Reddit announced Thursday that it will begin requiring users to log in to access most of its content, a major departure for a platform that has long championed open, account-free browsing, amid declining Google search referrals. The company said it would start testing the change this quarter in markets outside the United States before a broader global rollout. The announcement accompanied third-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations, but shares fell more than 15% after Reddit issued fourth-quarter guidance below analysts' forecasts.
Reddit has allowed essentially unfettered logged-out access for two decades, and co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman said he had personally held that line. He said the shift is intended to improve the user experience, bolster the ads business and prevent bots from scraping Reddit's proprietary data. "I don't know about you, but as someone whose life has been defined by the open internet, it's a big change for me. But I've come to the conclusion that this is the right decision for our platform and the right decision for our business," Huffman wrote in a post on Reddit's site.
Under the new model, the Reddit homepage will remain accessible to logged-out visitors, and content reached through search engines or shared links will still be viewable, according to Axios. The company is still finalizing what else logged-out users can see. Participation features such as commenting and content ranking will continue to require an account. Reddit said logged-in users will not have to reveal their real names, and it is relaunching an incognito mode within its app that allows browsing without affecting a user's account, though it will be read-only.
The shift reflects a sharp slowdown in the search traffic that once powered Reddit's growth. Huffman said search referral traffic was "down meaningfully" in the third quarter, and the company said October search referrals dropped by more than 1 million per week on average. Reddit warned that if the trend continues, daily active users could decline by a low-double-digit percentage in the fourth quarter. Huffman described Google's push into AI overviews as "a fundamental shift in how the Google product works, from being a traffic driver to whatever's going on now."
Reddit's third-quarter revenue rose 53% year over year to $895 million, ahead of expectations, with net income up 74% to $283 million. Advertising revenue grew 54% to $847 million, while revenue from data licensing and other sources rose 35% to $48 million. Global daily active uniques reached 130.3 million, up 12% but below forecasts, and US daily active uniques fell 2% to 50.7 million. Reddit forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $1 billion to $1.03 billion, below the $1.05 billion analysts expected.
Huffman said the login requirement is not a response to Google's search changes but is “about making the best version of Reddit.” He said Reddit remains in negotiations with Google over its data-licensing agreement and is “only going to do a deal that makes sense for Reddit” if it chooses to continue the partnership. Reddit already licenses content to Google and OpenAI, and in 2025 sued Anthropic and Perplexity over alleged unauthorized scraping.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- Reddit is among the largest platforms to abandon open, account-free access, a shift that could set a precedent for how publishers respond to AI-era scraping and shrinking search traffic.
- The move is a direct reaction to AI search: Google's AI overviews and chatbot-style answers are pulling referral traffic away from websites, and Reddit's response shows how content owners are responding by locking down access and selling data licenses.
- For users, anonymous browsing without an account will shrink, though Reddit says logged-in users can still browse without revealing their real identity.
Background
Reddit, which is known as "the front page of the internet," has allowed open logged-out browsing for most of its 21-year history. It went public in March 2024 and signed data-licensing deals with Google and OpenAI that year; in 2025 it sued Anthropic and Perplexity over alleged unauthorized scraping. The new policy marks a reversal of its open-web stance as AI-powered search reduces referral traffic across the internet.
Key Perspectives
- Steve Huffman, Reddit co-founder and CEO: the change is "the right decision for our platform and the right decision for our business," despite his own attachment to the open internet; he says it will improve user experience, bolster ads and protect data from scraping.
- Jen Wong, Reddit COO: the move is not a change in strategy but a continuation of building a direct destination; logged-in users engage about five times as much as logged-out users and "yield more business outcomes for advertisers."
- Reddit users: reacted negatively to the announcement, according to Business Insider, which said the famously vocal community responded about as one would expect.
What to Watch
- The results of the logged-in experience tests outside the US this quarter, particularly how many logged-out visitors convert to accounts.
- Whether daily active users fall at the low-double-digit rate Reddit warned of if search referral declines persist into the fourth quarter.
- The outcome of Reddit's data-licensing negotiations with Google, with Huffman saying Reddit will only renew "a deal that makes sense for Reddit."
Checked
11 claims in this story checked against 4 sources: 8 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedReddit will require accounts for most content.9to5Mac: “Reddit also now says that it’s going to start requiring a logged-in account for accessing most of its content.”
- Partly supportedGoogle search referrals are drying up as Reddit makes the change.US Top News and Analysis: “Reddit CEO Steve Huffman told CNBC in an interview that the company's shrinking search-referral traffic from Google played a major role in its planned efforts to require people to become "logged-in" users.”
- SupportedThe tests will begin outside the US this quarter, before a broader rollout.9to5Mac: “The plan is to start testing the new logged-in experience this quarter, but only outside the US to start. It will then roll it out more broadly around the world.”
- SupportedReddit shares fell more than 15% after the company issued fourth-quarter guidance below analysts’ forecasts, despite beating Q3 expectations.US Top News and Analysis: “The company's shares dropped over 15% after its numbers were released.”
- SupportedHuffman said he had personally held the line on logged-out access.US Top News and Analysis: “"Reddit is the last platform to provide basically unfettered logged-out access, and that's largely because of me, I've been holding that line," Huffman said.”
- SupportedHuffman said the change aims to improve the user experience, bolster the ads business and prevent bots from scraping Reddit’s data.Axios: “In an interview Thursday, Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman said the company is making the change to improve its user experience, bolster its ads business and prevent bots from scraping its proprietary data.”
- SupportedHuffman wrote, “I don't know about you, but as someone whose life has been defined by the open internet, it's a big change for me. But I've come to the conclusion that this is the right decision for our platform and the right decision for our business.”All Content from Business Insider: “"I don't know about you, but as someone whose life has been defined by the open internet, it's a big change for me. But I've come to the conclusion that this is the right decision for our platform and the right decision for our business."”
- Partly supportedGlobal daily active uniques reached 130.3 million, up 12%, but were below forecasts.US Top News and Analysis: “Reddit said that daily active uniques, or DAUq, rose 12% year-over-year to 130.3 million in the third quarter, trailing Wall Street estimates of 133.7 million.”
- Partly supportedUS daily active uniques fell 2% to 50.7 million.US Top News and Analysis: “U.S.-specific DAUq dropped 2% year-over-year to 50.7 million, which was below analyst projections of 53.5 million.”
- SupportedReddit forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $1 billion to $1.03 billion, below analysts’ $1.05 billion expectation.US Top News and Analysis: “Reddit said that fourth-quarter sales will come in a range of $1 billion to $1.03 billion, which was below Wall Street estimates of $1.05 billion.”
- SupportedHuffman said the login requirement was not a response to Google Search changes, but was “about making the best version of Reddit.”Axios: “The bottom line: Huffman said the shift is not a response to Google Search changes, but rather "about making the best version of Reddit."”
