📉Google Search Revenue Growth Slows From 17% to 12% as AI Overviews Lag

Google's ad machine is getting pricier for advertisers

Google's search revenue growth slowed from 17 percent in Q2 to 12 percent in Q3, and the company is blaming AI. The catch? People are searching more than ever. Year-over-year query growth hit its highest level in five years, but AI Overviews and AI Mode just don't monetize as well as classic search results. If you run paid campaigns on Google Ads, this matters right now. Google is expanding AI Overview ads and adding multiturn ads for AI Mode queries in the US. Some advertisers are already complaining that they're paying more for lower-quality clicks, including clicks on search terms they never agreed to target. Check your search term reports this week. The numbers are worth a close look. Search revenue still grows, just slower. The overall advertising business grew only 10 percent, which is a slowdown for the largest, most mature digital ad business Google has, one that had been posting double-digit growth every quarter. Google isn't breaking out AI's impact in detail, so analysts are reading tea leaves. Watch whether AI-based discovery pulls users toward tools they like better than Search. If that happens, query volume could eventually follow. Bottom line: Google is betting ads inside AI answers will close the gap.