At its 2025 Google Marketing Live digital event, Google announced it is testing ads inside AI Mode. This chatbot-style interface now includes Search and Shopping ads, with placements available on both desktop and mobile.

This follows earlier reports in March that Google was exploring how ads might work in AI Mode. Now, those tests are live for users in the U.S.

AI Mode functions like a chatbot, providing synthesized answers to queries along with relevant web links and, now, ad placements. Starting this week, some users in the U.S. will begin seeing both Search and Shopping ads within this AI-driven experience on desktop and mobile devices.

According to Google’s example, if a user asks AI Mode how to build a website, they might receive a step-by-step breakdown along with a sponsored link to a website builder tool. Google says these ads will be clearly labeled as “sponsored” and integrated in a way that blends with the flow of the response.

Advertisers running Performance Max, Shopping, and Broad Match Search campaigns are eligible to access this tool. Their ads can be displayed in AI Mode.  

From Labs testing to full U.S. rollout

AI Mode has been gradually expanding over the past few months. It started in early March for paid users, then moved to a limited group of Labs testers in March. Earlier this month, it became available to all Labs users. Now, it is officially rolling out to U.S. users.

Google announced this rollout during its I/O developer conference on Tuesday. It described the tool as its “most powerful AI search.” It features advanced reasoning, multimodal input handling, and the ability to maintain conversations through follow-up questions and deeper links. AI Mode is located in a separate tab, offering an interface that feels more like chatting than typing into a search bar.

Google Search could soon become another surface for paid placements. The company is testing how ads fit naturally into this new kind of search. The idea is to place relevant product ads inside conversations where users are already asking for advice or exploring product options.

AI Overviews ads are now live on desktop

Google is also rolling out ads to AI Overviews for desktop users. These AI-generated summaries, which appear at the top of search results, have already featured ads on mobile within AI summaries since October 2024. Now, desktop users will see sponsored product suggestions and purchase links embedded in those AI summaries.

These ads are integrated directly into the summaries, showing product suggestions and links based on what the AI determines to be relevant to the query. For instance, when a user searches for “best hiking shoes for flat feet,” the AI Overview might summarize expert advice and add ads for hiking shoes from retailers.

Google says it plans to bring ad placements in AI Overviews to English-language searches in select countries later this year and on mobile and desktop.

Users are moving away from traditional search toward AI-driven search, and Google is aiming to align ads with how people are using generative AI tools to search rather than relying on traditional blue links. 

Google wants advertisers to move in this direction as well, as it aims to compete with other AI search engines like Perplexity and ChatGPT. Perplexity began testing ads on its platform in November last year. OpenAI could introduce ads to ChatGPT next year, despite calling it a “last resort.” 

The company claims that the launch of AI Overviews has increased the number of "commercial queries.” This means more people are turning to AI search to explore product options, compare features, or ask for buying recommendations.

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