Reddit will force everyone to log in

Reddit is announcing a major change: it will begin requiring users to log in to access the site, ending two decades of open logged-out browsing. CEO Steve Huffman says the login requirement will better protect Reddit data from scraping and automated traffic, improve user experience, and support the ads business. The change will first be tested in select markets outside the US in the coming months, with no definitive timeline for a global rollout. Huffman notes that the vast majority of unauthorized access occurs through logged-out experiences, and that logged-in users enable more relevant ads. The announcement coincides with Reddit's Q3 2026 earnings, which showed search traffic down meaningfully, with logged-out and web traffic most affected. However, app and logged-in daily active unique users make up over 80% of Reddit's monetization. Reddit will still pursue data licensing deals, such as those with OpenAI and Google in 2024.

(Source：The Verge)