# Google Expands AI Search Ads Globally Amid Core Revenue Deceleration Alphabet scales AI-powered advertising formats internationally to offset slowing growth in traditional search revenue streams. - **Source:** [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com) - **Published:** 2026-10-28 - **Topic:** [Marketing](https://brifing.si/c/marketing) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/8960af2f-02db-4017-ac51-6a04c336eaf7 ## Global AI Ad Expansion Google is scaling its AI-powered search ads to international markets for the first time. This strategic shift aims to capture new revenue opportunities as growth in the company's core search advertising business continues to decelerate. Executives confirmed this expansion during the third-quarter earnings call, signaling a major pivot toward monetizing generative AI. ## Financial Performance Context Alphabet reported $127.6 billion in total revenue, marking a 25% year-over-year increase. Despite this, Google Search revenue growth slowed to 12% in the third quarter, down from 17% in the second and 19% in the first. Following these results, Alphabet shares fell 8%, highlighting investor concerns regarding the sustainability of traditional search. ## Monetizing AI Overviews Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler announced that Google is scaling high-quality ads within AI overviews to more users and queries. The company is introducing multi-turn ads alongside the global rollout. Early internal data suggests these formats are effective, with click-through rates for sponsored product listings in AI mode now comparable to organic results. ## Evolving Search Behaviors CEO Sundar Pichai noted that search queries grew at their fastest rate in five years. AI integration is fundamentally changing user behavior, leading to longer and more complex prompts. Queries in AI mode are now three times longer than traditional searches, with one in five searches involving voice, images, or documents globally. ## Multimodal Search Dominance Google has surpassed 50 billion visual searches per month, underscoring the shift toward multimodal interaction. These personalized, complex queries represent a new frontier for ad placement. By integrating sponsored recommendations directly into AI-generated answers, Google aims to maintain its dominance while adapting to the way users engage with modern generative AI features. ## Divisional Revenue Breakdown The Google Services division, which encompasses the core search business, generated $96.3 billion in revenue, reflecting an 11% year-over-year increase. Meanwhile, Google Cloud experienced significant momentum, with revenue surging 103% to reach $30.7 billion. This contrast highlights the company's reliance on diversifying its income beyond traditional search advertising models during this period. ## Recent Ecosystem Developments The expansion follows a busy quarter for the company, including the release of Gemini 4 Argon and the growth of the Gemini app to 1 billion monthly users. Additionally, the launch of the Pixel 11 lineup has contributed to the broader hardware and software ecosystem, further embedding AI capabilities into the user experience. ## Strategic Revenue Imperative The pressure to monetize AI features is now a primary focus for Alphabet's leadership. As search habits shift toward conversational and multimodal formats, the company must successfully transition its ad inventory to these new interfaces. The success of this global rollout will be critical in offsetting the ongoing deceleration of legacy search revenue. ## Sources covering this story - https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/28/google-expands-ai-search-ads-globally-as-core-ad-growth-slows/ — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._