Reddit (RDDT) Q3 2026 Earnings Call: Q&A Summary

Q: Benjamin Black from Deutsche Bank asked about the genesis of the logged-in only strategy, the goals for the upcoming test, and the remaining runway for monetization.

A: Steve Huffman explained that the shift is necessary for personalization, ad targeting, protecting data from scraping, and regulatory compliance. Jen Wong noted that over 80% of monetization comes from logged-in users, and there is significant headroom to close the ARPU gap with peers like Meta.

Q: John Colantuoni from Jefferies asked if there will be a light version of Reddit, if the direction is definitive, and if there are green shoots in engagement.

A: Steve Huffman stated that the test will determine the boundaries of a light version, but the transition is a definitive direction. He added that engagement is improving through feed updates, with new user retention and post and comment volume up sequentially.

Q: Jason Helfstein from Oppenheimer asked how to model the logged-in transition and if it makes Reddit non-scrapable.

A: Steve Huffman said the test will help determine conversion rates and boundaries. He noted that while it will make scraping harder, the primary goal is to protect the corpus and improve user experience.

Q: Ygal Arounian from Wedbush asked if the expectation is for logged-out traffic to go to zero and if the pendulum on Google traffic could swing back.

A: Steve Huffman stated that there will likely always be some logged-out traffic, but the company is focused on driving total DAU toward the logged-in cohort. He added that they are not counting on Google traffic returning.

Q: Josh Beck from Raymond James asked about the factors driving the Google traffic decline and the potential to scale paid user marketing.

A: Steve Huffman attributed the decline to Google's AI Overviews and AI mode, which are not traffic drivers, and potential changes in how machine-translated content is ranked. Jen Wong noted that paid app install campaigns are showing promise with retention rates comparable to organic users.

Q: Andrew Boone from Citizens asked what can be done to make traffic sticky and if advertisers are asking about pretraining.

A: Steve Huffman reiterated that Reddit's value lies in community and conversation, and they are making the feed more consistent to drive daily habits. Jen Wong clarified that advertisers come to Reddit for performance outcomes, not to influence LLM pretraining.

Q: Naved Khan from B. Riley Securities asked about the strategy for licensing the corpus to partners like OpenAI and Google.

A: Steve Huffman said there are no updates, but discussions continue. He emphasized that any deal must be a fair exchange of value and align with Reddit's long-term strategy.

Q: Vasily Karasyov from Cannonball Research asked if M&A for user growth is a priority.

A: Steve Huffman stated that M&A is not a priority for user growth. He explained that the company sees significant opportunity to grow users organically by improving new user retention, adding incognito mode, and converting mobile web users to the app.

Q: Tom Champion from Piper asked if the current period reminds management of the past and for thoughts on ARPU growth.

A: Steve Huffman compared the current transition to his return 11 years ago, emphasizing the focus on community and belonging. Drew Vollero noted that ARPU growth is driven by a differentiated, affluent consumer base and a naturally commercial platform.

Q: Ron Josey from Citi asked how the company will convert WAUs to DAUs using internal product changes.

A: Steve Huffman explained that the company is organizing the feed to group similar content types and moods, making the app experience more predictable and consistent to drive daily usage.

Q: An analyst from JPMorgan asked for color on Q3 revenue growth.

A: Steve Huffman stated that Q3 was a strong quarter with 53% growth. He noted that demand was very strong, particularly in September, though some bookings could not be delivered due to capacity constraints on specific days.