Google admits AI search makes less money, but it's fixing that with more ads

Google parent Alphabet reported its Q3 financial results on Wednesday afternoon, showing a healthy rise in revenue for the months of July to September. But the company’s stock price has taken a beating, marking one of the largest post-earnings drops in its history. It comes down to several troubling aspects of the new report, including an admission by the company that AI search isn’t earning as much as organic search, and despite that, Google expects to spend even more on AI next year.

谷歌母公司 Alphabet 于周三下午发布了第三季度财报，显示 7 月至 9 月期间营收增长稳健。然而，该公司股价却遭受重挫，创下了其历史上财报发布后跌幅最大的记录之一。这归因于新财报中几个令人不安的方面，包括公司承认 AI 搜索的盈利能力不如自然搜索，尽管如此，谷歌预计明年在 AI 上的投入将会更多。

The company took in almost $128 billion in Q3 2026, earning more than $26 billion in net income. These may sound like good numbers, but financial markets are not impressed. While revenue is up 25 percent versus last year, net income is almost $9 billion lower. As of this story’s publication, the stock price is down almost 12 percent, and it was down about 13 percent earlier in the day.

该公司在 2026 年第三季度营收近 1280 亿美元，净利润超过 260 亿美元。这些数字听起来可能不错，但金融市场并不买账。虽然营收较去年增长了 25%，但净利润却减少了近 90 亿美元。截至本文发布时，股价下跌了近 12%，盘中早些时候曾一度下跌约 13%。

While revenue was up 25 percent year over year, analysts expected more. Google reported earnings per share of $2.12, but the consensus projection ahead of Wednesday was $3.02. Google’s Cloud products actually beat expectations, crossing $30 billion in revenue. That’s about a billion more than analyst guesses. Google is still making a huge amount of money, but there are several troubling trends emerging.

尽管营收同比增长 25%，但分析师们期待更高。谷歌报告的每股收益为 2.12 美元，而周三之前的市场普遍预期为 3.02 美元。谷歌的云产品表现实际上超出了预期，营收突破了 300 亿美元，比分析师的预测高出约 10 亿美元。谷歌仍在赚取巨额利润，但一些令人担忧的趋势正在显现。

The last few years at the company have been all about AI, with generative technology appearing in products from Gmail to Android. Most notably, Google is shifting to an AI search platform powered by Gemini models. During the earnings call, Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler discussed the company’s search volume. This is one of the key metrics by which Google tracks its own performance.

过去几年，该公司的一切重心都围绕着 AI，生成式技术出现在从 Gmail 到 Android 的各类产品中。最值得注意的是，谷歌正在转向由 Gemini 模型驱动的 AI 搜索平台。在财报电话会议上，首席商务官 Philipp Schindler 讨论了公司的搜索量。这是谷歌衡量自身业绩的关键指标之一。

In the last quarter, Google saw search grow by 12 percent versus last year. Good for the company, right? Except that’s a much slower rate than previous quarters. Growth in Q2 was 17 percent, and Q1 saw 19 percent growth over 2025. Search revenue was also flat in Q3. So that’s the first problem, likely driven by more consumers using AI chatbots to find answers.

上个季度，谷歌的搜索量较去年增长了 12%。这对公司来说是好事，对吧？但这个增长速度远低于前几个季度。第二季度的增长率为 17%，第一季度较 2025 年增长了 19%。第三季度的搜索营收也表现平平。这就是第一个问题，很可能是因为越来越多的消费者开始使用 AI 聊天机器人来寻找答案。

The other issue is that Google’s take on AI search isn’t pulling in revenue like standard web search yet. According to Schindler, each AI Mode query earns less revenue compared to a similar web search—there are fewer ads, and they cost less to run. While Schindler suggested AI mode revenue was set to increase, he was also careful to control expectations. Advertisers may need time, he said, to understand the value in AI search ads.

