Reddit Chief Executive Steve Huffman attributed a substantial decline in search traffic to Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, prompting the social media platform to test a logged-in-only site experience in certain markets.
The company experienced an average drop of more than 1 million search referrals weekly in October, following a significant decline during the third quarter, according to Huffman.
Huffman stated that Google’s artificial intelligence features were pushing other search results further down the page, directly affecting Reddit’s visibility.
Reddit plans to pilot a logged-in-only version of its site in select non-U.S. markets this quarter. This strategic shift aims to better control content visibility and protect user data.
The traffic decline primarily affected logged-out users and web traffic. U.S. logged-out daily active uniques (DAUq) decreased from 30.1 million in the second quarter to 27.3 million in the third quarter.
Huffman indicated that while demand for Reddit’s content remained consistent and Google continued to aggressively crawl the site, its AI Mode did not generate traffic back to Reddit.
The planned login test is expected to prioritize user engagement over broad reach, as logged-in and application users account for more than 80 percent of Reddit’s monetization.
Reddit previously announced a deal in February to license its content to Google for training AI models, a move that was expected to generate revenue for the social platform.
The company’s Chief Operating Officer Jen Wong had previously noted the increasing importance of logged-in users for Reddit’s business model.
The shift toward a more controlled, logged-in experience reflects a broader industry trend as platforms adapt to changes in search engine algorithms and the proliferation of AI-generated summaries.
Source: Search Engine Journal
