Google is taking ads in AI Mode global. The company announced on Wednesday that ads inside its AI-powered Search will expand to international markets, even as growth in its core search advertising business slows.
The news came during Alphabet’s third-quarter earnings call, where the company reported $127.6 billion in revenue, up 25% from a year earlier. Alphabet shares fell about 8% after the results.
Ads in AI Mode Go International
Philipp Schindler, Google’s chief business officer, said the company is scaling ads within AI Overviews and AI Mode to more users and queries. He called this the first time Google’s monetization footprint goes global for AI Search.
Google is also bringing multi-turn ads and AI Mode ads in the U.S. This builds on Gemini-powered ad formats announced in May, including conversational discovery ads and sponsored recommendations inside AI answers.
Early Results
Schindler said click-through rates for sponsored product listings in AI Mode are already comparable to organic listings. Google’s own user research also suggests people find the ads relevant. These are company claims, and no outside data was shared.
Why Google Search Growth Matters
Search revenue grew 12% year over year, down from 17% in the second quarter and 19% in the first. That steady slowdown adds pressure to turn AI features into a real source of ad money.
| Quarter | Search revenue growth |
|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | 19% |
| Q2 2026 | 17% |
| Q3 2026 | 12% |
How People Use AI Mode
CEO Sundar Pichai said Search queries grew at their fastest yearly rate in five years, though he did not give the number. He credited AI features for longer and more complex questions.
- Queries in AI Mode are about three times longer than traditional searches
- One in five AI Mode searches globally uses voice, images or documents
- Google has passed 50 billion visual searches per month
The Rest of the Quarter
Google Services, which includes Search, earned $96.3 billion, up 11%. Google Cloud revenue jumped 103% to $30.7 billion. The quarter also included the launch of Gemini 4 Argon, the Gemini app reaching one billion monthly users and the Pixel 11 lineup.
What Advertisers Should Watch
Google also pointed to multi-turn ads, which can follow a conversation as a person keeps refining a question in AI Mode. That gives brands more than one chance to appear in a single search session.
The bigger question is whether shoppers trust a sponsored suggestion that sits inside an AI answer. Google says early signals are positive, but independent results will take time to appear. For now, the company is treating the global rollout as a test of how far AI search can carry its ad business.
What This Means for You
If you use Google Search outside the U.S., expect to see more sponsored results inside AI answers soon. Ads are likely to look more like recommendations, so it helps to check whether a result is labeled as sponsored.
If you run a business, AI Mode ads could be a new way to reach shoppers who ask long, detailed questions. Our list of marketing AI tools is a good place to start planning.
- Look for the sponsored label before clicking an AI answer
- Test AI Mode ads in small budgets first
- Watch whether search growth keeps slowing next quarter
You may also like our report on Gmail voice search, another way Google is changing how people look things up, and our AI news hub.
Sources
Reporting from TechCrunch.
Conclusion
Google is betting that ads in AI Mode can replace some of the growth it is losing in classic search, and it is now taking that bet worldwide. The next few quarters will show whether people click AI ads as readily as Google says they do.
