Reddit says its search referrals dropped by more than 1 million a week on average in October 2026, and its response is to put most of the site behind a login. The company announced the move on its third-quarter earnings call on 29 October, according to TechCrunch. Testing of the logged-in experience starts this quarter in select markets outside the US, and Reddit is also rebuilding its incognito mode.
Why the clicks are drying up
Plenty of people add "reddit" to a Google search to find real opinions from real people, which is why Reddit threads show up in so many search results. As Google and other search tools answer more questions directly on the results page with AI, fewer people click through to the thread underneath. TechCrunch frames Reddit's announcement against that broader move toward AI search. Reddit did not put a single cause on the number in the reporting we read, so the exact role of Google's AI Mode is not confirmed.
The same week, Alphabet's earnings showed Google is still working out how to make money from AI answers, which we explain in Alphabet lost $500 billion in a day.
The business is still growing
This is not a company in trouble. Reddit's earnings release, filed with the SEC, shows third-quarter revenue of $895 million, up 53% from a year earlier, and daily active uniques of 130.3 million, up 12%. TechCrunch reports that advertising revenue rose 54% to $847 million and that other revenue, which includes data licensing, rose 35% to $48 million.
CEO Steve Huffman told investors he believes the login plan is the right decision for the platform and the business, according to TechCrunch.
The real prize is the data
TechCrunch reports that the logged-in experience is meant to protect Reddit's content from AI scraping and to support licensing deals with AI model makers. If the best threads are harder to read without an account, they are harder to collect for free, and a licensing deal becomes worth more. It is a familiar move. Newspapers made a similar bet when they put up paywalls, deciding that loyal readers and data deals were worth more than drive-by clicks.
What changes for you
For everyday users, the most likely change is more sign-in prompts, starting outside the US. For marketers, there are two open questions. The first is whether Reddit threads will appear as often in search results and AI answers if logged-out reading shrinks. The second is how AI assistants will source real-world opinions if one of the biggest open sources of them becomes harder to reach. Neither has a clear answer yet, so treat any confident prediction with care.
What to do this week
- Split your referral traffic into search, AI assistants and communities in your analytics, so you can see which one is moving.
- Publish the honest answers people look for on Reddit on your own site, including the drawbacks of your product.
- Take part in the communities your buyers use as a real person, with a real name, and without pitching.
- Ask ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini how they describe your brand, and note which sources they lean on.
Our honest view is that the open web is getting more closed, and brands that own their audience will feel this the least. If you want to compare how the main assistants answer the same question, Compare is a good place to start, and Learn covers each tool in plain English.