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I doubt it. Some might, but I doubt that most do.

Reddit should be easy to target with ads, sub-reddit are can be highly targeted. Take /r/beekeeping, it would be easy to sell beekeeping equipment via ads on that sub-reddit, but I have yet to see a single ad.

Or how about /r/battlestations pretty easy target for PC components, desks, chairs or posters, but no. You get an ad for BMW and freelance coder jobs... WHY?

No one want to buy ad space, everything is via agencies that does not give a shit. Tracking down relevant sites or in this case sub-reddits sounds like work, so instead let's just pump everything through "The Algorithm".

Are you looking for a job as a coder and in the market for a new car, by any chance?

I consider it like a chat in the library as opposed in the local cafe. I go to the section where people know their stuff about X, and we talk about X. It is definitely a network.

Nope, it's just centralized newsgroups IMHO.

Exactly. (But just the alt hierarchy... I don't think Reddit has anything like the old voting process used to create groups in other hierarchies.)

And without all the things that made Usenet good, like client side filtering.