Alphabet reported Q1 2026 earnings, with Google Search & Different income rising 19% 12 months over 12 months to $60.4 billion. CEO Sundar Pichai tied the quarter’s Search efficiency to AI Overviews and AI Mode, saying persons are “coming again to Search extra.”
Q1 income was decrease sequentially than This autumn 2025, when Search & Different got here in at $63.1 billion, however year-over-year progress elevated from 17% to 19%. Complete Alphabet income reached $109.9 billion, up 22%.
Chief Enterprise Officer Philipp Schindler famous Google Companies “benefited from a powerful FX tailwind” this quarter, which boosted the reported numbers above constant-currency progress.
What Pichai Mentioned About Search
In his ready remarks, Pichai linked the Search quantity to AI experiences, stating:
“Folks love our AI experiences like AI Mode and AI Overviews, and so they’re coming again to Search extra.”
Pichai additionally mentioned, “queries are at an all-time excessive.” He described “sturdy progress in each customers and utilization of AI Mode globally” with out sharing an actual determine. Previous Google disclosures put AI Mode at roughly 100 million month-to-month energetic customers and 75 million day by day.
Pichai mentioned AI Overviews “are driving general Search progress.” Liz Reid made the same engagement argument on Bloomberg’s Odd Heaps earlier this month, describing AI Overviews as lowering low-value clicks relatively than lowering helpful site visitors.
Chief Enterprise Officer Philipp Schindler provided a extra particular learn on what drove the Search quantity. He mentioned Search & Different progress was “primarily pushed by retail and finance,” with well being additionally contributing.
Within the Q&A, Schindler added that “the power we noticed in Search was not as a consequence of a single driver, however was actually the results of many elements of our enterprise displaying power and dealing very properly collectively.”
New Knowledge On Search Pace And AI Prices
Pichai shared two effectivity figures.
The primary was latency. Pichai mentioned:
“At the same time as we’ve introduced new AI options into our outcomes web page, we’ve lowered Search latency by greater than 35% over the previous 5 years.”
The second was the price of working AI responses. He continued:
“Since upgrading AI Overviews and AI Mode to Gemini 3, we’ve lowered the price of core AI responses by greater than 30% due to continued {hardware} and engineering breakthroughs.”
Search Updates Pichai Highlighted
Pichai highlighted three Search rollout gadgets from the quarter.
Private Intelligence “expanded broadly within the U.S.,” referring to Google’s March enlargement of Private Intelligence to free U.S. customers.
Agentic experiences shipped to new nations. Pichai cited restaurant reserving as one of many early examples of what Pichai has known as “search as an agent supervisor.”
Search Reside multimodal capabilities went world.
Why This Issues
Over the previous 12 months, search engine marketing professionals have watched whether or not AI Overviews scale back clicks by satisfying extra intent on the outcomes web page. Alphabet’s Q1 outcomes don’t settle that query.
Google reported larger Search income, and Pichai mentioned queries are at an all-time excessive. Schindler additionally mentioned Search power was not pushed by a single issue, citing retail, finance, and well being as contributors.
That issues as a result of Google’s enterprise can develop whereas writer click on patterns change. “All-time excessive queries” doesn’t imply all-time excessive outbound clicks. Google hasn’t disclosed click-through charges for AI Overviews or AI Mode, or how income splits between AI and conventional search adverts.
The Q1 numbers present Google’s Search enterprise continues to be rising. They don’t reply whether or not web sites are receiving extra or fewer clicks from AI-influenced outcomes.
Wanting Forward
Google’s earnings present Search income continues to be rising, however key questions stay about how AI options have an effect on monetization and click-through charges.
Pichai mentioned extra data about Search can be shared at Google I/O in Might and Google Advertising and marketing Reside.
