Google’s third-quarter earnings call reports its strongest year-over-year query growth in five years, explaining that AI Mode is creating additional searches. Google additionally laid out its scheme to additional passage distant from traditional Search toward a additional agentic, task-driven experience.
Strongest Query Growth In Five Years
The Q3 earnings call highlighted powerful hunt query growth and the important function AI Mode played in driving it. The business described its year-over-year query growth as its strongest in five years, including additional searches alongside business intent, tying it to double-digit growth in Search promotion revenue.
Yet the earnings call made it apparent that there’s a gap between the query growth and Search promotion revenue: AI Mode is driving additional queries, but those interactions create small promotion revenue.
The takeaway:
Google is reporting the strongest hunt query growth in five years but the web ecosystem is seeing the lowest levels of referrals from Google. The earnings call confirms what hunt marketers and location owners already cognize and the fact that query growth is at all period highs volition no doubt sting.
Sundar Pichai crowed:
“Search has powerful momentum. Our AI investments are driving risen use and general query growth, including business queries. In fact, our year‑over‑year query growth charge is the highest it’s been in the final five years.
…Let’s rotate to Search, which is bringing the benefits of AI to additional group than any another merchandise in the world. Just akin our change to mobile complete a decade ago, we are focused on
building the finest Search person experience, followed by monetization.”
Philipp Schindler, SVP and CBO, at Google boasted of growth, including alongside AI Mode, but additionally explained that prosperity toggle rates (foreign toggle aka FX) was the logic for a slowdown in promotion growth. He additionally conceded AI Mode was monetizing at a lesser rate.
Schindler explained
“In Q3, Search grew 12% year‑over‑year to $63 billion, and whenever you appearance at the alter in growth charge from Q2 to Q3, there were a few drivers here.”
First, there was FX. It was the sole largest controller of Search deceleration related to Q2.
…it’s value noting that the powerful growth in AI Mode queries had an effect since of the lesser monetization we were seeing in AI Mode. To be clear, we awareness extremely fine concerning our trajectory here. Our ad experiments have shown promising results and we’re now scaling ads inside the two AI Overviews and AI Mode to additional users and additional queries; including, as I mentioned, global markets and multiturn ads in the U.S.”
Anat Ashkenazi, SVP and CFO, Alphabet and Google additionally boasted concerning elevated query growth:
“We’re in a distinctive stance to be capable to monetize our AI investments throughout many products that attain billions of users and enterprises. Our AI investments in Search are driving our highest query growth in fractional a decade.”
Google Is Transforming Search To A Task-Completion Engine
Another hunt trend that was called out was the transformation of Search into a task-based experience. CEO Sundar Pichai described AI agents as a new phase in Search’s evolution, enabling Google to fulfill needs that were earlier not imaginable alongside traditional Search.
The agentic transformation of Search is item that volition be connected throughout Search, Gemini, Chrome, Android, and Workspace. Pichai viewed this passage as an chance to develop what Search can do but unfortunately he stated nothing concerning what consequence this transformation may have on the web ecosystem.
Pichai explained how Search is transforming:
“One area I’m enthusiastic concerning is assisting group get things done, be it booking reservations, filling in forms, scheduling appointments, or making purchases. …People already put their rely in Google to get things done in their regular lives; and our guidance current remains an crucial differentiator.
…As a next step, we’re bringing these features to Search. And also, of course, to our milliard users on the Gemini app. People are already using the Gemini app to do additional than ask questions; they’re using it to do things, including complex, multi‑step agentic queries. Our Gemini 4 sequence has been a really big stage onward current and has already been handling these complex tasks really well.”
See also: Google Reveals How AI Search Is Reshaping What Users Query
AI Agents Are The Unifying Layer
Pichai additionally returned to the theme of AI agents as a “unifying layer” throughout all of their products.
He explained:
“Agents volition run as a unifying tier throughout our products, so you’ll see us broaden these agentic experiences beyond Search and the Gemini app to Chrome, Android and our Workspace products as well.
…just akin a few years ago, being capable to merge AI conversation use cases in Search allowed group to ask additional and do additional in Search, which is what is playing out in our usage.
I think agents would, again, be an chance to develop the types of problems we resolve for our users.
I think group continually underestimate all the components you need to provision these complex experiences for users. And Search on the exterior looks simple, but there’s bonzer profound levels of funding and things we have built complete time, akin Knowledge Graph being an example.
And so our understanding of the world, et cetera.
So, I think I’m enthusiastic concerning agents, and I would perspective it as a new frontier, which brings in a new set of use cases to Search, and so we are enthusiastic to activity through that.”
Google’s Q3 earnings call makes it apparent that traditional Search is increasingly going distant in favor of of a additional task-based orientation. SEOs conversation concerning Answer Engine Optimization but Google’s not curious in providing answers. The forthcoming of Search is concerning assisting users complete tasks, alongside Search being the starting item and another Google merchandise at the another end.
Google aims to use AI agents throughout its products to provision group additional reasons to remain inside Google’s ecosystem. That’s beautiful bad news for SEOs and location owners since there is nothing in that circumstance that speaks toward sending additional referrals to the open web.
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Mistry Harsh
