Meta's AI-powered ad machine grew more than twice as fast as Google Search in the third quarter, nearly closing a gap that once looked permanent
For two decades, Google and Facebook split the internet’s ad money like two roommates dividing a pizza. Google usually took the bigger slice.
That arrangement is getting renegotiated. In the third quarter, Meta’s advertising business grew more than twice as fast as Google’s Search and other segment. Meta’s total ad haul now sits within roughly $290 million of Google’s flagship search ads business.
The numbers behind the split
Meta posted total revenue of $64.6 billion for the quarter, a 26% jump from a year earlier. Advertising did almost all the work.
Ad revenue came in at $63.061 billion, up 26% from $50.082 billion in the same quarter last year.
The growth came from two directions. Ad impressions rose 10%, and the average price per ad climbed 14%.
Meta credited its artificial intelligence investments for the gains, pointing to improvements in engagement, recommendations, and monetization. Nearly 10 million advertisers used the company’s generative AI creative tools during the quarter.
Alphabet’s results told a more complicated story. The Google parent reported total revenue of $127.6 billion, up 25% year over year.
Google’s advertising revenue, however, reached $82.01 billion, growing approximately 10.6-11%. Search and other ads brought in $63.35 billion, up 12%. YouTube ads contributed $11.21 billion, a 9% gain.
Put the two headline figures side by side and the race looks tight. Meta’s ad business pulled in about $63.1 billion. Google Search and other ads pulled in $63.35 billion.
How the chatbot era scrambled the board
Meta has used AI to sharpen how it targets ads across Facebook and Instagram. Google faces a trickier problem. Chatbots offer people a new way to find answers, and that pressures the traditional search box where Google makes much of its money.
Alphabet did point to a bright spot. The company said AI has driven its highest Search query growth rate in five years.
Alphabet’s core advertising segment slowed compared with previous periods, and results fell short of some analyst expectations. The company also faced investor concerns about AI-related spending and negative free cash flow.
What this means for the ad market
Meta has an unusually clean story to tell. It spends on AI, its targeting improves, advertisers pay more per ad, and revenue rises. The 14% jump in average ad pricing is the strongest evidence that brands are seeing results worth paying for.
Nearly 10 million advertisers testing Meta’s generative tools signals that adoption is broad, not limited to a few early experimenters.
Meta’s 26% ad growth versus Google’s roughly 11% suggests that AI may be reshuffling winners and losers inside a market that once looked locked in place.
Alphabet still runs a much larger overall business, with total revenue nearly double Meta’s. Its 25% top-line growth shows the company is far from struggling.
