FULL STORY

Reddit Stock Plunges as CEO Blames Google AI Search

Reddit shares plunged nearly 29% after Q3 earnings, its worst day ever, with a 44% two-week drop. CEO Steve Huffman blamed Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode for siphoning traffic, costing over a million clicks weekly.

2026-10-30 ~ 2026-11-03 · 3 episodes · 17 posts

Episode 1 · Reddit CEO Blames Google AI Mode for Traffic Collapse as Stock Plunges ~44% (2026-10-30, 13 posts)

Reddit's stock plunged after its Q3 report, worsened by CEO Steve Huffman openly blaming Google's AI search for cutting off traffic: the stock fell 18% on earnings day and 44% over two weeks (TradingView showed -44.89% for the period, with a 30% single-day drop), wiping out roughly $7 billion in market value in two days. Although revenue and profit beat expectations, DAUs of 130.3M missed the expected 133.4M and Q4 guidance disappointed; more importantly, Google search referrals fell by over 1 million per week on average in October, with Huffman stating that AI Mode "doesn't bring traffic, for us or for anyone" and calling it "a fundamental shift in how Google works." The event is widely seen as a landmark case of AI search disrupting content platforms.

Confirmed

  • Q3 revenue and profit beat, but DAUs (130.3M vs 133.4M expected) and Q4 guidance missed; stock fell 18% on earnings day, 42% over 8 trading days and 44% over two weeks from $140, with $7B market cap lost in two days (@daluoseo, @SumitGup, @CtrlAltDwayne).
  • Search referrals fell over 1M per week in October; The Verge reported Huffman saying AI Mode and AI Overviews significantly reduced Reddit traffic (@kimmonismus, @daluoseo).
  • Per @aakashgupta, Reddit disclosed to investors on Oct 29 that AI Overviews answer questions directly from Reddit posts so users no longer click through, and will pilot forced login in response.
  • Huffman framed the decline as part of a broader shift in how search products route traffic; charts show organic traffic down from a 2.4B peak, the first major drop in two years (@gaganghotra).
  • Management said it is "skeptical of GEO," refusing to help advertisers get into AI answers, stressing advertisers come for highly engaged audiences (@lilyraynyc).
  • Investor @buccocapital called it a bellwether for the internet's direction: AI Mode is becoming Google's default experience, reducing users' motivation to leave search (@zephyrz9 repost).

Unconfirmed

  • Community criticism cited by @CtrlAltDwayne that Reddit once sold data licensing for only $60M, contrasting with the $7B loss — an opinion, not a company statement.

Why it matters

  • SEO expert Lily Ray noted Google's algorithm once favored Reddit links, yet even Reddit cannot escape the "Google Zero" shock — its biggest growth source is becoming its biggest risk.
  • SEO expert Cyrus Shepard observed a "triple kill": AI answers simultaneously hit Reddit's stock, Google's stock, and websites' organic traffic, showing AI search disrupting the entire ecosystem.

Episode 2 · Reddit Plunges 30% After Earnings, CEO Blames AI Search (2026-11-01, 2 posts)

Reddit 发布财报后股价单日暴跌约 29%-30%,创上市以来最差单日表现,两周内累计跌幅达 44%。CEO Steve Huffman 在财报电话会上将原因归咎于 Google AI Mode:AI 直接给出答案,用户不再从 Google 搜索点击进入 Reddit,网站流量正被 AI 搜索吞噬。他直言 AI 正在改变甚至

Episode 3 · Reddit shares plunge 29% as Google AI search drains traffic (2026-11-03, 2 posts)

Reddit said Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode divert over a million referral clicks per week, and CEO Steve Huffman confirmed a sharp traffic decline. Reddit shares fell 29% in their worst single-day drop, extending to 36% for the week.