EQUIPThe Verge · 3h ago
Reddit’s CEO says Google’s AI Mode ‘does not drive traffic’
Executive Brief
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Reddit CEO Steve Huffman reports that Google's AI-integrated search tools fail to generate referral traffic for external platforms. Recent earnings data confirms Reddit lost over one million average monthly referrals following the implementation of these AI search features.
- 01Google AI search features are failing to drive user traffic back to source platforms
- 02Reddit experienced a decline of over one million referrals in October 2026
- 03Huffman highlights a broader industry trend of diminishing search visibility for digital publishers
- 04Executive leadership warns that AI-powered search modes threaten established digital discovery models
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Business Travel Management 2026: Program Blueprint →AI-generated summary · Verify at source
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said in an earnings call today that Google's AI-powered search modes do not help with traffic to the platform, echoing problems facing other websites and publishers. As part of its Q3 2026 earnings, Reddit revealed that search traffic in October has "dropped by more than 1 million referrals on average per […]