Google has confirmed its plan to integrate advertisements into its AI-driven search features, AI Mode and AI Overviews. This initiative, beginning as a test for U.S. users, will place ads within and below AI Mode’s conversational outputs and as “Sponsored” content in AI Overviews.
The move is a pivotal step in Google’s strategy to monetize its evolving search technologies, essential for its advertising-centric business model, which generated $66.89 billion in Q1 2025.
This introduction of ads into Google’s advanced AI search marks a significant shift in how users might interact with search results and how Google maintains its revenue streams. While crucial for Google’s financial future, it also amplifies existing debates around user experience, the effectiveness of AI-driven advertising, and the economic impact on online publishers.
How Ads Will Manifest in Google’s AI-Powered Search
Google has detailed that advertisements will appear “where relevant” within its new AI Mode, a feature tailored for more complex and nuanced user queries. For example, if a user asks AI Mode about creating a website, Google explained in an official blog post that an ad for a website builder might be shown as a helpful next step, allowing the user to then explore business ideas and target audiences.
Dan Taylor, Google’s vice president of global ads, highlighted to ADWEEK that because AI Mode queries are often longer and more exploratory, they present an “expansive opportunity to introduce advertisers—and put them in front of consumers in places where they’re open to discovering new things.”
Initially, Search and Shopping ads will be visible to U.S. users in AI Mode on both desktop and mobile. Eligibility for these ad placements extends to advertisers using Google’s Performance Max, Shopping, and Search campaigns with “broad match,” as well as the new AI Max for Search program, according to Adweek.
Concurrently, Google is broadening its ad trials in AI Overviews, which offer quick summaries. Following an initial mobile-only ad test in the U.S. that began in October 2024, these ads will now also appear on desktop in the U.S., with further expansion to other countries planned.
Google has stated that ads in AI Overviews are designed to appear “when relevant to both the query and the response provided,” aiming to be assistive rather than interruptive. This strategy, was informed by learnings from earlier ad tests in AI Overviews.
Publisher Impact and Advertiser Outlook
The integration of ads into AI search products has intensified concerns among publishers regarding traffic and revenue. A significant worry is that AI synthesizing information directly will reduce click-throughs to publisher sites.
MonetizeMore analysis suggests publisher Revenue Per Mille (RPM) could fall by 30-50% for queries triggering AI responses, with overall revenue for search-reliant publishers potentially declining 15-25% in the next 12-18 months.
This sentiment is echoed by specific instances, such as Mail Online reporting a dramatic drop in click-through rates when an AI Overview appeared for a search term where they ranked number one, as detailed by Press Gazette. “CTR collapse: Sites like Daily Mail, HubSpot, DigiDay, etc, experienced a devastating 43.9% drop in clickthrough rate on desktop when featured in an AI Overview, even when ranked in the #1 position,” according to MonetizeMore.
Further complicating matters, Google has not yet outlined a revenue-sharing model for publishers whose content trains its AI. Additionally, it’s currently difficult for publishers to precisely measure the impact, as Google doesn’t separate AI Overviews click-throughs in Google Analytics or Google Search Console.
Despite these concerns, the prevalence of AI Overviews is growing; Semrush analysis showed their appearance in 11.37% of ‘informational keyword’ searches by March 2025, a 91% increase in six months.
Advertisers, too, are approaching AI Mode advertising with some caution. There are concerns that ads might feel intrusive within a conversational interface, potentially leading to lower engagement.
Melissa Mackey, head of paid search at Compound Growth Marketing, told MarTech, “Advertisers will need to get creative to capture attention and pull users away from the conversation in order to be effective,” User sentiment also plays a role; a CivicScience poll found that 36% of U.S. adults are wary of AI in advertising.
The Evolving AI Search Landscape
These advertising initiatives are rolling out as Google significantly enhances AI Mode itself. Now powered by the Gemini 2.5 model, AI Mode is becoming more widely available in the U.S. It includes advanced functionalities like “Deep Search,” “Search Live” leveraging Project Astra for camera-based interaction, and “agentic capabilities” from Project Mariner for task completion.
Google’s move to monetize AI search is part of a broader industry trend. Perplexity, an AI search competitor, introduced ads in 2024, and Microsoft experimented with ads in its Copilot chatbot. OpenAI is also reportedly considering an ad-supported model.
Meanwhile, publishers continue to voice anxieties about content scraping, a concern previously covered by Winbuzzer, and the Chegg lawsuit over alleged unauthorized use of educational material for AI summaries underscores these ongoing tensions.
