Google rolls AI Mode ads

Google said at its Google Marketing Live event on May 20 that it is adding a new set of ad formats to AI Mode, the company’s conversational search experience. The additions include AI-powered Shopping ads, Conversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers, according to Google’s product announcement. (blog.google) The company also said it is expanding Direct Offers and introducing a Business Agent for Leads as it pushes ads deeper into AI-generated responses. The move extends Google’s broader effort to bring advertising into AI-assisted search sessions rather than limiting ads to traditional lists of links. Google has already said that, where relevant, ads may appear below and integrated into AI Mode responses, and that existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can be eligible in some AI-driven surfaces. (blog.google) ### Which new ad formats is Google adding inside AI Mode? Google’s May 20 announcement named three ad formats for AI Mode search: Conversational Discovery ads, Highlighted Answers and AI-powered Shopping ads. In Google’s description, Conversational Discovery ads are meant to appear during exploratory queries, while Highlighted Answers are sponsored placements that present a brand’s response within the conversational flow. (blog.google) Shopping ads in AI Mode are designed to offer product guidance and explanations inside the answer itself, rather than appearing only as separate product listings. Google said these formats are built with Gemini and are intended to give users “real-time, personalized advice.” (blog.google) ### What is changing for shopping advertisers? Google said Gemini will generate product explainers for U.S. advertisers later this year. The company framed that feature as a way to help shoppers understand why a product fits a query inside an AI-guided search experience. An April 30 Google post on AI Max for Shopping described the same shift in consumer behavior in more direct terms, saying shoppers increasingly ask longer, more specific questions instead of typing narrow product keywords. (blog.google) That post said advertisers with static creatives tied to exact product queries risk missing users during the discovery phase. ### What are Direct Offers and the Business Agent for Leads? Google’s Google Marketing Live collection page said the company is introducing a unified Gemini-based assistant called Ask Advisor across Google Ads, Google Analytics, Merchant Center and Google Marketing Platform. In the same set of announcements, Google said it is expanding Direct Offers and launching a Business Agent for Leads. (blog.google) The company has provided fewer public details on the Business Agent for Leads than on the ad formats themselves, but the naming and placement in Google’s marketing materials tie it to lead capture within AI-assisted commercial journeys. Google’s retail and commerce posts this year have repeatedly described an “agentic” shopping era in which AI systems guide decisions and transactions. (blog.google) ### How does this fit with Google’s earlier AI search ads rollout? Google has already been serving some ads in AI Overviews, the company’s AI-generated summaries in Search. Google’s help documentation says text and Shopping ads from existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns are currently eligible to show in AI Overviews, with exclusions for sensitive categories including finance, healthcare and politics. (blog.google) A February Google post said the company was “reinventing what an ad is” in AI search experiences and had spent the past year testing formats that “bridge inspiration and action.” The new AI Mode formats announced this week are the clearest product rollout yet from that testing effort. (blog.google) ### What should advertisers watch next? Google said the new AI Mode formats are coming as part of its 2026 Google Marketing Live rollout, and its Search ads post pointed advertisers toward Performance Max and AI Max to prepare for the upcoming features. A separate Google post said AI Max for Search campaigns began rolling out in beta globally last year, while Dynamic Search Ads will automatically upgrade to AI Max starting in September 2026. (support.google.com) Later this year, Google said, U.S. advertisers will begin getting Gemini-generated product explainers in AI Mode shopping experiences. The company’s Google Marketing Live collection page and Google Ads announcements page are the central places where it is publishing follow-up details on availability and product changes. (blog.google 1) (blog.google 2) (blog.google 3)