Alphabet Search & Other Revenue Growth Slowed to 12% as Query Growth Hit Five-Year High

Alphabet reported $63.35 billion in third-quarter Google Search & other revenue, a 12% annual gain that slowed from the previous quarter even as query growth reached a five-year high.

The revenue category missed analysts’ estimates for a second consecutive quarter. It grew 17% year over year in the second quarter, when it totaled $63.27 billion. Alphabet said its year-over-year Search query growth rate was the highest in five years.

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said AI investments were driving increased usage and query growth, including commercial queries. “Just like our shift to mobile over a decade ago, we are focused on building the best Search user experience, followed by monetization,” he said.

Alphabet groups revenue from its search services, partner traffic and products including Gmail, Maps and Google Play under this line. Alphabet reported total third-quarter revenue of $127.58 billion, up 25% year over year, while Google Cloud revenue rose 103% to $30.71 billion. Free cash flow was negative $9.07 billion.