Reddit’s CEO says Google’s AI Mode ‘does not drive traffic’

<figure> <img alt="An illustration of the Reddit logo." data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Image: The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/08/STK115_Reddit_01.jpg.webp?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">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 <a href="https://www.theverge.com/column/1017983/google-ai-search-online-publishing">other websites and publishers</a>. As part of its Q3 2026 earnings, Reddit <a href="https://s203.q4cdn.com/380862485/files/doc_financials/2026/q3/v2/Q3-26-Shareholder-Letter.pdf">revealed that</a> search traffic in October has "dropped by more than 1 million referrals on average per week," and he attributes part of the company's struggles with Google traffic to how AI Mode and AI Overviews change the search experience.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">"The reality is, AI Mode does not drive traffic," Huffman says. "Not for us, and not to anybody, as far as I know. That's just a fundamental shift in how Google works. It used t …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1022848/reddit-ceo-google-ai-mode-traffic">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>