Reddit CEO Steve Huffman in letter to shareholders: We are concentrating our resources to make Reddit a go-to search engine

Reddit is all set to make a bold pivot towards becoming a full-fledged search engine. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman recently announced the plans to prioritise search functionality and AI-powered answers across the platform. The announcement came as part of the company's Q2 2025 shareholder letter, which highlighted strong financial performance driven by advertising and a growing user base. “Reddit a go-to search engine, and expanding internationally,” said Huffman. The move comes amid explosive growth in Reddit’s internal search usage, which now sees over 70 million weekly queries.

Reddit wants to be a search engine

During the earnings call, CEO Steve Huffman framed the initiative as a natural evolution for the platform, which has long been the de facto search engine for millions seeking genuine, opinion-based answers. "For years, people have been adding 'reddit' to their search queries to find real experiences, recommendations, and discussions," Huffman stated. "Our communities are the world's most valuable database of human experience. We're simply building the infrastructure to make that wisdom more accessible and searchable."

Reddit’s pitch is simple: real people, real answers. In a world increasingly dominated by algorithmic summaries, Reddit believes that nuanced, lived experiences are irreplaceable. A recent survey showed that 80% of users trust human responses over AI-generated ones for complex questions.

“To focus on the areas that matter most, we are deprioritising a few initiatives, including our work on the user economy. It’s still an opportunity we believe in, but we’re concentrating our resources on the areas that will drive results for our most pressing needs: improving the core product, making Reddit a go-to search engine, and expanding internationally,” said Huffman.

Reddit’s financial earnings

Reddit’s Q2 revenue hit $500 million, up 78% year-over-year, with a net income of $89 million and a gross margin of 90.8%. Advertising revenue alone soared to $465 million, driven by new AI-enhanced ad formats like Conversation Summary Add-ons, which boost clickthrough rates by 10%.

With Q3 revenue projected between $535 million and $545 million, Reddit is doubling down on search, deprioritizing other initiatives like its user economy to focus on core product improvements and international growth.


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