, at just under four years old. XDAforums.com, while technically the most recently registered domain at under three years old, is a product of a redirect from forums.xda-developers.com. The study cautions that these ages do not account for forums built on domains at a later date or redirected from elsewhere, advising aspiring forum owners to launch with genuine intent rather than solely for SERP feature appearance.

Geographically, the "Discussions and forums" SERP feature is most prevalent in the United States (11.7% of SERPs) and Canada (10.7%). The feature was not found in all countries surveyed, but among those with at least 10,000 relevant queries, the US showed the highest prevalence.

The analysis also revealed that 98.7% of "Discussions and forums" appearances are for queries with informational intent, with 40.9% having commercial intent and only 0.6% having navigational intent. The feature’s presence scales with query length, with 43.2% of appearances for queries of five words or more, and it is rare for the feature to appear for single-word queries (0.3%).

A significant reliance on single URLs was observed, with 27 sites having one URL account for over 10% of their SERP feature presence. A health question on Gleneagles Hospital’s website accounted for 67% of its appearances, and a single 2020 post on skill.jobs was responsible for 30% of its presence.

The average Domain Rating (DR) of the top 1,000 domains was 58.3, indicating a moderate correlation between prominence and backlink profile strength, though this was primarily driven by the top-ranking sites. The top 100 domains averaged a DR of 78, while the bottom 100 averaged 48. Notably, there was no correlation found between the URL rating of individual discussions and backlinks to that specific URL.

In conclusion, the study highlights the enduring strength of established platforms like Reddit and Facebook in Google’s "Discussions and forums" SERP feature. It underscores the importance of understanding community dynamics and providing genuine value, rather than solely focusing on self-promotion. Tools like Ahrefs Keywords Explorer and Brand Radar are recommended for businesses to identify relevant communities and monitor mentions within their industry.