Reddit Traffic Falls 13% as Google AI Overviews Cut Search Referrals

By Grace Kim

Reddit’s global web visits fell 13% from October 2025 to October 2026, according to Similarweb. The decline in referrals from Google search has pushed Reddit toward a mostly logged-in-only web experience, while CEO Steve Huffman says logged-in and app users are the company’s priority.

The two trends are not contradictions. Similarweb measures visits to Reddit’s website, while Reddit’s own disclosure centers on active users. The practical issue is whether Reddit can keep growing its known audience while Google delivers fewer anonymous visitors.

What do the traffic numbers show?

Similarweb’s 13% figure covers global visits. In a recent shareholder letter, Reddit said weekly active uniques rose 16% year over year in October. A Reddit spokesperson said the company reports daily and weekly active uniques rather than total visits.

That difference explains how Reddit can show more active users while Similarweb records less traffic. The measurement gap does not remove the pressure on search referrals, which carry people from Google’s results page to Reddit.

Reddit is reporting more active users even as Google-linked web visits decline.

How is Google changing Reddit traffic?

Reddit’s shareholder commentary describes two related shifts. People increasingly turn to chatbots for answers, while Google more often presents AI Overviews instead of a list of links. In the company’s account, both changes reduce referrals to Reddit.

In Reddit’s recent third-quarter earnings, Huffman said Google AI Overviews “are not traffic drivers” and described Google search traffic as “down meaningfully.” He said the drop could lead to a low double-digit decline in unique visits if the trend continued.

The distinction between the current 13% fall in visits and the possible low double-digit fall in unique visits matters. Similarweb’s estimate captures total traffic; Huffman’s warning points to a broader loss of individual users if search referrals keep weakening.

Google’s AI answers are taking traffic that Reddit once received through ordinary search results.

Why is Reddit moving users behind a login?

Reddit’s shift to a mostly logged-in-only experience comes as the non-logged-in web traffic that had been its most lucrative has fallen. Huffman’s explanation puts logged-in and app users ahead of the volume Google can deliver.

Huffman said: “Search referral trends do not determine our relevancy, and they do not define our future. Logged-in and app DAUq are our most valuable users, and they are our primary focus.”

The strategy has a near-term cost. Some people will be shut out when the mostly logged-in experience starts, so web traffic will likely fall further. Reddit’s plan accepts a smaller public reach in exchange for a more direct relationship with users who log in or use the app.

Reddit is trading Google-fed reach for direct relationships with logged-in and app users.

How did the Google relationship reverse?

In 2024, Reddit made a deal with Google to license itself for AI training while its search traffic was surging. The company was then benefiting from the same Google search system that now threatens referrals.

Similarweb recorded a 39% increase in Reddit traffic from May 2023 to May 2024. As AI Overviews became more frequent and more useful, Reddit’s traffic dipped.

The licensing arrangement did not insulate Reddit from changes in Google’s results page. A platform feature designed to answer queries inside Google can take visibility away from the sites that once supplied the clicks.

Reddit’s traffic rose while Google’s links drove visits, then fell as AI answers took over more of the results page.

What does Reddit Reviews add?

This week, Reddit announced it would launch Reddit Reviews, which will organize user recommendations for products. The launch adds an organized product-discovery format to the company’s push toward logged-in and app users.

It also gives Reddit another feature for users to engage with as public search access narrows. The company’s priority remains keeping known users active even if Google sends fewer anonymous visitors.

Reddit’s next test is whether that direct-user strategy can sustain the business as public Google referrals weaken and more of the web sits behind a login.