Google reported its strongest year-over-year query growth in five years during the third quarter, driven by artificial intelligence features that simultaneously led to less advertising revenue.
The shift highlights Alphabet’s strategic move towards an AI-driven, task-completion search engine, which is boosting user engagement but creating a widening gap between query volume and ad monetization.
CEO Sundar Pichai described the transition of Google Search into a task-completion engine as a “new frontier” for the company, leveraging AI agents across products including Gemini, Chrome, Android, and Workspace.
The company aims to expand Search capabilities beyond information retrieval, enabling users to complete tasks such as booking reservations, filling out forms, and making purchases directly within the search experience.
While AI Mode is generating additional searches, it is also yielding less advertising revenue per query, according to Google executives.
Philipp Schindler, Google’s Chief Business Officer, noted that foreign exchange rates were the single largest factor in the deceleration of Search advertising revenue compared to the second quarter.
The strategic shift to an agentic, task-driven Search experience is expected to negatively impact search engine optimization (SEO) professionals and website owners, as more user needs are fulfilled directly by Google.
Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazi emphasized the company’s commitment to evolving Search, even as it addresses the immediate financial implications of this transformation.
Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, said it anticipates continued investment in AI research and development to support its long-term vision for the search product.
Source: Search Engine Journal
