Google takes ads in AI Mode global as Search growth slows to 12%

Google is bringing ads in its AI-powered Search experiences to international markets for the first time, TechCrunch reported from Alphabet’s third-quarter earnings call, as Google Search revenue growth slowed to 12%.

We found no Google blog post or press release on the ad expansion, so the details below rest on TechCrunch’s account of the call and on other outlets’ coverage. None of it is confirmed by a primary document we have read.

Ads in AI Mode leave the US

According to TechCrunch, Philipp Schindler, Google’s chief business officer, told investors the company is scaling ads inside AI Overviews and AI Mode to more users and queries. He described the step as “taking our monetization footprint global for the first time.” The announcement covers ads in AI Mode in international markets, alongside multi-turn ads and AI Mode in the US.

The report does not say which countries or languages are included, when the ads start, or what advertisers will pay. Schindler also gave an early signal: sponsored product listings in AI Mode are drawing clicks at a rate similar to organic listings, he said, and Google’s user research suggests people find the ads relevant. Both are Google’s own claims, and no underlying data was shared.

TechCrunch notes the formats build on Gemini-powered ads Google announced in May, including conversational discovery ads and sponsored recommendations placed inside AI-generated answers.

Slowing Search growth explains the push

Alphabet reported revenue of $127.6 billion, up 25% year over year. Google Services, which includes Search, brought in $96.3 billion, up 11%, and Google Cloud revenue rose 103% to $30.7 billion. Search growth has slowed every quarter this year, from 19% to 17% to 12%. TechCrunch says Alphabet shares fell 8% after the results; the Financial Times headlined a 7% drop, so the exact figure depends on the outlet and the trading session.

Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, argued that AI is changing how people search, with queries that are “longer, personalized, and multimodal.” He said Search queries grew at their fastest year-over-year pace in five years, without giving the rate. AI Mode queries run about three times longer than traditional ones, he said, and a fifth of them worldwide use voice, images or documents. Google has also passed 50 billion visual searches a month.

What the call leaves unanswered

The first gap is scale. Neither Google nor TechCrunch says how much revenue AI Mode ads generate or how they compare per query with classic search ads. The click comparison covers only sponsored product listings, not every format.

The second is cost. The Information reported that Alphabet’s free cash flow was negative by more than $9 billion in the quarter, its second straight negative quarter, reflecting heavy spending on AI data centers. Cloud is growing on AI demand, and we covered how OpenAI plans to buy Google TPUs as Oracle becomes the first outside seller. Search still has to fund that build-out, which is why ads inside AI answers carry more weight.

The third question is how clearly these ads are labeled and how they affect clicks to the open web. The reports we read do not address it.

For now the practical point is narrow: advertisers outside the US should expect AI Mode ad inventory in their markets, but timing and formats by country have not been published. We will update this story if Google posts details.