Reddit Ads
Ranked 7 of 7 advertising platforms by recommenders
Some advertisers get good results on simple campaigns, but many report wasted budget on clicks that never convert, so results depend heavily on audience.
Some advertisers get good results on simple campaigns, but many report wasted budget on clicks that never convert, so results depend heavily on audience.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 16
- approval share
- 24%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works well for some advertisers
“running one simple ad on Reddit with amazingly good metrics”
Comment from 26 Apr 2026 in “Does Internet Advertising Work?” “I found Reddit ads insanely effective.”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Google is dead. Where do we go now?” “I have found reddit ads to be useful.”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Google is dead. Where do we go now?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Little or no conversions
“Reddit ads had the worst performance among all platforms I tried, literally zero conversion.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Google is dead. Where do we go now?” “I run a large marketing agency and Reddit is terrible for advertising across most verticals.”
Comment from 30 Dec 2025 in “Google is dead. Where do we go now?” “it blew all the budget almost instantly on phantom clicks, with absolutely zero conversions”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots” - Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Is anyone having success with Reddit ads?”
- Comment from 11 Sep 2026 in “I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots”
Phantom or suspicious clicks
“it blew all the budget almost instantly on phantom clicks, with absolutely zero conversions”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots” “only ~38 new wishes, the other hundreds of clicks was for nowhere.”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots” “Because it's an obvious scam, just like buying ads on Reddit.”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots” - Comment from 11 Sep 2026 in “I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots”
Expensive for the traffic
“reddit is very expensive because they have a very high mobile traffic population, and the ads can't be blocked”
Comment from 8 Dec 2025 in “Uber is turning data about trips and takeout into insights for marketers” “I would be wary on spending much on Reddit ads without carefully measuring the results”
Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Google is dead. Where do we go now?” “makes you feel like they run their own ads to jack up the price”
Comment from 22 Dec 2025 in “Is the golden age of Indie software over?” Broken product and account problems
“we were not able to extensively test this, because of account issues and didn't generate results as expected from the start”
Comment from 28 Aug 2026 in “We ran X (Twitter) ads for 4 months and here are the results” “you are faced with a severely broken product: broken buttons, obviously wrong metrics, and other glaring bugs”
Comment from 12 Sep 2026 in “I spent $220 on Google app ads and 60% of the installs were robots”
Other advertising platforms people recommend
The four most recommended other advertising platforms, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | 25 | 144 | 15% | 11 | 16 yrs10 owners | — |
| Meta Ads | 14 | 28 | 33% | 6 | — | — |
| Instagram ads | 12 | 4 | 75% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Google AdSense | 11 | 47 | 19% | 6 | 20 yrs6 owners | — |
| Reddit AdsThis page | 5 | 16 | 24% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
27 of the 29 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Reddit is probably the worst of these ad platforms.”
“plenty of times I've seen Reddit's own ads for advertising on Reddit and I'll never see my ads”
“it blew all the budget almost instantly on phantom clicks, with absolutely zero conversions”
“only ~38 new wishes, the other hundreds of clicks was for nowhere.”
“Because it's an obvious scam, just like buying ads on Reddit.”
“None of them ever did anything else, not even by mistake.”
“you are faced with a severely broken product: broken buttons, obviously wrong metrics, and other glaring bugs”
“all the alleged clicks not one comment or conversion”
“we were not able to extensively test this, because of account issues and didn't generate results as expected from the start”
“average time on site and bounce rates I have got from advertising my software inside ChatGPT and Reddit are so terrible”
“in ten more years reddit ads will still be worthless”
“The majority of the growth is still organic, but ads do help.”
“running one simple ad on Reddit with amazingly good metrics”
“Reddit ads (disguised and interleaved with normal posts) are especially deceptive.”
“nobody will engage with my Reddit ads”
“they all performed worse per dollar”
“while on Ads, you'll get maybe 100”
“We have seen near zero results across many clients for Reddit.”
“I run a large marketing agency and Reddit is terrible for advertising across most verticals.”
“We don't find Reddit ads valuable.”
“Reddit ads had the worst performance among all platforms I tried, literally zero conversion.”
“I would be wary on spending much on Reddit ads without carefully measuring the results”
“Reddit is very hit or miss depending on your target audience.”
“I found Reddit ads insanely effective.”
“I have found reddit ads to be useful.”
“makes you feel like they run their own ads to jack up the price”
“reddit is very expensive because they have a very high mobile traffic population, and the ads can't be blocked”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.