Reddit’s average number of DAUqs increased 12 percent year-over-year (YoY) in the third quarter.
Huffman expressed interest in making Reddit less reliant on search references.
“Logged in users and the DAUq app are our most valuable users and are our primary focus,” he wrote.
Reddit has been testing a desktop login requirement since at least August, according to user reports.
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The login requirement is one of many changes Reddit has made in recent years with the goal of increasing the user base of its website and mobile apps that also make it easier to track user activity.
Earlier this year, Reddit began testing requiring people to use one of its mobile apps to access its mobile website. Plan to expand testing.
“Currently, only about 13 percent of eligible mobile web users see the app’s conversion message, so this has room to scale,” Huffman said.
As of July, Reddit requires users to log in to use Old.Reddit.com. More recently, it blocked access to Old Reddit for people who haven’t logged in in the previous six months.
Reddit also effectively shut down most third-party apps by making their API more expensive in 2024.
Combined, the changes should make it much easier for Reddit to understand who uses Reddit and why, which it says will help manage things like AI scraping and evolving search habits.
The changes should also help Reddit understand the effectiveness of ads and gain additional insights into user activity, while making them more attractive to advertisers and investors.
Reddit reported net income of $283 million (up 74 percent year-over-year) compared to $895 million in revenue (up 53 percent year-over-year) in the third quarter.
Advance Publications, owner of Condé Nast, parent of Ars Technica, is Reddit’s largest shareholder.
