The inevitable has already been declared as Google began rolling out AI Overviews in Search to the general public last week. AI Overviews will soon have ads.
Google unveiled new methods that advertisers can use and benefit from artificial intelligence (AI) in their commercials during the Google Marketing Live event on May 21. One of the announcements was that in-line advertisements will be included “soon” to AI Overviews in Search.
Google states that advertising will soon appear in AI Overviews, but no exact date for rollout has been disclosed as they are not yet online. According to Google, users perceive the advertisements to be “helpful.”
These advertisements, which display goods associated with your search query, will have a clear “Sponsored” notice. The example provided by Google for the query “how do I get wrinkles out of clothes?” displays suggestions and product links for wrinkle-removing goods.
Google Clarifies:
We’ve heard from early testers that the advertisements that show up above and below the AI-generated summary are beneficial. We’re going to begin testing Search and Shopping advertising for American users in AI Overviews soon. When they are pertinent to the query and the data in the AI Overview, they will have the chance to appear in the AI Overview in a part that is clearly marked as “sponsored.”
Interestingly, these advertisements will be produced automatically from current Google Search advertising. Ads that would typically show up in Search will eventually begin to show up in Google’s AI Overviews.
In a blog post outlining the modification, Google restates that, despite the company’s demo (below), which doesn’t display a single web link until you scroll down the page, it will “continue to test and evolve the Search experience” and “remain focused on sending valuable traffic to publishers and creators.”
