Google search volume is rising faster than at any point in five years, but Search revenue growth slipped to 12% in Q3 from about 17% in Q2, and paid clicks grew 8%, down from 13%, according to The Verge. Chief business officer Philipp Schindler put most of the slowdown on currency and some industries spending less, but he said AI Mode searches also make less money per query than standard ones. Schindler said the bulk of AI Mode queries are new searches rather than replacements, many from people early in researching a purchase. Ad agency Tinuiti said its clients’ returns on Google haven’t slipped, but they can’t measure AI Mode and AI Overviews ads on their own because Google doesn’t split them out.
