Chief Brody saw the shark and said they’d need a bigger boat.

Google saw AI Mode’s revenue and reached a similar verdict: it’s gonna need more ads.

More chats, less cash: On Alphabet’s Q3 earnings call, Google business chief Philipp Schindler said booming AI Mode queries weighed on Search growth.

His reason: AI Mode’s “lower monetization.” Translation: those searches earn Google less, for now.

Alphabet’s revenue grew 25% to $127.6 billion, but with tamer ad growth:

• Search & other: $63.35 billion, up 12%, down from 17% in Q2
• YouTube ads: $11.21 billion, up 9%
• Network ads: $7.46 billion, up 1%

Search barely moved from Q2’s $63.27 billion, even as Sundar Pichai says query growth, commercial queries included, hit a five-year high.

Google blamed currency swings most, and expects them to hurt slightly more in Q4.

The fix is in. More ads: Google’s ads in AI Mode now run in 10 more countries, including Australia, Canada and India.

Brazil, Mexico and the UK are among the Q4 additions. In the US, new multiturn ads also show on follow-up questions.

Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns are eligible for AI Mode by default, with no separate opt-out. Negative keywords still apply, so review them.

Paid, meet organic: Google is also testing Shopping ads inside AI Mode’s organic product carousels, under “Sponsored” and “All products” headings. A spokesperson confirmed it.

And most roads lead to Mountain View: A recent report found 57% of AI Mode’s product-answer links led to Google Shopping pages.

It counted links, not clicks, but with ads beside them, where they point matters more.

Just remember who pays for Google’s bigger boat.