Reddit’s CEO addressed traffic challenges during the company’s Q3 2026 earnings call, stating that Google’s AI-powered search features are not contributing to referrals for the platform. The company disclosed that search traffic declined by more than 1 million referrals per week on average in October, which Huffman partially attributed to changes in how Google’s AI Mode and AI Overviews function.
Huffman characterized the situation as a fundamental shift in Google’s business model, noting that search historically drove traffic but no longer does so consistently. He indicated that AI Overviews and AI Mode have substantially changed the search landscape, with these features pushing all content “down the search page” at minimum. Additionally, Reddit believes its machine-translated content for non-English markets is receiving lower search rankings, which the company expects would primarily impact its international performance outside the United States.
Despite these challenges, Huffman emphasized that Reddit remains a top search term on Google and that consumer demand for the platform has not diminished. He noted that Google continues crawling Reddit’s content at the same intensity, suggesting the issue stems from Google’s altered search delivery mechanisms rather than decreased indexing or user interest.
In response to declining search referrals, Reddit is implementing several strategies to establish itself as a “direct, sticky, daily destination.” The company introduced a “For You” feed featuring personalized recommendations and has been testing AI-generated short video formats from existing posts. Additionally, Reddit announced plans to require user login across the platform, which leadership argues will enhance user experience, improve advertising effectiveness, align with safety regulations, and better protect user data.
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