Simon Sharwood / The Register : Google's search revenue rose 12% YoY to $63.25B in Q3 2026, down from 14.5% in Q3 2025, with Google attributing the slowdown to “lower monetization” in AI Mode — That's a problem, cos it just spent $51 billion on infrastructure and still needs to rent compute from others to run its cloud
Google's search revenue rose 12% YoY to $63.25B in Q3 2026, down from 14.5% in Q3 2025, with Google attributing the slowdown to "lower monetization" in AI Mode (Simon Sharwood/The Register)
In short
Google reported a deceleration in third-quarter revenue growth as its AI Mode generated lower monetization rates than traditional query formats. At the same time, the company is managing immense computing overhead to sustain its expanding technological footprint. Recent expenditures included $51 billion spent directly on infrastructure, yet the business still relies on rented third-party capacity to keep its cloud services running.
Key points
- Monetization challenges within AI Mode are actively dragging down Google's overall search…: Monetization challenges within AI Mode are actively dragging down Google's overall search revenue growth rate.
- Massive infrastructure spending has not yet eliminated Google's need to rent outside comp…: Massive infrastructure spending has not yet eliminated Google's need to rent outside computing capacity for cloud services.
- The company must balance slowing revenue momentum against the rising capital costs requir…: The company must balance slowing revenue momentum against the rising capital costs required to run advanced systems.