Google stock drops as AI search features reduce advertising revenues

Google lost 500 billion dollars in market value and its stock dropped to a six-month low on October 30, 2026. BBC News reported that investors reacted after the company revealed that artificial intelligence search features are hurting its advertising sales. [1]

Philipp Schindler, the chief business officer at Google, explained that the company AI mode provides direct answers to user queries. BBC News reported that this conversational format is eroding money previously generated from advertisements placed next to traditional search results. [1]

Despite the financial decline, Schindler said he felt very good about the trajectory of the AI-focused search engine, according to BBC News. He noted that Google was built on long-term technological bets, even if those decisions cause short-term financial pain. [1]

Google search handles billions of daily queries and captures roughly 90 percent of global searches, with most revenue coming from advertising. However, competition in artificial intelligence has expanded rapidly, with programs like ChatGPT, Claude, and DeepSeek gaining millions of users. [1][2][3]