Six takeaways for advertisers from Alphabet’s Q3 2026 earnings call (October 28, 2026), and what we’d do about them.
Google’s latest earnings call had a number that matters for every search advertiser: queries are growing at their fastest year-over-year rate in five years. Search revenue grew too, but more slowly. Search and other advertising revenue rose 12% to $63.4 billion in Q3, down from 17% growth in Q2.
Google named several reasons for the gap: currency, softer retail spend from Asia-Pacific advertisers, and a tough comparison after the World Cup lifted Q2. It also named one that matters more for the long run. AI Mode queries are growing fast, and Google said AI Mode monetizes at a lower rate, though it didn’t say compared with what, or by how much.
That tells you where Google’s product roadmap is heading next: more ads, and more ad formats, inside AI Mode. Here’s what we took from the call.
1. Searches are getting longer and less typed
Sundar Pichai said AI Mode queries are on average three times longer than traditional searches, and one in five AI Mode searches now uses voice, an image or a document. Google also passed 50 billion visual searches a month across Search. AI Mode itself crossed 1 billion monthly users earlier this year, as reported on the Q2 call in July.
What it means for you. Nobody can write a keyword list that covers a 25-word question with a photo attached. Coverage of these searches will come from broad match, AI Max and Performance Max, and from landing pages that actually answer detailed questions. If your pages only say “Get a quote,” Google has little to match a long, specific question against.
2. Most AI Mode searches are new demand
Philipp Schindler, Google’s Chief Business Officer, said that “the majority of AI Mode queries are incremental.” Many are upper-funnel: people researching and comparing, not yet ready to buy.
What it means for you. AI Mode isn’t mainly stealing clicks from your existing search campaigns. It’s a new place to reach people earlier in the decision. That changes how to judge it. Last-click reporting will undercount it, so look at assisted conversions, new-customer rates and branded search lift alongside cost per lead.
3. Ads in AI Mode are going global
Google announced that ads in AI Mode are expanding to international markets, the first time its AI Mode ads have gone beyond the U.S. It’s also adding multi-turn ads in the U.S., which can appear as a conversation continues, not just on the first question. Google said its user research shows people are comfortable with ads in these spaces and find them relevant.
What it means for you. New ad inventory is opening up, and early on it tends to be less crowded. You don’t buy AI Mode as a separate placement. Eligibility comes through AI Max for Search, Performance Max and Shopping. If you’ve held off on those, this is the reason to test them.
4. Sponsored product listings already perform like organic ones
According to Schindler, click-through rates on sponsored product listings in AI Mode are already similar to organic product listings.
What it means for you. In AI Mode, a shopping ad looks and performs like a recommendation. That makes your product feed the ad. Clear titles, complete attributes (size, material, use case), current prices and good images decide whether you show up and get chosen. A thin feed is now a media problem, not just a merchandising one.
5. Google is giving advertisers better ways to test AI Max
AI Max and Performance Max continued to see strong adoption, Google said. New this quarter: you can test different budgets and ROI targets across several search campaigns in a single AI Max A/B test. Google also said Gemini helped advertisers create more than 1.5 billion campaign assets in Q3, more than seven times the figure a year earlier. One example from the call: Telstra used AI Max to capture long and multilingual searches and saw conversions rise 52% while cost per order fell 36%.
What it means for you. The main objection to AI Max has been “we can’t tell what it’s doing.” A structured test across campaigns is a cleaner way to answer that than switching it on and hoping. Run it with a clear hypothesis, a fixed date range and a holdout.
6. Checkout is moving into Google
Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol now supports direct checkout for hundreds of thousands of brands across Google, including Chewy, Nike and Tapestry. It also launched Universal Cart this quarter, which lets retailers keep their customer relationships while making sales through Google. Pichai described AI agents that book, fill in forms and buy on people’s behalf as an expansion opportunity for Search, and Schindler said Google sees agentic experiences as clearly additive for advertising.
What it means for you. For ecommerce brands, the path from search to purchase is getting shorter, and some of it will happen without a visit to your site. Make sure your Merchant Center data, shipping and return policies, and inventory are accurate and complete. That’s what an agent will read.
What we’d do this quarter
- Read your search terms report for long queries. Filter for searches of eight words or more. That’s an early view of the AI-era questions your customers are already asking.
- Test AI Max with a holdout. Use the new multi-campaign A/B test and set the success metric before launch.
- Fix the product feed. Fill missing attributes, rewrite vague titles and check image quality. For retailers, this is the highest-return task on the list.
- Give landing pages real answers. Add FAQs, comparisons and specifics that a long, detailed question can match against.
- Set a measurement baseline now. Record current CPL, ROAS and new-customer rate by campaign, so you can see what changes as AI Mode ads roll out in your market.
The bottom line
Google has told investors two things at once: AI Mode is bringing in new searches, and those searches don’t pay as well yet. The company’s answer is to put more ads, in more formats and more countries, inside AI Mode. Advertisers who clean up their feeds, landing pages and measurement now will be ready when that inventory reaches them.
If you’d like a second opinion on how your account is set up for AI Mode, we’re happy to take a look.
Sources: Alphabet Q3 2026 earnings call, October 28, 2026 (transcript at abc.xyz); Alphabet Q2 2026 earnings call, July 22, 2026 (Google blog).