By Matt G. Southern
Publication Date: 2026-05-02 12:00:00
Alphabet reported Q1 2026 earnings with Google Search & Other revenue rising 19% year over year to $60.4 billion. Microsoft announced on the same day that Bing reached 1 billion monthly active users for the first time, with search ad revenue up 12%.
Both companies posted strong search quarters. But one line item in Alphabet’s report tells a different story for the websites that depend on Google’s ad network for revenue.
Google Network Revenue Fell Below $7 Billion
The “Network” segment, including AdSense, AdMob, and Google Ad Manager, isn’t a proxy for the entire web’s ad economy but is a clear financial indicator tied to ads outside Google’s surfaces. For publishers and app developers relying on Google-brokered ads, the decline affects them more than it affects Search revenue growth.
It has been shrinking over two years, with Google Network declining each quarter from Q1 2024 to Q1 2026. Q1 2026’s $6.97 billion is the lowest, below $7 billion for the first time.