Reddit visits fall 13% amid dispute over Google's AI search referrals

Sophie Lindqvist

Similarweb estimated that Reddit's global visits fell 13% from October 2025 to October 2026.

That decline followed a surge. Similarweb data showed Reddit traffic rose 39% from May 2023 to May 2024, as Google search referrals sent the platform a flood of visitors. Business Insider reported the Similarweb estimate on Thursday.

Which traffic measure matters?

Reddit's internal metric moved in the opposite direction. The company said weekly active uniques rose 16% year over year in October. A spokesperson said Reddit measures daily and weekly active uniques, not total visits.

The two figures do not measure the same thing. Similarweb estimates visits, while Reddit reports daily and weekly active users. A decline in visits and an increase in active uniques can therefore coexist, although the source provides no market, device, or geographic breakdown to test that reconciliation.

How severe was the referral decline?

Reddit wrote in its third-quarter shareholder letter: "Our search referral traffic was down meaningfully in Q3, with the decline accelerating later in the quarter."

The company said search traffic dropped by more than 1 million referrals a week on average during October. If that pace continued, Reddit warned daily active uniques could fall by a low-double-digit percentage in the fourth quarter. The warning used a base of about 130 million daily active uniques.

This is confirmed company guidance, not an observed fourth-quarter result. It also defines the commercial risk more clearly than the Similarweb estimate: the issue is not merely fewer page views, but a possible reduction in Reddit's own audience metric. The source does not state that the decline occurred, only that Reddit modeled it.

CEO Steve Huffman has said Google's AI Overviews "are not traffic drivers." That assertion sits beside the referral data rather than replacing it. Reddit's shareholder letter identifies lower search referrals; the source does not provide a separate Google comment or quantify AI Overviews' individual contribution.

What does Reddit plan to do?

Reddit's response focuses on logged-in users, whom Huffman calls its most valuable. The company plans to test requiring logins in select markets outside the United States during the fourth quarter.

Business Insider said the login requirement would likely push web traffic lower because the change blocks some visitors. That makes the test commercially two-sided. It may shift activity toward Reddit's preferred user metric while reducing the broader visit count that Similarweb tracks. The source offers no quantified forecast for the login test.

Reddit has also begun testing advertisements in its own search results. The company reported 53% revenue growth with its third-quarter results. MLQ.ai separately covered the login plan when those results came out. The source provides no revenue total, advertising breakdown, ad pricing, or timetable for a wider search-ads rollout.

What changed in the Google relationship?

Reddit licensed its content to Google for AI training in 2024. At that time, Google was still sending Reddit surging traffic, according to the source. Licensing and referral economics therefore point in different directions.

The content license gives Google material for AI development, while search referrals historically gave Reddit audience traffic, and the reported decline now puts those two economics in tension. Reddit's 2024 license did not prevent the later referral decline. However, the source provides no license revenue or terms, and no separate Google response.

Reddit's own numbers show some resilience. Weekly active uniques still rose 16% in October despite referrals dropping by more than 1 million per week on average. That does not erase risk. A login requirement could narrow traffic further, while fourth-quarter audience guidance assumes October's referral decline persists without relief.

What should readers watch next?

The measurable record includes a 13% Similarweb visit decline, a 39% earlier traffic increase, more than 1 million weekly referral losses in October, and a possible low-double-digit fall from about 130 million daily active uniques. The source provides no fourth-quarter outcome or updated referral data.

The next commercial test is whether logins and ads in Reddit's own search results preserve active-user growth as Google referrals weaken. No fourth-quarter result, ad pricing, or revenue forecast in the source resolves that question.