Google AI Mode ads go global as Search growth slows

Google's core search advertising is still growing, but more slowly each quarter. Search revenue rose 12% year over year in the third quarter, down from 17% in the second quarter and 19% in the first, according to TechCrunch. Techmeme, citing a report by The Register's Simon Sharwood, puts Google's search revenue at $63.25 billion for the quarter and notes the company attributed part of the deceleration to "lower monetization" in AI Mode.

That gap is the heart of the story: AI answers keep users on the page and can reduce the clicks that traditional ads depend on. Ads inside AI Mode and AI Overviews are Google's attempt to recapture that monetization without breaking the new search experience.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said Search queries grew at their fastest year-over-year rate in five years, without giving the exact figure. He credited AI features with changing search behavior, noting that queries in AI Mode are three times longer on average than traditional searches, and that one in five AI Mode searches worldwide involves voice, images, or documents. Google also says it now handles more than 50 billion visual searches per month.

"People are using our AI features more, searching in entirely new ways. Their queries are longer, personalized, and multimodal," Pichai told investors. The quarter also brought the release of Gemini 4 Argon, the Gemini app passing 1 billion monthly users, and the launch of the Pixel 11 lineup.

For Google users outside the United States, including in Tunisia, this means sponsored results will start appearing inside AI-generated answers and AI Mode conversations, not only in the classic blue-link list. Expect ads to look more like recommendations written into the answer itself, which makes them harder to tell apart from organic results at a glance.

Google has not announced a specific country list or rollout date for the international expansion, and there is no word yet on how the format will be localized for Arabic or French search. Advertisers in Tunisia and the wider Maghreb should watch whether AI Mode ads become available in their campaigns, since early Google data suggests they perform close to organic listings.

For readers, the practical advice is simple: when an AI answer recommends a product, check whether it is labeled as sponsored. The search experience is changing, and so is the line between advice and advertising.