Reddit is shifting to a primarily logged-in experience, aiming to build direct user relationships and protect its data from AI scraping. This move, while a significant change for a company that championed the open web, aligns with most other major consumer internet platforms. CEO Steve Huffman stated the change will improve user experience, bolster the ads business, and prevent data scraping. COO Jen Wong emphasized that this doesn't alter their core mission but rather reflects the platform's focus as a direct destination. Logged-in users offer better ad targeting and engagement, which accounts for over 80% of current monetization. The company will initially test this shift outside the U.S., allowing tailored content and recommended communities for logged-in users. However, the homepage and linked content will remain accessible to logged-out visitors, while participation features require logging in. Reddit will not demand real names, and an incognito mode will be available for read-only browsing. This change is expected to significantly boost their performance advertising revenue, which is already rapidly growing. Despite resistance to the open internet, the scale of Reddit now necessitates personalization and data protection. The shift coincides with Reddit's Q3 earnings, showing strong ad business growth while missing U.S. user growth due to search traffic declines. Reddit believes its vast human data—over 27 billion posts and comments—will be invaluable in the AI era. They will continue licensing content to third parties, noting a substantial increase in non-advertising revenue from data licensing. This strategic shift is intended to enhance the core Reddit experience, fostering intentional communities and content interaction.