TL;DR
- Alphabet reported on 28 October 2026 that Google Search & other revenue rose 12% to $63.35 billion in Q3 2026, against $63.27 billion in Q2, so it was nearly flat quarter on quarter.
- Search & other growth slowed from 19% in Q1 and 17% in Q2 to 12% in Q3; total Google advertising rose about 10.6% to $82.01 billion, by RA's calculation.
- CBO Philipp Schindler named currency, APAC retail hit by the EU's de minimis change, and post-World Cup media spend, then said lower AI Mode monetization also weighed, per Search Engine Journal.
- Sundar Pichai said Search query growth was the highest in five years; Google gave no AI Mode revenue, CPC or ad-load figure and no Thailand split.
- APAC revenue across Alphabet rose 12% as reported and 15% in constant currency to $19.91 billion.
Alphabet reported on 28 October 2026 that Google Search & other revenue rose 12% year over year to $63.35 billion in the third quarter, which ended on 30 September, up from $56.57 billion a year earlier. Against the second quarter's $63.27 billion, though, Search revenue was almost flat, up about $79 million. On the earnings call, Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler named lower monetization in AI Mode as one of the reasons Search revenue grew more slowly than Search queries, according to Search Engine Journal's report of the call. The figures below come from Alphabet's Q3 2026 earnings release.
The Q3 2026 numbers that matter to advertisers
Alphabet's release gives revenue by line in millions of US dollars. The table compares the quarter ended 30 September 2026 with the same quarter of 2025. Alphabet stated the percentage change for Search, Google Services, Cloud and total revenue; the other percentages are calculated by RA from the release figures and rounded.
| Revenue line | Q3 2025 | Q3 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search & other | $56,567m | $63,350m | +12% |
| YouTube ads | $10,261m | $11,207m | +9% |
| Google Network | $7,354m | $7,455m | +1% |
| Google advertising (total) | $74,182m | $82,012m | +10.6% |
| Total traffic acquisition costs (TAC) | $14,876m | $16,366m | +10% |
| Google Cloud | $15,157m | $30,709m | +103% |
| Alphabet total revenue | $102,346m | $127,577m | +25% |
Google Services revenue, which includes the advertising lines plus subscriptions, platforms and devices, rose 11% to $96.3 billion. Alphabet's operating income rose 30% to $40.6 billion, with an operating margin of 31.8%. Net income available to common stockholders was $26.2 billion, down from $35.0 billion a year earlier, and diluted earnings per share were $2.12 against $2.87. The release shows other income and expense swinging from a $12.8 billion gain in Q3 2025 to an $8.2 billion loss in Q3 2026.
Search Engine Roundtable reported that Alphabet shares were down 7% in after-hours trading immediately after the release was posted, and in a later update said the decline had passed 11%.
Search growth has slowed for two quarters running
Alphabet's own releases for the first three quarters of 2026 show the year-over-year growth rate of Google Search & other falling each quarter. RA covered the second-quarter results on 23 July 2026, when Search brought in roughly $63.3 billion.
| Quarter | Search & other revenue | Year-over-year growth |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | $60,399m | +19% |
| Q2 2026 | $63,271m | +17% |
| Q3 2026 | $63,350m | +12% |
Quarter on quarter, by RA's calculation, Search & other rose about 0.1%, and total Google advertising rose about 0.5%, from $81.63 billion in Q2 to $82.01 billion in Q3. YouTube ads rose from $11.06 billion to $11.21 billion over the same three months.
Why Google said Search growth slowed
Alphabet had not posted a transcript of the 28 October call on its investor relations site when this was written on 29 October 2026; the event page carried only the webcast. Google did post an edited transcript of Pichai's own remarks on its Keyword blog. The account of Schindler's and Ashkenazi's remarks below comes from Search Engine Journal's report by Matt Southern.
Schindler gave three reasons for the slowdown against Q2:
- Currency movements, which he described as the biggest factor.
- Retail, where some Asia-Pacific advertisers were affected by the European Union ending its de minimis exemption for low-value imports.
- Media and entertainment, where spending normalised after a strong Q2 that included the FIFA World Cup.
When J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth asked about the gap between query growth and Search revenue growth, Schindler went through the same three factors and then said strong query growth in AI Mode had weighed on Search revenue growth because monetization in AI Mode is lower. Search Engine Journal noted that he did not say what AI Mode monetization was lower than, or how much revenue the effect cost.
Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi said currency was a small headwind to year-over-year growth and a larger one to quarter-over-quarter growth. She also pointed to a tougher comparison, because Search growth had kept accelerating through the second half of 2025. For Q4, she said that at current spot rates Google expects a slightly larger currency headwind, mainly in Search and YouTube ads.
The release's geographic table, which covers all Alphabet revenue rather than advertising alone, is consistent with the currency explanation for Asia-Pacific. APAC revenue rose 12% as reported, to $19.91 billion, but 15% in constant currency, a three-point foreign-exchange drag. Against Q2, APAC revenue grew 3%.
What Google said about AI Mode monetization
CEO Sundar Pichai's statement in the release says Google's AI investments are driving overall Search query growth, including commercial queries, and that the year-over-year query growth rate is "the highest it's been in the last five years". The release itself repeats the point in its summary bullets.
