Social Rocket
Reddit is redesigning its homepage – and wants to become less dependent on Google. Since 28 October 2026, the platform has been rolling out the For You and Following feeds worldwide. One day later, Reddit published figures that explain the bigger plan: in October, search referrals fell by more than one million per week on average, according to the company. Reddit therefore wants to turn visitors more strongly into returning app and community users.
The two new views separate recommendations from subreddits you already follow. At the same time, Reddit announced that in the fourth quarter it will test, in selected markets outside the US, a use that is largely login-required. For community managers and advertisers, this changes how new people discover Reddit and how the platform keeps them over the long term.
For You discovers new communities, Following bundles familiar ones
Reddit explained in its product announcement of 28 October that the rollout of the new homepage views will take several weeks. For You mixes content from communities you already subscribe to with topically matching recommendations. Following shows posts from communities users have already joined.
Following is not a strictly chronological feed. Reddit saves the view you last used, so people can pick up where they left off the next time they open it. The redesign strengthens two different paths to reach people: discovering new communities and regular use of existing interest spaces.
For brands, this means that a well-matched post can become visible beyond their own subreddit. What remains valuable in the long run, however, is whether it leads to conversations, new members and repeat visits. Anyone seeking reach without any community connection is unlikely to succeed lastingly in Reddit's moderated topic spaces.
Google sends fewer visitors – Reddit is focusing on direct use
In the official Q3 shareholder letter of 29 October 2026, Reddit reports falling search referrals in the third quarter. The decline intensified towards the end of the quarter and continued in October with more than one million fewer referrals per week on average. Visitors who use Reddit in the browser without logging in are particularly affected.
In the quarterly call, CEO Steve Huffman criticised that Google's AI Mode brings Reddit practically no more visitors. AI Overviews, he said, also keep pushing classic links further down, The Verge reported on 29 October. The company also sees problems with the discoverability of machine-translated content.
The development affects Reddit despite strong business figures: in the third quarter the platform reached 130,3 million daily active unique users, an increase of 12 percent year on year. The quarterly report cites 847 million US dollars in advertising revenue, 54 percent more than a year earlier. Reddit is thus growing as an advertising business, while an access route that was previously important for new visitors is weakening.
The search debate does not concern Reddit alone. Google is already testing ads in AI Mode in additional markets. For publishers and platforms this creates a new challenge: AI search can use content for answers without directing readers to the original website to the same extent.
Login tests are meant to strengthen community and the advertising business
According to the shareholder letter, Reddit plans to test, in the fourth quarter 2026, a use that is largely logged-in in selected markets outside the US. Experience from this is to inform the next steps. The reasoning is clear: logged-in users are easier to personalise, can be addressed repeatedly and provide better signals for the advertising business.
According to the company, more than 80 percent of monetization comes from app users and logged-in users. Accordingly, Reddit is investing in better feed recommendations, new video formats, community features and the path from a first visit to regular use.
The For You and Following tabs fit exactly into this strategy. They are meant to make Reddit less of a page someone stumbles upon via Google and more of a service people open on their own initiative.
What community managers and advertisers should consider now
Organic recommendations open up opportunities for helpful posts and communities with relevant expertise. For measuring success, recurring participation, qualified replies, new community members and genuine website visits are more meaningful than individual upvotes. Moderation rules and transparency in commercial communication remain crucial. That is also why it is worth looking at Reddit's measures against fake votes and AI spam.
For paid reach, Reddit offers separate advertising products such as Reddit Max and lead-gen integrations. Precisely because the company wants to win more logged-in users, targeting, on-platform interaction and the quality of new contacts become more important for advertisers.
The changes also affect news consumption: social platforms serve many people as a source of information, as our classification of the Pew study 2026 shows.
The real Reddit overhaul therefore goes far beyond two new tabs. The platform is trying to turn occasional search engine visitors into its own, regularly active community – and to market directly to that audience.