Reddit told shareholders Thursday that its hunt traffic dropped by additional than 1 myriad referrals per week, on average, during October. That followed a third fourth in which hunt referral traffic was “down meaningfully.”
On the earnings call, CEO Steve Huffman stated the biggest part of Reddit’s operating assumption is Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode. Reddit additionally plans to commencement evaluation a logged-in-only type of the location in choose markets exterior the U.S. this quarter.
Huffman stated the test is partially meant to decide how much of Reddit group can see before a login prompt, including group who attain from search. Where Reddit draws that row volition decide what a logged-out searcher sees following clicking a Reddit thread from Google in the test markets.
How Much Search Traffic Reddit Says It Lost
Reddit’s third-quarter letter says the hunt referral decrease sped up delayed in the fourth and continued into October. Logged-out and web traffic took the biggest hit, alongside several carrying complete to logged-in and app traffic since hunt is a average way users arrive rear to Reddit.
The letter puts October this way, using DAUq for regular energetic uniques:
“During October, we have seen that hunt traffic has dropped by additional than 1 myriad referrals on average per week. If this charge of decrease continues, current trends would propose that total DAUqs could autumn in Q4, by a low-double-digit percent from our current basis of 130 myriad DAUqs.”
The letter doesn’t provision the weekly referral figure that decrease is measured against, and it doesn’t interrupt the decrease out by hunt engine.
Reddit’s regular energetic uniques held at 130.3 myriad globally from the second fourth to the third. In the U.S., they cut from 53.2 myriad to 50.7 million.
The U.S. decrease was in logged-out DAUq, which cut from 30.1 myriad to 27.3 myriad between the second and third quarters. Logged-in U.S. DAUq rosy slightly, from 23.1 myriad to 23.4 million.
Outside the U.S., DAUq grew 24% twelvemonth complete year. Chief Operating Officer Jen Wong stated Reddit raised global promotion expend partially to create up for attain misplaced from hunt referrals.
Three months earlier, Reddit’s second-quarter letter described hunt referrals as “choppy,” alongside traffic additional volatile delayed in that quarter.
Why Huffman Points To AI Overviews And AI Mode
Asked what was driving the Google traffic changes, Huffman stated Reddit’s assumption has two parts. The biggest is AI Overviews and AI Mode, which he stated Google appears to be expanding aggressively in the U.S. and elsewhere. At a minimum, he said, they shove another results downward the page.
The second aspect is machine-translated content, which he stated Reddit believes is being classified lower, chiefly affecting traffic exterior the U.S. He added that this doesn’t appearance akin the benevolent of algorithm alter that comes and goes, although Reddit doesn’t have visibility into that. Neither the letter nor the call says how much of the decrease Reddit attributes to all factor.
Reddit’s CEO stated petition for Reddit hasn’t changed. The term Reddit is motionless among the most-searched words on Google, he said, and “Google is crawling us as difficult as ever.” He additionally stated AI Mode “does not run traffic,” not for Reddit and, as far as he knows, not for anyone else.
I reported in July 2024 that a robots.txt alter remaining Google as the lone important hunt motor capable to display Reddit’s newest posts. Reddit had signed a data licensing agreement alongside Google before that year.
Asked concerning data licensing alongside Google and OpenAI, Huffman stated Reddit is in energetic discussions alongside no update to share, and that not doing a agreement is one imaginable outcome.
What The Login Test Means For Visitors From Search
Reddit’s letter says it volition commencement completely evaluation a logged-in-only cognition in choose markets exterior the U.S. in the fourth quarter. Neither the letter nor the call names the test markets.
The letter says logging in volition assistance users discover additional applicable satisfied and provision Reddit additional signals for ad targeting. It additionally says the alter protects admission to Reddit’s corpus of data and helps the business modify to emerging regulations. On the call, Huffman stated the huge bulk of abrasion happens through logged-out access.
He stated Reddit needs to discover the correct border “to provision value to the user, whether they’re coming from a shared nexus or perchance from hunt themselves or trying out Reddit.” He stated several type of Reddit volition be accessible before a difficult login prompt, and that Reddit wants shared links to keep working.
“This is a test, but we are going to create this transition,” Huffman said. He stated Reddit volition apt commerce attain for engagement.
Logged-in and app users document for complete 80% of Reddit’s monetization, according to the letter. Third-quarter income grew 53% twelvemonth complete twelvemonth to $895 million.
Reddit additionally plans to keep converting search-referred mobile web users to its app. Only concerning 13% of eligible mobile web users currently see the app conversion prompt, according to the letter.
Asked whether brands advertise on Reddit to display up in AI models, Wong stated Reddit is “pretty skeptical of GEO,” or generative motor optimization, and fairly resistant to manipulation. GEO isn’t part of Reddit’s advertiser partnerships today, she said.
Why This Matters
Reddit’s figures on misplaced hunt referrals are a first-party appearance at clicks from hunt on a location whose threads rank throughout a broad range of Google queries. Huffman described Google’s AI features as the biggest part of Reddit’s assumption for the decline.
A Reddit thread that ranks in Google has mostly been readable without an account. In the markets anywhere Reddit tests logins, that volition depend on anywhere Reddit puts the login prompt.
Looking Ahead
When Reddit’s login tests commencement in choose markets exterior the U.S., the archetypal item to observe is how much of a thread a visitant arriving from Google can peruse before a login prompt. Reddit says the results volition communicate “an optimized type of logged-in-only Reddit globally.”
Reddit volition additionally keep reporting logged-in and logged-out regular uniques by geography, CFO Drew Vollero stated Thursday. Its fourth-quarter 2025 letter had stated Reddit planned to phase that reporting out this year.
Featured Image: jackpress/Shutterstock
