# Reddit CEO Cites Google AI Search as Leading Hypothesis for Referral Decline

By John Kim

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/44142
Published: 2026-10-30T01:58:48.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-30T01:58:48.000Z
Section: Business

> Reddit said a sustained decline could cut fourth-quarter daily active uniques by a low-double-digit percentage from a current base of 130 million.

Reddit said search referrals fell by more than 1 million per week on average in October, raising the possibility of a low-double-digit drop in fourth-quarter daily active uniques if the decline continues.

On its Oct. 29 earnings call, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman identified Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode as the leading part of the company’s hypothesis for the referral decline. He said the features had expanded in the U.S. and other markets and pushed other search results lower on the page. “The reality is the AI mode does not drive traffic, not for us and not to anybody as far as I know,” Huffman said.

Reddit did not provide a search-engine breakdown of the referral decline. Huffman also said the company believed its machine-translated content was ranking lower, which he said would mainly affect traffic outside the U.S.

The decline in Reddit’s search referrals became more pronounced late in the quarter ended Sept. 30. Logged-out and web traffic were affected most, though some impact also reached logged-in users and app traffic. The October figure measures referrals, not a count of people who stopped using Reddit.

Reddit warned that if the referral decline continues at the same rate, current trends suggest fourth-quarter daily active uniques could fall by a low-double-digit percentage from a current base of 130 million. That base is distinct from Reddit’s third-quarter average of 130.3 million daily active uniques, which was up 12% from a year earlier.

U.S. daily active uniques fell 2% year over year in the third quarter, while international daily active uniques rose 24%. Revenue for the quarter increased 53% to $895 million, including $847 million in advertising revenue.

Logged-in and app daily active uniques grew from the previous quarter and together accounted for more than 80% of monetization. Reddit plans to test a primarily logged-in experience in selected markets outside the U.S. during the fourth quarter, with results intended to inform a global version.