另一个问题是，谷歌的 AI 搜索模式目前还无法像标准网页搜索那样带来同等规模的收入。据 Schindler 称，与类似的网页搜索相比，每次 AI 模式查询产生的收入更少——广告数量更少，且运行成本也更低。虽然 Schindler 表示 AI 模式的收入有望增加，但他同时也谨慎地控制了预期。他表示，广告商可能需要时间来理解 AI 搜索广告的价值。

The company’s research reportedly shows that users find these ads more relevant and helpful than the ones they see in traditional search. As part of the financial disclosure, Google announced an expansion of ads in AI Mode. If you do decide to dip into Google’s search chatbot, you’ll probably see more contextual advertising. These ads will begin appearing in more international markets soon.

据报道，该公司的研究显示，用户认为这些广告比传统搜索中看到的广告更具相关性和帮助。作为财务披露的一部分，谷歌宣布将扩大 AI 模式中的广告投放。如果你决定使用谷歌的搜索聊天机器人，你可能会看到更多的情境广告。这些广告很快将出现在更多的国际市场。

In the US, where AI Mode ads were already becoming commonplace, Google will implement multi-turn ads. That means the sponsored links will change continuously as you engage in a back-and-forth with the robot. CEO Sundar Pichai noted that these complex interactions are becoming more common as Google pushes more users toward AI Mode.

在美国，AI 模式广告已经变得司空见惯，谷歌将实施多轮互动广告。这意味着当你与机器人进行来回对话时，赞助链接会不断变化。首席执行官 Sundar Pichai 指出，随着谷歌推动更多用户使用 AI 模式，这些复杂的互动正变得越来越普遍。

Stepping on the gas Google is not slowing down—it’s only going to accelerate the shift toward more AI. Like last quarter, Google reported negative cash flow in Q3. The loss actually increased from -$5.8 billion to -$9.06 billion, a situation that is directly attributable to Google’s runaway AI spending. Google had capital expenditures of $51.4 billion in Q3 and says it still expects total 2026 spending to be between $195 billion and $205 billion. In 2027, Google is targeting more than $300 billion of AI investment.

踩下油门，谷歌并没有放慢脚步——它只会加速向 AI 转型。与上季度一样，谷歌报告第三季度现金流为负。亏损额实际上从 58 亿美元增加到了 90.6 亿美元，这种情况直接归因于谷歌在 AI 领域失控的支出。谷歌第三季度的资本支出为 514 亿美元，并表示预计 2026 年的总支出仍将在 1950 亿至 2050 亿美元之间。到 2027 年，谷歌的目标是投入超过 3000 亿美元用于 AI。

To support this continued spending, Google points to its cloud revenue more than doubling over the past year. It’s easy to see why the company is so keen to keep expanding in AI based on that. The company’s AI compute infrastructure doesn’t just power Gemini. Countless AI startups pay to run models on Google’s infrastructure. But even the larger AI firms are using venture cash to do it, and if that funding were to dry up, Google’s cloud revenues could go with it.

为了支持这种持续的支出，谷歌指出其云业务营收在过去一年中翻了一番多。基于此，不难理解为什么该公司如此热衷于继续在 AI 领域扩张。该公司的 AI 计算基础设施不仅为 Gemini 提供动力，无数 AI 初创公司也付费在谷歌的基础设施上运行模型。但即便是大型 AI 公司也是依靠风险投资来支付这些费用，如果资金枯竭，谷歌的云业务收入也可能随之流失。

While Google’s investments ensure it still turns a profit, the trend of spending more than it earns on products and services (that negative cash flow) could come back to bite it. Search growth is declining, and Google is placing all its eggs in the AI basket. If spending on cloud services in the industry drops or search growth stalls, the company could be looking at a lot more red in its future.

虽然谷歌的投资确保了它仍能盈利，但产品和服务支出超过收入（即负现金流）的趋势可能会反噬自身。搜索增长正在放缓，而谷歌将所有赌注都押在了 AI 上。如果行业内对云服务的支出下降或搜索增长停滞，该公司未来可能会面临更多的财务赤字。