Meta's ad revenue rose 26% year over year to $63.1 billion in the third quarter, more than twice the pace of Google Search's 12% growth to $63.4 billion, the widest gap in Meta's favor since 2021. The article attributes Meta's advantage partly to AI-driven ad targeting, while Google faces pressure as chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Meta's Muse reduce clicks on search links. Alphabet shares fell more than 12% after its earnings report, wiping out about $500 billion in market value, while Meta stock dropped 14% in October. Both companies are spending heavily on AI infrastructure, which has pushed them into negative free cash flow and raised questions about whether that spending will generate enough revenue. Google Cloud grew over 100% to $31 billion in quarterly revenue, and Meta CFO Susan Li said almost 10 million advertisers used at least one of its AI tools.
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advertisingartificial intelligencesearch enginesGOOGLMETA
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Related tickers and likely impact
GOOGL
▼ Likely negativeAlphabet Inc. (Class A)
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services |
| Market cap | $3.5T |
| Close on 10/30/2026 | 279.76 |
| Change that session | -1.43% |
META
▲ Likely positiveMeta Platforms
Relevance: medium
| Market | US stocks |
|---|---|
| Sector | Communication Services |
| Industry | Interactive Media & Services |
| Market cap | $1.6T |
| Close on 10/30/2026 | 614.98 |
| Change that session | -1.53% |
Impact is scored by AI from the headline and may be wrong. It is not investment advice.
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