Search ad spending is rising as search behavior spreads across more platforms and AI boosts discovery. But growth is decelerating, and search’s share of digital ad spending is slipping as budgets fragment across retail media, AI, and traditional search.

Key Question: How are AI and retail media changing the search advertising market?

Key Stat: Google will earn 48.5% of search ad spending in 2026, the first time in more than 20 years that number has fallen below half—and Amazon is taking the biggest chunk of its lead.

Clients can find the full version of this chart later in the report.