Reddit moves to a logged-in site as Google search traffic falls
Referrals from search fell by more than 1 million a week on average in October.
Reddit said in its third-quarter results that it will move to a logged-in site. Most users will have an account. Reddit says that AI search sends fewer visitors and that it wants to stop AI scrapers that copy its data. Tests start in the fourth quarter in some markets external to the US.
How it works
Reddit has no date for all users. It has not set the parts that logged-out users can see. It will make its incognito mode again.
Logged-in users give more signals about their interests. Advertisers pay more to get them. Reddit also wants to license its data to makers of AI models.
The numbers
- US daily users fell to 50.7 million.
- Revenue rose 53% to $895 million.
- Shares fell more than 11% after the results.
What is not known
Reddit warns that daily users can fall by a low double-digit percentage by next quarter, if the trend continues. The CEO, Steve Huffman, says that many questions are open.
Insight: A login wall can find agents that give no name
Reddit says it wants to stop AI scrapers that copy its data. An earlier report said that Muse, an AI agent of Meta, gives sites no sign that it is an agent. A login wall seems to find agents that give no name, and it puts a gate before open pages. Monitor if other large sites copy it.
Sources
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