Google takes AI Mode ads international and adds multi-turn ads in the US

On Alphabet’s third-quarter call, Google said it is expanding ads in AI Mode into international markets and rolling out multi-turn ads in AI Mode in the US, its first global push of AI search monetization. Alphabet posted $127.6 billion in revenue, up 25%, but TechCrunch reports Search growth slowed to 12% from 17% the prior quarter and 19% before, and shares fell 8% after results; Ars later put the drop near 12% and described the 12% figure as search volume growth with search revenue flat (Ars on AI search economics). Google Services brought in $96.3 billion, up 11%, while Cloud rose 103% to $30.7 billion. The expansion builds on Gemini-powered formats introduced in May, including conversational discovery ads and sponsored recommendations in AI answers.

The company that taught the internet to pay for blue links now needs advertisers to pay for placement inside a conversation, and a sponsored answer sits much closer to advice than a sponsored link. When an assistant answers a multi-turn question about what to buy, the line between recommendation and advertisement thins. Click-through parity could mean genuinely useful ads, or users who can’t tell them apart; Google’s numbers don’t settle which. Labeling is the whole ballgame, especially with Google tying connected Gmail and Photos data to targeting (ad targeting) and moving travel search toward transactions (travel booking).

Slowing search growth and a falling stock are exactly when ad load creeps up. Useful AI search deserves the benefit of the doubt, but whether answers stay answers as revenue targets climb is the thing to watch, along with European regulatory attention to sponsored recommendations. More commercial value captured inside Google’s answers is value that may not flow to publishers as clicks. More in our Google coverage, marketing coverage and business coverage.