Alphabet reported Q2 2026 earnings, and Google Search and Other revenue rose 17% year over year to $63.27 billion. The growth rate slowed from 19% in Q1 2026, marking the first decline after four quarters of acceleration.
Alphabet’s total revenue reached $119.8 billion, up 24% year over year, or 23% on a constant basis. It was the company’s 12th consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth.
Operating income increased by 30%, and operating margin reached 34%. Google also said that its Gemini program now has 950 million active users, up from more than 750 million in Q4 2025, and that its models process 22 billion API tokens per minute.
A Year of Speeding Up, Then Slowing Down
Google Search and Other year-over-year growth increased from 10% in Q1 2025 to 12% in Q2, then to 15% in Q3, to 17% in Q4 2025, and finally to 19% in Q1 2026.
The 17% growth in Q2 2026 marks the first decline during that period. Although the growth rate has slowed, it remains positive, and revenue has grown from $54.19 billion last year.
Google Search revenue growth by quarter
Bars show year-on-year growth. Income comes in less than each quarter.
What Caused Growth
In the earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai reiterated the connection between Search and AI, saying “the company’s popular AI features improve search queries.”
During the earnings call, Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler provided additional details about the 17% increase, which he attributed to strong performance across various verticals and Gemini’s extensive integration within Google’s advertising systems.
Retail led the gains, followed by finance, technology, media, and entertainment. This differs from the Q1 2026 report, which highlighted retail and financials as the main drivers, with health also contributing. Google did not disclose the contribution per stop this quarter or last.
AI Max And Monetization With Ads
Schindler highlighted AI Max, Google’s AI-driven targeting and creative tool for Search campaigns, which he said enables advertisers to understand search that was previously difficult to monetize. Google did not specify how much AI Max contributed to the quarter’s revenue.
These comments linked Google’s AI efforts directly to its advertising revenue, extending the narrative from Q4 2025, when the company described its first tests of AI Mode.
Why This Matters
Over the course of the year, Google Search’s revenue has grown rapidly each quarter, with the company often attributing growth to AI features and functionality.
Although growth slowed in Q2, Google continued to emphasize the role of AI. These statistics reflect Google Search and Other revenue, not organic impressions or individual website traffic. Google’s strong revenue quarter doesn’t reflect an increase in traffic to your site; use your Search Console and analytics tools for that.
Google’s new AI productivity report in the search console shows impressions of AI Overview and AI Mode. However, it only shows impressions, not clicks or click rates, focusing on the visibility of the AI feature rather than traffic impact.
Looking Forward
The key question coming out of the quarter is whether Q2 was a temporary slowdown in growth or the start of a slower run. If Q1 becomes the top spot in this run, forecasts based on continued acceleration may need to be re-evaluated.
Featured image: Fantastic Studio/Shutterstock
