Reddit's search traffic has taken a hit in recent months, and the company's CEO is pointing a finger at Google's AI-powered search summaries.
Steve Huffman made the comments in a letter to shareholders ahead of Reddit's second-quarter earnings call, according to Engadget. "People don't want a summary of Reddit; they want Reddit," he wrote, in a direct shot at Google's AI Overviews feature.
Huffman was specific about what he sees as the problem. Despite Reddit having an existing partnership with Google, the CEO said AI Overviews have not delivered the same value as traditional search. "I think more broadly, what we see is, you know, 10 blue links has driven tremendous value and growth to the broader ecosystem," Huffman said, referring to the traditional format of organic search results. "From where we sit, AI Overviews has yet to make a similar level of positive impact, and I think that's consistent across the broader landscape, right? Us businesses, publishers, retailers, we're still looking for that win-win."
The comments come after the Wall Street Journal reported that Reddit is rethinking its relationship with Google. The two companies have a $60 million licensing deal under which Google pays Reddit to use its content. When asked directly about whether Reddit might end that arrangement, Huffman did not close the door. "I think the range of outcomes is wide, and we have to look at you know every aspect of this and make sure that we're maximizing value to Reddit," he said.
Reddit has not publicly announced whether it will renew the deal or seek to change its terms.
Reddit is not alone in its frustration. Publishers across the industry, some of whom have also signed content licensing deals with Google, have reported steep declines in search traffic as AI-generated summaries push links lower in results. More people are also replacing traditional web searches with chatbots entirely. Google has maintained that its AI-powered search features are broadly good for the industry.
Huffman outlined several moves Reddit is considering to attract new users and compensate for the search traffic losses. These include improvements to feed recommendations and changes designed to make the platform easier to navigate for first-time visitors.
He also described two new content formats under consideration. The first is what he called a video Reddit experience. The second would allow users to listen to posts in the background while doing other things on their devices. Huffman noted that an informal version of this already exists outside the platform. "We see folks doing this off-platform," he said. "There's an emerging content type elsewhere on the internet of basically podcasts where people read Reddit content, and so I think this version of like listened-to or spoken-Reddit can be really engaging as well."
Reddit has not given a timeline for when any of these features would launch or when a decision on the Google licensing deal would be made.
