US — Ars Technica

Reddit is moving to “a logged-in-only experience,” CEO says

SoftwareOctober 30, 20261 min read

Reddit plans to stop letting people use the site without logging in. CEO Steve Huffman said the change is coming, and tests will start in some non-US countries in Q4.

Reddit will require logins

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said in a letter to shareholders that Reddit is moving to a "logged-in-only experience." This means people will need an account to use most of the site. Reddit will first test the change in some non-US markets in the fourth quarter (Q4). It will use those tests to decide how the change should work around the world.

Key numbers and facts

Reddit will start testing the login rule in "select" non-US markets in Q4.
Search referral traffic (visitors sent to Reddit from search engines) was down meaningfully in Q3.
In October, search traffic dropped by more than 1 million referrals on average each week.
Reddit had a base of 130 million DAUqs (daily active unique users, meaning distinct people who visit each day).

Why Reddit is changing

Reddit makes most of its money from ads. Logged-in users give Reddit more information, so ads can be better aimed at them. Logged-in users also tend to use the site more. Huffman said the change also helps protect Reddit's large store of data and helps it follow new laws in different countries.

Why it matters

This is a big change for a site that has long been open to anyone. Reddit may lose some visitors who do not want to sign up. Huffman warned that if the drop in search traffic keeps going, total daily users could fall by a low double-digit percentage in Q4. That would be a big drop from 130 million.

What to watch

How the non-US tests go in Q4.
Whether Reddit announces a global login rule.
How many daily users Reddit keeps after the change.
Whether search traffic keeps falling.

Glossary

Reddit: A website where people post, discuss, and vote on content in communities called subreddits.
DAUqs: Daily active unique users. The number of different people who use a site in one day.

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