If you try to browse Reddit on your phone’s web browser, you might hit a wall. The site recently began testing a strict block for mobile web visitors, showing an unskippable pop-up that tells people to get the official app if they want to keep reading. While Reddit claims this change helps give users a better setup and helps them find communities easily, the move is creating plenty of frustration among readers who prefer not to install a dedicated application.
The block stops frequent web visitors as the company wants them to switch to the app
A Reddit spokesperson told Ars Technica that the pop-up is currently just a test aimed at people who visit the site often without logging in. The pop-up explicitly states that visitors must get the app to keep using the platform. The company argues that the app creates a better setup where it can match visitors with specific interests.
However, this shift looks a lot like a push for better tracking and higher ad revenue. Reddit went public on the stock exchange two years ago and has struggled to turn a consistent profit despite hosting 121 million daily active users. Since its main source of cash comes from advertising, pushing people to the app makes financial sense. The app allows it to track user activity much easier than a mobile browser does.
Critics have been quick to point out the downside. Writer Victor Tangermann from Futurism described the aggressive prompt as another sign of “enshittification,” a term used when tech platforms intentionally make their services worse just to maximize profits. Users are already posting in help forums to complain about losing their ability to browse anonymously.
Past rule changes show a pattern of squeezing user choices
This recent test is not the first time the company has angered its community. Back in 2023, it removed the option for users to turn off personalized ads. Later that same year, it started charging high fees for developers to access its programming interface, a move that killed off several beloved third-party clients like Apollo and forced everyone back into the official ecosystem.
On top of closing off access, Reddit is actively finding new ways to monetize the text people write. In 2024, it signed a controversial deal allowing OpenAI to train artificial intelligence models on user posts. It is also currently locked in legal battles with AI companies Anthropic and Perplexity over alleged unlawful use of its data.
At the moment, Reddit is walking a very fine line. According to the Financial Times, over half of the USA visits the site weekly, but the vast majority of those clicks come from casual Google searches.
It has to keep investors happy by pulling in more ad dollars, but pushing away the people who actually read and contribute to the threads is a risky game. If the site becomes too problematic to browse, people might just stop clicking those search links altogether.
