Google Plans to Put Ads Inside Gemini and other AI products — What that means

Google is preparing to introduce advertising into its Gemini-powered AI experiences — including AI Mode in Search and the Gemini assistant. The company has already started experimenting and rolling out “Ads in AI Overviews,” and Google executives say users are beginning to see early tests. This marks a major step toward monetising conversational AI beyond traditional search ads and will reshape how users interact with AI, how advertisers buy attention, and how regulators and product teams think about trust and safety.

What Google is announcing (and what’s already live)

• Google has confirmed experiments to place ads in AI experiences powered by Gemini — its large multimodal models — including Search’s AI Mode and the Gemini assistant. A Google product VP said users are “starting to see” these tests.

• Google already shows ads in AI Overviews in Search, and has documentation and product announcements aimed at advertisers about these new ad surfaces. In short: ads in AI-generated responses are moving from pilot to broader testing and commercialisation.

• Executives including CEO Sundar Pichai have previously said Google has “very good ideas” for native ads inside Gemini experiences — signposting that ad formats will likely be tailored to conversational and multimodal outputs rather than copy-pasting classic banner/search units.

How ads might appear in Gemini and AI Mode

Google hasn’t published a single step-by-step ad spec, but available signals and product hints tell us what to expect:

Inline “sponsored” answers

Short, labeled ads embedded at the top of an AI-generated answer — similar to current “sponsored” links in search but shown inside the conversational reply. This mirrors earlier ads-in-AI-Overview experiments.

Conversational ad suggestions

When a user asks a question with a commercial intent (e.g., “best headphones under $100”), the AI might surface a recommended product or vendor and label it as sponsored while still answering the question conversationally.

Rich multimedia ad cards

Because Gemini and AI Mode are multimodal, ads could include images, short videos, or interactive cards (think a visual product card inside the chat). Google has been expanding visual AI outputs and already integrates Gemini tech into ad creation tools.

Personalized ads (privacy caveat)

Google has talked about deeply integrating Gmail, Drive and other services into AI Mode to personalize responses. If ads appear there, they could be contextualized to the user — which raises privacy and transparency questions. Google has said it’s building consumer-first experiences while still exploring ad placements

Why Google is doing this — the business logic

• Monetisation pressure: Search ad revenue growth has slowed compared with earlier years, and Google needs ways to monetise powerful AI features that users increasingly prefer over classic blue-link results. Putting ads into AI experiences opens new inventory and ad formats.

• Advertiser demand for attention: brands want to reach users inside the most engaging product moments — and an AI answer or assistant session is exactly that. Early Google marketing messaging positions AI as a new surface for discovery.

• Competitive dynamics: rival platforms and large AI players are experimenting with ad-supported AI; Google risks ceding ground if it doesn’t offer advertisers an AI-native way to buy attention.

Potential ad formats and targeting — quick list

• Sponsored passages within AI summaries (clearly labelled).

• Product cards that appear inside generated shopping answers.

• Sponsored suggestions in agent/assistant workflows (e.g., booking or planning).

• Contextual creative generated on the fly for ad campaigns (auto-generated ad copy and imagery).

• Performance-focused integration into existing ad stacks (e.g., Performance Max with Gemini models).

User experience and trust: the trade-offs

Introducing ads into AI outputs raises several important UX and policy questions:

• Clarity & labelling: users must be able to distinguish between AI-generated recommendations and paid placements. Google’s current docs emphasise disclosure, but consistent, visible labelling will be critical. Google Help

• Hallucinations vs. promotions: conversational models sometimes generate incorrect claims. If an AI assistant mixes factual claims with sponsored suggestions, the risk of misleading users grows. Product teams will need guardrails to separate factual answers from commercial content.

• Personalisation and privacy: AI-driven ad targeting could rely on broader context (email, search history, device signals). This will rekindle debates about consent, data minimisation, and how personalised an AI ad should be.

• User control: will users be able to opt out of ads in assistant sessions or pay for an ad-free AI subscription (Google already sells Gemini Advanced and Google One AI Premium)? Expect tiered experiences.

Advertiser opportunities — what marketers should watch

• New inventory & creative tools: marketers will likely gain access to ad placements inside answers and AI workflows, plus AI-assisted creative generation (short copy, images, CTAs).

• Performance measurement evolution: attribution and metrics will need to adapt for interactions that span conversation turns and agent tasks rather than discrete clicks.

• Early testing advantage: brands that experiment early with AI-native creatives and measurement frameworks will likely learn faster and secure better placements.

Risks and regulatory headwinds

• Consumer protection & ad transparency rules: regulators globally are increasingly scrutinising platform ad labelling and deceptive practices. Ads inside AI conversations could attract attention from agencies like the FTC in the U.S. or equivalent bodies in the EU and India.

• Ad fraud and brand safety: new formats create new vectors for fraud or misleading ad creatives; Google has invested in AI tools to detect invalid traffic and spoofing, but ad partners will demand strong safeguards.

Expert analysis — why this matters beyond ad dollars

1. Product behaviour will change: AI answers are already supplanting some traditional search interactions. If those surfaces carry ads, the dynamics of discovery shift — users may accept sponsored suggestions as a normal part of an AI dialogue, changing long-term attention economics.

2. Advertising becomes more conversational: ad creative and buying models will evolve to match conversational patterns — advertisers won’t just bid for keywords, they’ll design prompts, creative templates, and conversation-aware campaigns.

3. Standards and trust will define winners: companies that nail disclosure, accuracy, and user control will gain user trust; those that prioritise short-term monetisation over reliable answers risk reputational damage.

What to watch next (timeline & signals)

• Wider rollout of Ads in AI Overviews: Google has already expanded ads in some AI Overviews; watch for additional announcements and advertiser-facing docs.

• Product experiments in AI Mode and Gemini app: Google execs and product announcements signal staged testing; watch for UX changes and explicit labelling in Search and the Gemini app.

• Regulatory guidance and platform policies: expect industry groups and regulators to weigh in on ad disclosures for AI — monitoring policy updates will be crucial.

• Advertiser beta programs: Google typically invites advertisers to pilots; keep an eye on Google Ads and Marketing Live updates for program details.

Bottom line

Google moving to introduce ads inside Gemini and other AI products is a predictable — but consequential — next step. It’s predictable because Google needs to monetise the moments when users engage with its most advanced AI. It’s consequential because ads inside conversational AI touch core issues of trust, accuracy, privacy, and the very way people discover information online. For users, the key question will be whether ad labelling and accuracy controls protect the integrity of AI answers. For advertisers, the opportunity is to design ads that feel useful in a conversation — not intrusive. And for regulators and product teams, the task is to ensure commercial incentives don’t undermine reliable, factual AI assistance.

Sethu Ram

Hi there! I’m Sethu, your go-to guy for all things tech, travel, internet, movies, and business tips. I love sharing insights and stories that make life more interesting. Let’s explore the world together, one article at a time!