Reddit has announced its latest performance update, with the platform that’s become a key inlet for AI chatbots adding more users in Q3, while also boosting its overall revenue intake by a massive 68% year-over-year.
First off, on users. Reddit added 5.6 million more daily active users over Q2, taking it to 116 million DAU.
Reddit has continued to add more users in more regions, while also continuing to expand its audience in its core U.S. market. Which, as you can see, had slowed in its last two reports, but it’s now driving more attention, which is likely due to its rising popularity as a source for human-created and curated insights into a wide range of topics.
Indeed, Reddit’s user-voted up and downvote system has ended up being a blessing for its value in this respect, helping people find relevant answers to various queries, with the most helpful responses being elevated by user votes.
Reddit has also benefited from an increased presence in Google Search results, while as noted, the platform is now also among the most cited sources for AI chatbots, which look to Reddit for human-generated responses to replicate.
Reddit says that it’s now the #3 most visited site in the U.S. (it’s actually now #2 according to data from Semrush), while it’s also expanding its machine translation and local content strategies to drive growth in more markets.
As per Reddit:
“People come here to find trusted perspectives, to participate in communities that share their interests—no matter how niche or mainstream – and increasingly, to engage directly with brands, institutions, and publishers.”
Reddit also now has 444 million weekly active users (up from 400 million in May), with its daily and weekly usage growing by close to 20% year-over-year.
In terms of revenue, Reddit generated $585 million in Q3, a 68% year-over-year increase.
Given its presence in AI discovery, advertisers are now paying more attention to the platform, in the hopes of getting their products recommended within AI search results. That’s driving big benefit for the app, while Reddit’s also increasing its data deals to help facilitate other AI and discovery projects.
Though advertising remains its key revenue stream, driving 94% of its intake.
It’s a strong result for the app, as it continues to build out its business offerings, and establish itself as a valuable, viable channel for marketers.
The irony, of course, is that Reddit’s especially valuable because of the lack of sponsored comments and paid endorsements, which is what’s turned people away from reviews on commerce sites and the like. The capacity to fake these responses makes them hard to trust, but on Reddit, you can get real, hands-on insights, from real people, which is the key value proposition of Reddit data.
Will the influx of advertiser attention impact this, and make it less valuable as a product research platform as a result?
Again, the up and downvote system should mitigate any artificial endorsements, but many brands will be looking to improve their standing on Reddit, which could lead to a level of manipulation of its systems.
So in some ways, Reddit actually benefits from being a smaller platform, in comparison to other social apps, but as a business, it needs to grow. Thus is the dichotomy of the social media industry.
Reddit says that it’s working on improving the Reddit user experience, with a focus on search, via AI-powered assistive tools to help people find more relevant, valuable updates.
Those efforts are evidently driving better performance, and further changes may also be coming, with the platform looking to update and refine the UI in line with usage trends.
Overall, market analysts will be happy with Reddit’s Q3 update, with the main questions remaining being around ongoing sustainability, in both the authenticity of its data, and its reliance on Google referrals. Both could have big impacts on Reddit’s future performance if things change, but right now, it remains in a good spot within its broader growth trajectory.
