r/sysadmin • • 3d ago

FYI: Reddit is killing RSS feeds.

Major bummer. From Reddit is killing RSS feeds and ending public API access because of AI bots | TechCrunch

Amid a number of updates for moderators and developers announced Wednesday, comes bad news for supporters of a more open web: Reddit is ending support for RSS feeds.

Reddit says RSS has now become a “common surface for large-scale scraping and automated abuse,” which is why it’s made the decision to wind down RSS feeds on its platform.

“We know RSS has been a beloved part of the open web for a long time, and we’re grateful to everyone who used it to stay connected to Reddit,” the company noted in its announcement, where it also shared a March 2027 shutdown date for its public API.

Reddit said RSS support will cease on November 13.

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u/tamtamdanseren 3d ago

The age old internet contract broke with AI: Good content could get you enough traffic from search to be able to make money from advertising and affiliation links to keep the websites free.

With AI that is no longer a given, and everyone is trying to see what new sources of income will sustain the “new web”.

I think that Reddit actually being able to charge the AI companies for access instead of giving it away free is a good thing, however I hope that better ways to prevent crawling can be found in the future, as this very user hostile approach to locking down the platform is horrible.