Reddit joins the S&P 500 Tuesday, and it's getting paid to train the thing that stops people from visiting Reddit

Reddit enters the index before the open on Aug 18, replacing AvalonBay. Stock popped 16% on the news, still down \~22% YTD. The bind: over 90% of revenue is ads. Ad inventory needs new users. New users came from Google search. Google's AI Overviews now answer the question on the results page, so no click, no impression, no new user. Referrals over the past year fell \~23% at Politico, \~25% at CNN, 85%+ at Business Insider. And Reddit sells the training data that makes those answers good. The Google deal is \~$60M/yr, expires 2027, currently being renegotiated. Block Google and you lose the money plus your placement. Renew and you keep funding your own replacement. Counterpoint: Q2 was excellent. Revenue $805M (+61%), ad revenue +64%. U.S. revenue per user grew 51% while U.S. daily users grew 6%. That's the whole argument. Bull: monetization makes traffic irrelevant. Bear: ARPU is a finite runway and the funnel is being welded shut. Which way do you read the 6%? Ceiling, or lagging indicator?