Meta Ad Revenue Grows 26%, Doubling Google Search Pace in Q3

Meta pulls level with Google's core search business

Meta's advertising business grew more than twice as fast as Google Search in the third quarter of 2026. The two companies have competed for online ad budgets for about 20 years, and this is the clearest sign yet that the balance between them is changing. Meta's ad revenue rose 26% from a year earlier to $63.06 billion, while Alphabet's Google Search & other segment grew 12% to $63.35 billion. That leaves a gap of only about $290 million between them.2 The 14-point difference in growth rates is the widest in Meta's favor since 2021.6

Most outlets report the same figures, with small differences in rounding. Most put Meta's ad revenue at $63.1 billion and Google Search at $63.4 billion.817 At least one outlet reported Meta's figure as $63.2 billion.14 The rounding doesn't change the main point. A social media company's ad revenue, which comes from apps people scroll for entertainment and to keep up with friends, is now about the same size as the search ad business that defined online advertising.

The comparison has a limit. Meta's number covers advertising across all of its apps. Google's covers only its search-related line, not all of Alphabet's advertising.4 Counting YouTube and its ad network, Google's advertising revenue was $82.01 billion, up about 10.6%, so it is still the larger ad seller by nearly $19 billion a quarter.3 Still, the long-term trend is clear. In the first quarter of 2023, Meta's ad revenue was about 52% of Google's. It is now close to 77%.3

Where Meta's growth is coming from

Meta's results break down simply. Ad impressions rose 10% and the average price per ad rose 14%.1 Pricing matters more here. A higher average price per ad means advertisers think each placement is worth more, and they usually only pay more when they see results.1

Meta says its AI work is behind those results. Chief financial officer Susan Li said advertisers who followed the recommendations of its AI business assistant got almost 5% more conversions. She said they also increased their ad spending by 9% compared with similar advertisers who didn't use the recommendations.19 As an example, she said syrup maker Simply Organic Maple saw purchases rise 57% and cost per purchase fall 36% after using the assistant. She also said almost 10 million advertisers used at least one of Meta's AI tools during the quarter.19

The AI story also has a history. Apple's 2021 iOS privacy change made it much harder for Meta to target ads on iPhones. The next year, Meta's revenue fell for the first and only time.18 Meta's large investment in machine-learning ad systems was in part a response to that setback, and this quarter's results suggest it has worked.

Some coverage warns against giving AI too much of the credit. Meta's conversion and spending figures come from selected advertisers or segments, and the company didn't say how much of its total ad revenue those tools directly produced. Audience growth, currency effects and general advertiser demand also contributed.4 Daily active people grew only 3%, to 3.64 billion.4 That means Meta is mostly earning more from the users it already has, not adding many new ones.

Google's problem: more searches, slower revenue

Google's quarter shows a split. Chief executive Sundar Pichai said search query growth was the highest in five years. Yet paid-click growth in Search reportedly slowed from 13% in the second quarter to 8% in the third.7 Search revenue growth also slowed, from about 17% in the second quarter to 12%. Management pointed to currency effects and advertiser spending patterns.3 One analysis noted that Search grew 19% two quarters ago. If searches are speeding up while revenue slows, each search is earning less than before.10

Commentators disagree about what that means. Emarketer analyst Nate Elliott said that if tools like ChatGPT, Claude or Meta's new Muse assistant help people find things better, search habits could change for the first time in a generation. He called that outcome potentially catastrophic for Google's ad business.19 After Google's results, UBS analysts wrote that fears of AI cannibalizing Search would return, made worse by Meta's strong quarter.19 Wedbush argued that Alphabet shares are unlikely to recover until the search narrative changes, which would take new ad products and proof that Google can make money from search in the AI era.18

Others are more cautious. One analysis argued that 12% growth on a $63 billion base doesn't look like an ad business being starved by chatbots.5 Some coverage goes too far in the other direction. At least one outlet described AI answer engines as cutting the number of traditional queries.13 That conflicts with Google's report of record query volume.6 The more accurate reading is that people are still searching, but Google is earning less from each search. One likely reason is that AI Overviews and AI Mode give users summaries in place of links.19

Investors judged the results harshly. Alphabet shares fell more than 12%, erasing about $500 billion in market value.12 Revenue of $127.6 billion came in slightly below expectations, and Search missed consensus by roughly $1.6 billion.10

Six straight quarters of the same gap

The strongest argument that this is a structural change comes from looking across several quarters. One analysis found that Meta's ad revenue has grown 11 to 17 percentage points faster than Google's in every quarter since Q2 2025. It also found Meta's share of the combined ad revenue of Meta, Google and Amazon rose from 33.2% in 2024 to 37.6% in 2026.7 Meta's US and Canada revenue grew 33% in the third quarter, faster than in the second, and that region makes up 41% of Meta's total.7

That analysis is open about its main assumption. None of the three companies said ad budgets are moving from one platform to another; the authors inferred it from advertisers comparing platforms on the same performance measures.7 Market forecasts point the same way. EMARKETER expects Meta to pass Google in total digital ad revenue in 2026, both globally and in the US.4 On balance, the evidence supports a gradual shift toward platforms that can show measurable results, not just one strong quarter.

Influencer spending points the same way

The wider advertising market is also moving toward social media. EMARKETER projects US influencer marketing spend of $12.17 billion in 2026, up 15.7% from 2025, reaching about $13.7 billion in 2027.2126 Marketers reportedly spend a median of 26% of their social budgets on creators, up from 18% in 2024.21 In Influencer Marketing Hub's 2026 benchmark, 87.49% of brands expected their influencer budgets to grow, and only 5.55% expected cuts.27

Estimates of the market's size vary widely depending on definitions. The IAB puts US creator ad spend at $44 billion in 2026, up from $37 billion in 2025. That figure is much broader than sponsored-post spending.27 Estimates of the global influencer market for 2026 range from about $34 billion to more than $40 billion.2622 At least one compilation cites a much lower US figure of $9.29 billion, which shows how unsettled these measurements are.23

Platform data matters most for Meta. HypeAuditor estimates global Instagram influencer spending at $19.8 billion in 2026. In the US, however, YouTube reportedly passed Instagram as the top platform for influencer spending in 2025. Creator deals don't count as Meta ad revenue, but they keep audiences on its apps longer. Coverage notes that people are spending more time on Instagram, which gives Meta more places to show ads.18

The costs and risks

Meta's position has weaknesses. Advertising still makes up about 98% of its revenue. Ads are less than two-thirds of Google's, which also has a cloud business that more than doubled to $31 billion in quarterly revenue.1816 Meta's growth now depends heavily on pricing. Impression growth fell from 19% in Q1 to 10% in Q3, and ad prices usually fall first in a downturn.7 Growth from Asia-Pacific advertisers also slowed, from 25% to 18.8%.7

The cost of AI is another concern. Meta expects up to $145 billion in capital spending this year, and Google up to $205 billion.19 Coverage says both companies have moved into negative free cash flow.20 Meta's stock fell 14% in October, its worst month since 2022.12 Meta also took a $9.89 billion legal charge in the quarter.5

Analysis: Meta is benefiting from AI more than Google so far

The most likely explanation is that AI helps Meta's business and complicates Google's. For Meta, AI improves the ads it already sells, which raises prices and keeps advertisers spending. Google has to change its main product without damaging the ad system that pays for it. Google's chief business officer, Philipp Schindler, said Gemini models are being deployed across Google's entire ads infrastructure.19 Whether that is enough remains uncertain. For now, ad budgets appear to be moving toward the platforms that show clearer results, and Meta has the stronger case this quarter.