Reddit announced that it will move to an experience where full access to the platform requires signing in, with tests in selected markets outside the US during the fourth quarter. Chief executive Steve Huffman said search engine traffic fell meaningfully, with losses of more than one million referrals a week in October. Third-quarter revenue rose 53% to $895 million, but guidance for the next quarter came in below estimates. The company also links the move to protecting its data from automated scraping for model training.

What it means: The decision is one of the clearest signs that AI answers in search engines are changing the economics of the open web. When Google answers the user directly, fewer visitors reach the pages that produced the information, and the site loses advertising revenue. Reddit, which for years ranked high in results, is choosing to put its content behind an account so it can know its users better, target ads and negotiate data licensing deals with AI companies. For businesses that rely on search traffic, such as news sites, online shops and blogs, the message is that depending on Google is getting riskier and direct relationships with audiences, through newsletters, accounts and apps, are needed. For teams that use Reddit discussions in market research, customer support or AI systems, access will become harder or cost money. Users, for their part, will have to create an account to read what they could previously see freely. Tests start outside the US, so European markets may be among the first to see the change.

Read the original on Reddit

Related service: Custom software

Related stories