Google will put ads in its AI Overviews soon

Ben Schoon | May 22 2024 - 1:45 pm PT

Google last week launched the public rollout of AI Overviews in Search and, already, the inevitable has been announced. Ads are coming to AI Overviews.

During the Google Marketing Live event on May 21, Google announced new ways that advertisers can use and benefit from AI in their advertisements. One of the announcements was that AI Overviews in Search will be adding in-line ads “soon.”

No specific date was announced – they’re not live yet – for when this will be rolling out, but Google says that ads will soon show up in AI Overviews. Google also claims that people find the ads “helpful.”

These ads will appear with a prominent “Sponsored” disclaimer and will show products related to your query. Google’s example below shows recommendations and links for wrinkle remover products on a search asking “how do I get wrinkles out of clothes?”

Google explains:

In early testing, we’ve heard that people find the ads appearing above and below the AI-generated overview helpful. Soon, we’ll start testing Search and Shopping ads in AI Overviews for users in the U.S. They will have the opportunity to appear within the AI Overview in a section clearly labeled as “sponsored” when they’re relevant to both the query and the information in the AI Overview.

Notably, these ads will be automatically generated from existing advertising in Google Search. So, at some point, any ad that would normally appear in Search will start to appear in Google’s AI Overviews.

In a blog post explaining the change, Google reiterates that it will “continue to test and evolve the Search experience” and will “remain focused on sending valuable traffic to publishers and creators” despite the company’s demo (below) not showing a single link to the web until you scroll down the page.