But, apparently, they did finally find a way to make money.
The most recent 10-K financial results 2024-03-31 (filed 2024-05-08) shows they actually lost money: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/browse/?CIK=1713445
(For 2024-Q1, Reddit lost -$575 million on revenue of $242 M.)
If the quoted "$60 million deal"[1] from Feb 2024 is accurate, that small amount from Google may not be enough for Reddit to turn a profit. It remains to be seen what the Q2 or Q3 financials will show.
I just read they have 2000 employees which is also puzzling to me
Compare and contrast to say, HN, run on two servers in a colo with less than a handful of mods.
They need to make sure the stuff they want people to think is posted often and has a big number next to it, they need to make sure things that people like are associated with the stuff they want people to like/think/do and things that people don't like are never associated with the stuff they want people to like/think/do. They need to make sure that people who say the wrong things are silenced or persuaded to leave, etc etc. Man they probably have at least one contact in at least one intelligence agency and they have to make sure not to run afoul of that contact.
Like the news isn't just a list of what happened recently, political debates aren't just two guys talking, and reddit/twitter aren't just message boards.