In the edited transcript of his call remarks that Google published, Pichai said: "Just like our shift to mobile over a decade ago, we are focused on building the best Search user experience, followed by monetization." In his prepared remarks, according to Search Engine Journal, Schindler said many of the new questions people ask in AI-powered Search are upper-funnel, and that most AI Mode queries are incremental, which he said creates more monetization opportunities over time.
The same day, Google announced that ads in AI Mode are scaling to ten more countries, including Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, and that multiturn ads on follow-up questions are launching in the US. RA covers that rollout in a separate post. Read together, the two announcements say the same thing from two sides: Google told investors AI Mode monetizes at a lower rate today, and on the same day it widened the markets and the conversation turns where AI Mode can carry ads.
Reading the numbers: RA's analysis
The points in this section are RA's interpretation of the published figures and the reported call remarks. Google did not make them.
- Query growth at a five-year high alongside flat Search revenue quarter on quarter is the combination Schindler was asked about. His answer puts part of the gap on lower AI Mode monetization, but without a figure there is no way to size it against currency, retail or the World Cup comparison.
- TAC grew about 10%, in line with advertising revenue. It stayed at about 20% of Google advertising revenue in both Q3 2025 and Q3 2026.
- Google Network, which is ad revenue from third-party sites and apps, grew about 1%, against 12% for Search and 9% for YouTube ads. The money is still concentrated on Google's own properties.
- Purchases of property and equipment were $51.4 billion in the quarter, against $24.0 billion a year earlier, and Alphabet's free cash flow for the quarter was negative $9.1 billion. The release does not itemise that spending. RA's reading is that its scale helps explain why Google is pressing to make AI Mode pay.
What this means for Thai marketers
Alphabet does not break out Thailand. The nearest figure is the APAC region, and the release's APAC number covers all Alphabet revenue, not only ads. Nothing in the release or the reported call remarks says anything about Thai advertisers, Thai CPCs or a Thai rollout of AI Mode ads.
Three points do bear on planning in Thailand:
- Google has now said publicly that AI Mode monetizes at a lower rate, and the same day it expanded AI Mode ads to more markets and more conversation turns. Thailand is not in the new list, but advertisers who also target Malaysia, Singapore or the Philippines in English are already in it.
- Schindler named some Asia-Pacific retail advertisers as affected by the EU's removal of the de minimis exemption for low-value imports. Thai exporters selling low-value goods into the EU may recognise that pressure in their own figures; Google did not name countries.
- Platform growth and account growth are different things. A 12% rise in Google's Search revenue says nothing about whether a given Thai account's cost per lead went up or down. Annual budget plans for 2027 should be built from each account's own auction data.
For advertisers who want their Search and Performance Max structure ready for wider AI Mode ad inventory, Relevant Audience's Google Ads management service covers match types, search term review and bidding. How AI answers present a brand on the organic side is the work of RA's generative engine optimisation (GEO) service.
What Alphabet did not disclose
- No AI Mode revenue, ad load, click-through rate or CPC figure, and no measure of how much lower AI Mode monetization is or what it is being compared with.
- No revenue split for Thailand or any single Asia-Pacific country. The release gives four regions: United States, EMEA, APAC and Other Americas.
- No full call transcript on Alphabet's investor site as of 29 October 2026, only the webcast. Pichai's quote comes from Google's edited transcript of his remarks; Schindler's and Ashkenazi's remarks come from Search Engine Journal's report.
- No figure for clicks from AI features to websites. Search Engine Journal noted that Pichai gave one in Q2 but that the Q3 remarks and call did not.
- No numeric revenue guidance for Q4, only Ashkenazi's qualitative comments on currency and on lapping the 2025 acceleration.
How this compares with RA's earlier earnings coverage
RA covered Alphabet's Q3 2025 results on 30 October 2025, when the story was AI features expanding Search usage, and the Q2 2026 results on 23 July 2026, when Google advertising grew about 14.4% to $81.6 billion by RA's calculation from the Q2 release. What is new this quarter is that Google's own executives linked AI Mode to weaker Search monetization, while Search & other growth fell to 12% from 17% the quarter before.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Google Search revenue grow in Q3 2026?
Google Search & other revenue grew 12% year over year to $63.35 billion in the quarter ended 30 September 2026, according to Alphabet's release of 28 October 2026. Against Q2 2026's $63.27 billion it was nearly flat.
Did Google say AI Mode earns less than regular Search?
Google said lower monetization in AI Mode weighed on Search revenue growth, but did not say what it is lower than. Search Engine Journal reports that Philipp Schindler said this on the 28 October call after naming currency, retail and media as the main factors, and gave no figure.
Does Alphabet report revenue for Thailand?
No. The release reports four regions, and Asia-Pacific revenue across all of Alphabet rose 12% as reported, or 15% in constant currency, to $19.91 billion in Q3 2026.
Will this change Google Ads costs in Thailand?
Not stated by the source. Alphabet gave no country-level ad pricing data, and AI Mode ads are not live in Thailand according to Google's market list of 28 October 2026.
Alphabet's Q3 results show Search still growing year over year but stalling quarter on quarter, with Google naming AI Mode's lower monetization as one cause and moving the same day to put more ads into AI Mode. For a review of how your Google Ads account is set up for that shift, Relevant Audience's team can help.
