Reddit is moving to a primarily logged-in experience, co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman announced Thursday, as the company disclosed that search referrals fell by more than 1 million per week on average in October. The change arrived alongside third-quarter results showing revenue of $895 million, up 53% year over year, while daily users stalled at 130.3 million.
Reddit said in its shareholder letter that it will begin fully testing the logged-in experience in select markets outside the U.S. in the fourth quarter, and that the results will shape a logged-in-only version globally. The company has not given a global timeline. Reddit said logged-in and app users account for the vast majority of engagement and more than 80% of its monetization.
“This is a big evolution for Reddit, and not one we're taking lightly.”— Steve Huffman, Reddit co-founder and CEO
The search warning is the number that moved the conversation. Reddit said search referrals fell meaningfully in the third quarter, with the decline accelerating late in the quarter, and that daily active uniques could drop by a low-double-digit percentage in the fourth quarter if the trend continues. From a base of about 130 million, a 10% to 13% decline would put the figure between roughly 113 million and 117 million.
Key facts
- 01Reddit will move to a primarily logged-in experience, starting with full tests in select markets outside the U.S. in Q4.
- 02Search referrals to Reddit fell by more than 1 million per week on average in October 2026.
- 03Reddit warned Q4 daily active uniques could fall by a low-double-digit percentage from 130.3 million.
- 04Q3 revenue rose 53% to $895 million and net income rose 74% to $283.3 million.
- 05Other revenue, which includes AI data licensing, grew 35% to $48 million.
U.S. daily active uniques came in at 50.7 million, down from 53.2 million in the second quarter and down 2% from a year earlier. Logged-out users, the audience that typically arrives from search, totaled 76.8 million globally, down from 77.7 million, and made up 58.9% of daily uniques. Logged-in daily uniques rose to 53.5 million from 52.6 million, and international daily users grew 24% year over year to 79.6 million.
The financials held up. Net income rose 74% to $283.3 million, advertising revenue climbed 54% to $847 million, and adjusted EBITDA reached $402.3 million. Other revenue, which includes Reddit's AI data licensing business, grew 35% to $48 million. Reddit guided fourth-quarter revenue to $1 billion to $1.03 billion.
The shift lands as AI-generated summaries in search answer more queries without a click through to the source site. Reddit long benefited from users adding "Reddit" to their search queries, and its pages lost visibility in Google's May 2026 core update and June 2026 spam update. On August 4, Google said Reddit receives no special preference in its rankings or AI search features. Reddit's shareholder letter did not name a search engine or attribute the decline directly to AI answers.
A login requirement also gives Reddit tighter control over its posts at a time when AI companies collect web text for training. That control underpins the data licensing deals Reddit signs with AI model providers, a business line that sits inside the $48 million other-revenue figure.
Huffman described the decision as a personal one in a post on Reddit, writing that as someone whose life has been defined by the open internet, the move is a big change for him. He also acknowledged that plenty of questions remain unanswered.
“But I've come to the conclusion that this is the right decision for our platform and the right decision for our business.”— Steve Huffman, Reddit co-founder and CEO
Reddit said logged-in use will not require users to give up anonymity, and it is rebuilding its incognito mode. The company noted that only about 13% of eligible mobile web users currently see its app conversion prompt. The logged-in push pairs with a new algorithmic For You feed, announced October 28, that mixes posts from joined communities with interest-based recommendations.
In the shareholder letter, Huffman wrote that search referral trends do not determine Reddit's relevance or define its future, and that AI does not meet people's need for community, connection and belonging with other people.
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