The news: Reddit is feeling the effect of the rise of Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode.

• On its latest earnings call, the company said search traffic declined meaningfully in Q3, accelerating toward the end of the quarter.
• Declines were partially attributed to Google’s evolving AI products. In the earnings call, CEO Steve Huffman pointed to Google’s aggressive global expansion of AI Overviews and AI Mode as drivers of why Google is no longer sending users to Reddit as much as it used to.
• Search referral traffic dropped by more than 1 million referrals per week on average during October. Should that rate continue, daily active uniques (DAUqs) could fall by a low double-digit percentage in Q4.
• Huffman said the impact was biggest on logged out users and web traffic, though some of the impact was also seen on logged in and app traffic as “search referral is a common source of re-engagement for users.”

The trend: Google’s AI search experiences are changing the relationship between search platforms and the websites supplying their information. Publishers aren’t the only businesses feeling the pressure: Community platforms like Reddit now have to reconsider their dependence on Google, which has historically helped them achieve higher visibility and referrals.

• Though Reddit is featured heavily in AI search results, the nature of AI search means users can access Reddit-sourced information without ever having to visit the platform.
• Publisher sites are similarly being impacted by Google’s AI features: Publisher referral traffic from Google fell 43% YoY between June 2025 and 2026 for large publishers, 39.9% for medium publishers, and 59.8% for small publishers, per Chartbeat. That suggests that Reddit’s challenges reflect a wider disruption to the referral model that has historically supported the open web.

Reddit’s strategy: In an attempt to combat traffic losses, the company is employing several strategies. These include:

• Moving some paid marketing away from broad-reach web campaigns toward app-install campaigns, sacrificing some reach for higher-value, engaged users, noted COO Jen Wong;
• Making the app more relevant and simplifying navigation, with faster personalization and new experiences to boost new user retention and improve core user engagement;
• Converting more mobile web visitors into app users by scaling its app conversion prompt, which currently reaches only about 13% of eligible mobile users;
• Shifting Reddit to a logged-in only experience, which Reddit plans to begin testing in markets outside the US in Q4, as most data scraping comes from Reddit’s logged-out user base.

Implications for marketers: Reddit’s value is likely to shift away from how much traffic it generates toward the value of user engagement on the platform.

Marketers should shift toward prioritizing reach with active, logged-in Reddit communities and build campaigns around relevant discussions, rather than relying on Reddit’s visibility in Google search to drive discovery. As Reddit looks to tighten access to logged-out users, marketers should also monitor whether ongoing changes affect campaign reach and organic visibility.

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