# How to post on Reddit for marketing without getting banned > Reddit bans marketing posts for breaking per-subreddit rules, not for mentioning a product. Check karma gates, use the weekly thread, & keep a real ratio. - Published: 2026-09-25 - Last updated: 2026-09-25 - Author: Sanju (Founder & CEO @ DunSocial) - Topics: tips, reddit --- Reddit does not ban you for mentioning a product. It bans you for breaking a specific subreddit's rules on who can post, when promotion is allowed, & how much of what you post is non-promotional. Read the subreddit before you write the post, meet its karma & account-age gate, & keep your promotional posts a small minority of your activity there. ## Reddit does not have one self-promotion rule anymore Reddit used to publish a sitewide guideline, often summarized as a "1-in-9" or "1-in-10" ratio: for every self-promotional post, nine or ten others should be genuine, non-promotional participation. Reddit retired that formal rule years ago. What replaced it is a qualitative spam policy enforced per subreddit by moderators & AutoMod, which is why the actual rules vary so much from one community to the next. There is no single sitewide number to hit. There is only the rule the subreddit you are posting in has actually written down, plus whatever its AutoMod silently enforces. That means the first step is never "write the post." It is "read that subreddit's rules & its wiki," because the same content can be welcome in one community & instantly removed in another. ## The four things that actually get a post removed or a user banned - **Failing the poster-eligibility gate.** Many subreddits require a minimum account age, a minimum karma total, or karma earned inside that specific community before you can post at all. These gates are AutoMod-enforced & often undisclosed, so a post can simply fail to appear with no explanation. Reddit's own Poster Eligibility Guide surfaces some of this to the poster directly, but the underlying thresholds are usually not public. - **Posting outside the approved lane.** Some subreddits ban promotion outright. Others restrict it to a single weekly or monthly thread (variations on "Share Your SaaS," "Promote Your Business," "Marketing Monday"). Others allow it only under specific flairs, or only inside comment replies, never as a top-level post. Posting a promotional link as a normal post in a "thread-only" community is one of the most common removal causes. - **DM-bait & disguised promotion.** Phrasing like "comment for the link" or "check my profile" reads as manipulation to moderators & AutoMod alike, even in subreddits that otherwise tolerate some self-promotion. - **Domain bans.** A link can be blocked at two different levels: a subreddit-level AutoMod blacklist (your URL is removed in that one community, appealable through modmail), or a sitewide Reddit admin domain ban (blocked everywhere, much harder to recover from). URL shorteners are auto-removed in most marketing-relevant subreddits, so always post the real link. ## A practical checklist before you post 1. **Read the subreddit's rules & wiki**, not just its name. "Marketing-adjacent" subreddits (r/Entrepreneur, r/startups, r/SaaS & similar) each define promotion differently, & the definition is the rule. 2. **Check the karma & account-age gate.** If your account is new or has little history in that specific community, comment & participate there first before attempting to post. 3. **Find the approved lane.** Look for a pinned weekly/monthly self-promotion thread before posting as a standalone submission. 4. **Keep a real ratio of non-promotional participation.** The old sitewide number is gone, but the underlying idea (be a genuine participant, not just a poster of links) is still exactly what most subreddit moderators are checking for. 5. **Skip the shortener, skip the DM-bait phrasing.** Post the real URL, & say what the thing is in the post itself. ## Where DunSocial fits DunSocial schedules Reddit posts with subreddit selection & flair support built into the composer, so choosing the right community & the right flair is part of the scheduling flow, not an afterthought you have to remember. [AI Memory](/faq/ai-voice) holds the facts you are willing to state about your product & the phrases you have banned, & a human still confirms every draft before it publishes, which matters more on Reddit than almost anywhere else, because it is unusually unforgiving of anything that reads like an ad. None of that replaces reading a subreddit's actual rules first; it just means the mechanical parts (right subreddit, right flair, on-brand draft) are handled once you know where & how you are allowed to post. More on scheduling to Reddit specifically: [best social media scheduler for Reddit](/blog/best-social-media-scheduler-for-reddit). ## FAQ ### Is there still a "1 in 9" rule on Reddit? No, not as a sitewide, formally published rule. Reddit retired it. What exists now is a per-subreddit qualitative spam policy, enforced by that subreddit's moderators & AutoMod, so the actual ratio & rules depend entirely on the community you are posting in. ### Why did my Reddit post disappear with no notification? Most likely a poster-eligibility gate: an account-age, karma, or verified-email requirement set by that subreddit's AutoMod. These thresholds are frequently undisclosed, & a post that fails one is often removed or blocked from appearing without an explicit message to the poster. ### Can I post a link with a URL shortener? Avoid it. Shortened links are auto-removed in most marketing-relevant subreddits, & using one can also trigger a stricter domain review. Post the real, direct URL. ### What's the safest way to start promoting a product on Reddit? Comment & participate genuinely in the community first, find its designated self-promotion thread if one exists, & only post a standalone submission once you have real account history there & you have read the subreddit's own rules. ### Can DunSocial post to Reddit for me automatically? No. DunSocial schedules the post with subreddit & flair selection built in, & the AI can help draft it from your saved brand Memory, but a human confirms before anything goes out, the same human-in-the-loop model as every other network DunSocial supports. ## Sources Sources retrieved **25 September 2026**. - Soar Agency: [Reddit self-promotion rules by subreddit, 2026](https://www.soar.sh/blog/self-promotion-rules-by-subreddit-database) - Reddit Help: [Poster Eligibility Guide & Post Check](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/33702751586836-Poster-Eligibility-Guide-Post-Check) - DunSocial: [best social media scheduler for Reddit](/blog/best-social-media-scheduler-for-reddit), [AI voice FAQ](/faq/ai-voice) --- ## About this document This is the Markdown representation of https://www.dunsocial.com/blog/reddit-marketing-without-getting-banned. The HTML version of the same page is at the same URL. You can also request Markdown from any page by sending `Accept: text/markdown`. 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