Google Expands AI Advertising as Reddit Reports Traffic Loss

Google is expanding advertising within its AI Mode and AI Overviews to counteract a slowdown in search revenue growth. During Alphabet's Q3 2026 earnings call, Senior VP Philipp Schindler announced the launch of multi-turn ads in the United States and the expansion of AI Mode monetization to international markets.

Company leadership reported that the Gemini App has reached one billion users and that AI Mode queries are three times longer than traditional searches. However, the shift toward AI-generated answers has led to significant traffic losses for external websites.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman criticized the AI Mode, reporting that search referrals to Reddit fell by more than one million per week in October. Huffman stated that AI-powered features push conventional links down and fail to drive meaningful traffic to websites. In response, Reddit is testing a primarily logged-in experience in select international markets to strengthen direct user relationships and reduce reliance on organic search discovery.