One week in, Google is already wrapping ads within its fancy Search AI Overviews

Summary

• Google is heavily focused on AI, as shown by AI announcements at Google I/O, including AI Overviews in Search.
• According to Google, users who interact with AI Overviews visit more websites, click more links, and are more satisfied with their results.
• Google plans to include sponsored ads in AI Overviews, but only when relevant to the user’s query. It’s a wait-and-see on user experience.

We already know that Google is going all-in with artificial intelligence. This was echoed during the company’s annual Google I/O developer event, where the first day was dedicated to only AI announcements, with formerly pivotal Android updates being demoted to day two. The tech giant said the word “AI” more than 120 times during day one, with announcements like the addition of Gemini to Google Photos, the launch of Gemini 1.5 Pro (and 1.5 Flash), integration of AI tools in Google Shopping, Project Astra, and AI advancements for Google Search.

An AI advancement coming to Search is AI Overviews, which will essentially be “concise summaries of information compiled into an easy-to-digest information card.”

According to Google’s early research of the feature, users who interact with AI Overviews visit a wider range of websites and engage more with content. “We also see that the links included in AI Overviews get more clicks than if the page had appeared as a traditional web listing for that query,” wrote Google in a new blog post, adding that those who used AI Overviews in its early tests were “more satisfied” with their results.

Without missing a beat, and an opportunity for extra revenue, Google announced on Tuesday, May 21 that it will be bringing ads to its AI-generated Overviews.

These ads, which will appear under AI Overviews in a sub-section clearly labeled as “sponsored,” and will be related to the user’s search query. In an example shared by Google, a user searched “how do I get wrinkles out of clothes.” The results showed an AI Overview up top with various methods to remove wrinkles from clothes, followed by a sponsored section with ads for wrinkle-removing sprays from Downy and Bounce.

Ads won’t likely creep into all queries

The way Google phrased its blog post suggests that sponsored ads won’t make their way into all search results, and will be limited to scenarios where they are relevant to the user’s query and the information in the AI Overview. Essentially, these are the same ads that advertisers are already pushing through their Performance Max, and Standard Shopping campaigns, which now have the opportunity to appear alongside the AI Overview if they make sense in-regards to your query. These are the same ads that would normally appear above or below Google Search results.

Whether the new addition improves the user experience or degrades it is yet to be seen. I can see it being helpful if such ads only show up in situations where they are highly relevant, helping users make informed purchases, and even discover new products and services. On the other hand, a tech-savvy user who’s only looking for information might find the ads annoying and disruptive, and let’s not forget that there’s a chance the know-it-all generative AI shows irrelevant ads that can erode trust.

It’s worth noting that AI Overviews are only available in the US for now. I live north of the border, and have no access to the AI-generated summary feature. Consequently, ads within AI Overviews are also currently limited to the US. Also worth noting is that while there is no direct way to disable AI Overviews from Search results for now, users do have a workaround. Find detailed steps in the story embedded below.