Third-Party Data Shows Decrease in Reddit’s Daily Traffic During Blackout

Earlier this week, over 8,000 subreddits went dark for 48 hours to protest Reddit’s upcoming API changes. The protest seemed to have an immediate impact on the platform, as Reddit experienced a “major outage” affecting its desktop and mobile websites, as well as mobile apps on the first day of the protest. CEO Steve Huffman later went on a media campaign, attempting to portray the users and moderators who were upset about the changes as unreasonable. In an interview with The Verge, he suggested that they were only upset because they were used to getting something for free and now they would have to pay.

But beyond those signs, it was hard to tell how much of a practical impact the protest had on website traffic. Now we have a better idea. According to data provided to ReturnByte by Internet analytics firm Likeweb, the impact was small but noticeable. The day before the blackout began, on June 12, Osnoweb recorded more than 57 million daily visits to Reddit between desktop and mobile web clients. By the end of the first day of the demonstration, there were less than 55 million daily visits. Then, on June 13, Similarweb recorded less than 52 million daily hits on Reddit. Compared to the website’s average daily traffic last month, the 52,121,649 visits seen on Reddit on June 13th represents a 6.6 percent decrease.

During the same period, Samanweb recorded a more dramatic decline in the time Reddit users spent on the platform. The day before the protest began, the average session on the website was about eight minutes and 31 seconds long. A day later, this meter dropped to seven minutes and 17 seconds, the lowest the statistic has been in the last three years. Reddit did not immediately respond to ReturnByte’s request for comment.

Going forward, a temporary drop in daily traffic is unlikely to affect Reddit’s near-term outlook. But with many subreddits still opposed to the company’s plans and its management considering policy changes that could change its relationship with moderators, the platform’s daily active users may slowly but steadily decline. That hardly bodes well for Reddit before and after its planned IPO.