What happened
Reddit (RDDT) is a community site where users post and comment, and most of its revenue comes from advertising.
Its Q2 2026 quarterly report (10-Q), filed on July 30, contains a section of the MD&A called 'Trends in User Metrics'. That is where the company explains how it counts its users each quarter. The Daily Active Unique part of it ends like this: "Therefore, beginning in the quarter ended September 30, 2026, we will no longer report logged-in and logged-out DAUq."
What goes is the split; what stays is the total. Overall DAUq and DAUq by geography, meaning the United States and the rest of the world, continue to be reported. Overall DAUq was 130.3m in Q2 2026, up 18% from a year earlier. Revenue in the same quarter was $804.9m, up 61%, and revenue per visitor was $6.18, up 36%.
The reason the company had been counting the logged-in figure is in the same section. It has said those users tend to engage more and spend more time on the platform.
What the numbers mean
The table in that section gives eight quarters of growth in two rows. The final column is Q2 2026.
- Total DAUq growth: 47% → 39% → 31% → 21% → 19% → 19% → 17% → 18%
- Logged-in DAUq growth: 27% → 27% → 23% → 17% → 14% → 10% → 7% → 7%
The gap between the rows widened across the eight quarters. In the first column the difference was 20 percentage points and in the last it is 11, but as a ratio the logged-in rate fell from 57% of the total rate to 39%.
The geographic table shows a wider spread. The United States grew 6% in total and 1% logged in; the rest of the world grew 28% in total and 12% logged in. US logged-in growth was also 1% in the preceding quarter.
The row being retired, in other words, is the slowest-growing row in the last table that reports it. From next quarter the two cannot be read side by side.
Why it matters
First, the company itself says where logged-out visitors come from. The 10-Q states that visitors arriving from search engines are generally not logged in and come from both desktop and mobile web, and that monetisation of these users is mainly through conversation pages and feed ads.
Second, counting visitors involves the company's own judgement. Reddit strengthened its process for identifying crawlers and scrapers in the quarter ended December 31, 2023, removes such activity from the date it is identified, and does not restate earlier periods when it assesses the impact as immaterial.
Third, there is the character of the number advertisers and investors see. Revenue per visitor was $6.18, up 36%. How the composition of the denominator shifts will, from next quarter, be visible only in the total.
Company explanation and context
The company gives this reason. As the business has scaled and the product strategy has evolved, its focus has shifted to delivering immediate value for all users and letting them engage with content regardless of whether they are logged in; as a result, management primarily uses total DAUq and DAUq by geography to manage the business and evaluate core operating performance.
That is the stated basis for retiring the metric, quoted as filed, and this article does not assess whether it is sound. Two things are verifiable: the reporting stops with the quarter ending September 30, 2026, and the two growth rates stood as above in the last table before it stops.
Show the arithmetic
| Item | Value | Source | |---|---|---| | Total DAUq growth, eight quarters | 47 / 39 / 31 / 21 / 19 / 19 / 17 / 18 (%) | MD&A growth table | | Logged-in DAUq growth, eight quarters | 27 / 27 / 23 / 17 / 14 / 10 / 7 / 7 (%) | MD&A growth table | | Logged-in ÷ total (first column / last column) | 27 ÷ 47 = 57% / 7 ÷ 18 = 39% | computed | | United States: total / logged in (last two columns) | 7·6 / 1·1 (%) | MD&A geographic table | | Rest of world: total / logged in (last two columns) | 26·28 / 12·12 (%) | MD&A geographic table | | DAUq Q2 2026 / growth | 130.3m / +18% | MD&A Overview | | Revenue / net income Q2 2026 | $804.9m (+61%) / $252.8m | MD&A Overview | | Gross margin / operating expenses Q2 2026 | 91.3% / $502.9m | MD&A Overview | | ARPU Q2 2026 | $6.18 (+36%) | MD&A Overview | | Reporting stops | from the quarter ended September 30, 2026 | MD&A Trends in User Metrics |What to watch
In the Q3 10-Q, for the quarter ending September 30, 2026:
- Whether the logged-in and logged-out split is indeed gone, and how the table is presented instead
- Where total DAUq growth of 18% and US growth of 6% move
- Whether ARPU growth holds from $6.18
- Whether the language on filtering automated traffic changes
- Whether the description of visitors arriving from search engines changes