Reddit CEO Steve Huffman says Google AI Mode no longer drives traffic

In short

• Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said on 28 October 2026 that Google's AI Mode no longer drives traffic for Reddit or anyone he knows.
• The Kobeissi Letter posted the earnings call comment and said AI is ending the internet's click-through search model.
• Alphabet lost $480bn in market value a day earlier on AI search fears, The Kobeissi Letter said.
• Reuters said Alphabet fell 10% after hours on weak search advertising.

Huffman's AI Mode warning

Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman told investors on the company's earnings call that Google's AI Mode "does not drive traffic. Not for us and not to anybody as far as I know", according to a post by The Kobeissi Letter on X. The Kobeissi Letter presented the remark as a warning that AI is ending the click-through model that has sustained the internet for decades. Huffman's comments, the post said, revealed a new situation for thousands of businesses.

Reddit is a social media platform that licenses its data to OpenAI and Google. The company said search engine referrals fell by more than 1 million a week on average during October, and it plans to test a logged-in-only experience in select markets outside the US.

Alphabet's $480bn slide

Alphabet, Google's parent, reported results that deepened those concerns. The Kobeissi Letter noted that Google's stock had shed $480bn in value 24 hours earlier over the same fears about AI search. Reuters reported that the shares dropped 10% after hours, following disappointing search advertising and a steep rise in cash burn as the company spent heavily on AI. CNBC called the earnings miss the first genuine indication that AI is eating into search, while Zerohedge said AI is beginning to cannibalise both search and ads, with Google advertising revenue of $82bn against an estimate of $83.6bn.

The end of click-through traffic

The two events paint one picture. For decades, search engines directed users to websites, and those websites earned money from ads and subscriptions. The Kobeissi Letter argued that AI is destroying this business model, and that the traditional model of internet traffic is rapidly becoming outdated. When an AI answer appears directly on a results page, the reader may never visit the site that produced the information.

Who feels the squeeze

The shift matters for publishers that rely on referral clicks. Reddit is one of the largest recipients of Google search traffic, and its chief executive now says AI Mode no longer sends that traffic to Reddit or anyone else he knows. If AI answers keep users on Google's pages, news sites and crypto outlets receive fewer visits and less advertising revenue. The Kobeissi Letter said the change is happening at an accelerating pace.

What X users said

On X, several accounts amplified the point. Unusual_whales and Cory Bergman shared the Reddit chief executive's quote, with Bergman noting Huffman called it 'a fundamental shift in how Google works'. Reuters, CNBC and Zerohedge covered Alphabet's earnings, with CNBC saying the miss reflected AI's first real bite out of search.

Questions readers ask

Why did Alphabet shares fall after earnings?

Reuters reported Alphabet shares fell 10% after hours on disappointing search advertising and higher AI cash burn. The Kobeissi Letter said Alphabet lost $480bn in market value a day earlier on AI search fears.

How does Google AI Mode affect publishers?

The Kobeissi Letter said AI is ending the model where search engines send users to websites that earn from traffic. Publishers, including crypto and markets outlets, rely on referral clicks and ad revenue, which AI answers can reduce.

Our view

At InvestIn.News, we think the Reddit CEO's comment is an early, concrete sign of a structural squeeze on referral-based publishers. Huffman leads one of the world's largest destinations for Google traffic, and his admission that AI Mode no longer sends users to Reddit confirms a shift that many publishers have long feared.

The Kobeissi Letter's framing, that AI is ending the click-through search model, matches Alphabet's own results: Reuters reported a 10% after-hours share fall, and Zerohedge noted an advertising revenue miss that points to AI eating into search.

For crypto and markets publishers, this cuts both ways. AI answers can reduce readers who click through to articles, but the same tools can widen distribution for outlets whose reporting is quoted directly by assistants. The development that would confirm our view is a sustained fall in Google-referred traffic across several major publishers, not just Reddit.

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Keshav Aggarwal