Opera (OPRA) Reports 29% Western Query Revenue Growth From AI Browser Entry Points

Opera Limited (OPRA) said on its 2026-08-19 earnings call that users who engage with AI inside its browsers run more searches and spend more time there, and that query revenue in Western markets grew 29% year over year against 21% globally. The company has never disclosed the size of AI revenue itself [1].

Opera is a Norwegian browser company. Users get its desktop and mobile browsers free, and revenue comes from two lines: query revenue, meaning the share paid by search engines and other partners when a user searches from the address bar, and its own advertising business. Total revenue grew 25% year over year in the second quarter, with advertising up 27% and query revenue up 21% [2].

AI at the browser's entry points

AI has been placed at several points inside the browser: an AI assistant in the sidebar, AI suggestions in the address bar, and the newly launched Browser Connector, which lets third-party AI assistants read what the user is currently browsing and act on their behalf. Management's described chain is that these entry points keep users in the browser longer and prompt more searches, and that the extra search activity converts directly into query revenue and advertising inventory.

The result is a regional comparison

Management's figure is a ratio between regions: query revenue grew 29% year over year in Western markets against 21% globally, or 1.4 times, and the company stressed that it is monetizing AI-driven query activity today [1].

Taking that chain apart against the revenue lines, the support is thinner. Query revenue growth is actually decelerating, from 23% in the first quarter to 21% in the second, while advertising grew faster at 27% [2]. The portion that belongs to AI alone, non-search query revenue, grew more than 200% year over year, but the CFO said its absolute size is still only a few million dollars [2]. One point does hold up: the 21% global query growth exceeds the 17% growth Alphabet reported in search and other revenue over the same period [2].

Two other explanations pointing in different directions appeared on the same call. Management noted that Google began new monetization of AI Mode in the second quarter, which widened the query revenue base. Answering a question, the CFO said search revenue is driven mainly by revenue per search, and that the number of queries needed per search is falling, offset by better monetization per search. That is not the same mechanism as the CEO's account of more searches [1]. Western monthly active users grew 4% over the period while users in lower-ARPU regions declined, so the regional mix alone would push Western growth above the global average.

Peers make similar claims

Meta quantified an 8.3% increase in ad clicks and a 15.7% increase in conversions from large-model ad matching over the same period. Snap disclosed an 8% reduction in cost per install. Spotify said its AI DJ is used by about 25% of active users [3]. What distinguishes Opera is its open approach: Browser Connector exposes browsing context to third-party assistants and no other listed peer does this, though management concedes it generates no separate revenue today [3].

What is established

AI entry points are deployed across Opera's browsers, the company has described their effect on user behavior and monetization on a consistent basis for four consecutive quarters, and total revenue and adjusted EBITDA both reached records this quarter.

The size of the associated revenue is not established. The company has never given an AI revenue figure, the cited regional growth gap is affected by both regional mix shift and search partner pricing changes, and query revenue growth itself decelerated in this quarter.

Application: Revenue Stage: Scaled Value realized: Moderate Confidence: Medium

Sources

[1] Drillr · Opera Limited (OPRA) · 2026-08-19 · earnings call

"we see that the users who engage with AI within our browsers spend significantly more time in the browser and even conduct many more searches versus comparable users who are not yet engaged in AI, all of which directly contributes to ARPU growth. As an overall result, We see that query revenue is growing at 1.4 times the pace in Western markets. This is the global average, up 29% year-over-year, as opposed to 21% globally. It's a point worth making that Opera is already monetizing AI-driven query activity today, not simply describing a future opportunity."

[2] Drillr · Opera Limited (OPRA) · revenue trend verification

[3] Drillr · Opera Limited (OPRA) · peer comparison verification