People are finally using Reddit’s search

After being harried by complaints that its search function needed improving, Reddit has in the last few years invested in its search engine, and has even added AI features to help its users find what they’re looking for. It appears that investment is finally paying off: The company has seen a 30% year-on-year jump in the number of people using search every week, CEO Steve Huffman said on Thursday. Huffman noted that search has been one of the major drivers of user acquisition and retention for the platform. “On search, we have seen great performance. Search DAUs, WAUs, and queries are up meaningfully year-over-year. It’s a great driver of retention and DAUs. The search team is, quite frankly, I think doing a great job. If you use Reddit Answers, you can see it is better integrated into the product,” he said on the company’s first quarter post-results conference call. Earlier in February, the platform started testing product placement through AI search results in the U.S . Huffman said that around 40% of conversations on Reddit are commercial in nature, and 84% shoppers feel more confident in their buying decisions after researching on Reddit. The social platform ended the quarter with more than 493 million weekly active unique users , up 23% from the same period last year, and about 126 million daily active unique users , a 17% improvement from a year earlier. Reddit reported a 7% improvement in U.S. visitors, reaching 53.5 million DAUqs, and 73.3 million DAUqs internationally, a 26% increase. The company said it plans to reach a billion daily users worldwide and 100 million daily users in the U.S. Techcrunch event Meet your next investor or portfolio startup at Disrupt Your next round. Your next hire. Your next breakout opportunity. Find it at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, where 10,000+ founders, investors, and tech leaders gather for three days of 250+ tactical sessions, powerful introductions, and market-defining innovation. Register now to save up to $410. Meet your ...