Reddit shares experienced a significant decline after CEO Steve Huffman confirmed that falling Google search traffic is affecting the platform’s user growth. The stock dropped approximately 29% on October 30, 2026, following the company’s third-quarter earnings report, as investors raised concerns about the impact of Google’s AI-powered search features.
The announcement has highlighted growing challenges for online platforms that depend heavily on organic search traffic.
According to Reddit’s management, the platform lost more than one million search referrals per week on average during October. CEO Steve Huffman identified Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode as potential contributors to the decline.
Google’s AI-powered search features provide users with direct answers within search results, potentially reducing the need to visit external websites. This shift could affect Reddit’s visibility and traffic, particularly for users searching for discussions, reviews and community-generated information.
Reddit also reported that changes in Google’s ranking of machine-translated content may be affecting its international search visibility.
Despite reporting strong revenue growth, Reddit’s latest results raised concerns about its future audience expansion.
The company reported approximately 130.3 million daily active unique visitors, representing 12% year-over-year growth. However, the figure fell below analyst expectations.
Reddit also forecast fourth-quarter revenue between $1 billion and $1.03 billion, below market expectations of approximately $1.05 billion.
These developments contributed to investor concerns about the company’s ability to maintain its growth momentum.
To reduce its dependence on Google search traffic, Reddit is focusing on increasing direct engagement through its app, personalized feeds and logged-in user experiences.
The company is also exploring login-focused experiences in selected international markets to encourage stronger user retention.
Reddit’s declining search traffic reflects a broader transformation in the digital marketing industry. As AI-powered search changes how users discover information, businesses may need to move beyond traditional SEO strategies.
Investing in brand visibility, original content, direct traffic and AI search optimization—including Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)—could become increasingly important.
The key takeaway: Reddit’s stock decline demonstrates how Google’s AI-driven search changes are reshaping online visibility, creating new challenges for publishers, businesses and digital marketers.
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