Reddit’s average daily active uniques (DAUq) increased 12 percent year over year in the third quarter, as the company continues changing how people access its website and mobile apps. CEO Steve Huffman said Reddit wants to become less dependent on search referrals and is prioritizing logged-in users and people who use its apps.
“Logged-in users and app DAUq are our most valuable users and they are our primary focus,” Huffman wrote.
Reddit has been testing mandatory desktop login requirements since at least August, according to one user report and another report.
Reddit expands login and app requirements
The desktop login requirement is one of several changes Reddit has made in recent years to expand its website and mobile-app user base while making user activity easier to track.
Earlier this year, Reddit began testing a requirement for people to use one of its mobile apps to access the mobile website. The company also plans to expand that testing.
“Currently, only about 13% of eligible mobile web users are seeing app conversion prompts, so this has room to grow,” Huffman said.
As of July, Reddit requires users to log in to access Old.Reddit.com. More recently, the company blocked access to Old Reddit for users who had not logged in within the previous six months.
Reddit also effectively shut down most third-party apps in 2024 by making access to its APIs expensive.
Changes could improve advertising and data insights
Reddit says these changes will make it easier to understand who uses the platform and why. The company also says they will help it manage issues such as AI scraping and changing search habits.
The access restrictions could help Reddit measure the effectiveness of its advertising and gain more insight into user activity, potentially making the platform more attractive to advertisers and investors.
Reddit reported third-quarter revenue of $895 million, up 53 percent year over year, and net income of $283 million, up 74 percent year over year.
Advance Publications, which owns Ars Technica’s parent company Condé Nast, is Reddit’s largest shareholder.
Source: arstechnica.com