Google hasn’t figured out how to make AI pay like its search engine

<figure> <img alt="" data-caption="Google Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler. | Bloomberg via Getty Images" data-portal-copyright="Bloomberg via Getty Images" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/11/gettyimages-106058340.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> Google Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler. | Bloomberg via Getty Images </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Search queries are growing at their fastest rate in five years, Google parent Alphabet said in its <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1020811/alphabet-google-earnings-q3-2026">earnings</a> report last week. However, Google's Search revenue growth slowed to 12 percent year over year in the third quarter, down from roughly 17 percent in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, growth in paid clicks - clicks on ads that generate revenue for Google - slowed from 13 percent to 8 percent.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">That's still substantial growth, but not the direction investors were hoping for from a company planning to spend about $200 billion this year on infrastructure, largely to support AI. Alphabet shares <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/alphabets-google-cloud-unit-beats-quarterly-revenue-estimates-steady-ai-demand-2026-10-28/">have</a> <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOG/history/">fallen</a> about 14 percent since it reported e …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1024862/google-search-ai-overviews-alphabet-earnings-q3">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>