Google announced it will begin testing search and shopping ads within its AI-generated answers in the U.S. The Alphabet-owned company revealed this on Tuesday, shortly after the widespread rollout of the AI Overviews feature at its annual I/O conference.
According to a blog post from Google, ads will be displayed in a ‘sponsored’ section within the AI Overview based on the relevance of the query and information provided.
Google aims to extend its dominance beyond traditional search advertising into the emerging generative AI technology sector. By integrating AI into its search engine, Google hopes to boost ad sales, a major revenue source for the tech giant.
In the first quarter ending March 31, Google reported a 13% increase in advertising sales, reaching $61.7 billion. The company plans to continue testing new ad formats and gathering feedback from advertisers.
At the recent I/O conference, Alphabet demonstrated how it is leveraging AI across its businesses, showcasing enhancements to the Gemini chatbot and improvements to its search engine.
