Alphabet Expands AI Search Ads Globally as Search Revenue Growth Slows to 12%

Google will extend advertising within its AI-powered Search features to international markets, the company said Wednesday during Alphabet's third-quarter earnings call, as its core search ad growth decelerated. Alphabet shares fell 8% after the results. Search advertising revenue rose 12% year over year in the third quarter, down from 17% in the second quarter and 19% in the first. Alphabet reported total revenue of $127.6 billion, up 25%. Google Services generated $96.3 billion, up 11%, while Google Cloud revenue surged 103% to $30.7 billion. Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler said Google is scaling ads within AI Overviews and AI Mode to more users and queries, including a first-time global monetization footprint, alongside multi-turn ads and AI Mode in the U.S. He said click-through rates for sponsored product listings in AI Mode are comparable to organic listings. CEO Sundar Pichai said Search queries grew at their fastest rate in five years and that AI Mode queries average three times the length of traditional searches.