Reddit CEO Says Google AI Mode Doesn't Drive Platform Traffic

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said during the company’s Q3 2026 earnings call that Google’s AI-powered search features are not sending meaningful traffic to the platform, underscoring a broader challenge for websites and publishers. Huffman said search referrals to Reddit fell by more than 1 million per week on average in October, attributing part of the decline to Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, which he said have altered how search results appear and push users away from direct site visits. He added that Reddit suspects its machine-translated content is being ranked lower in search results, a trend he said would mainly affect users outside the United States. Despite the drop, Huffman said Reddit remains a top search term on Google and that consumer demand has not disappeared, though Google is no longer directing users to the site as it once did. Reddit is responding by trying to make the platform a more direct, daily destination. The company recently launched a personalized For You feed and has been testing AI-generated short videos from posts. Huffman also said Reddit will require all users to log in, arguing that the change will improve user experience, support its advertising business, align better with safety regulations, and better protect Reddit data. The shift comes as Google acknowledges lower monetization from ads in AI Mode while expanding AI advertising to more markets.