🔍 Read the full analysis: The Answer And The Ad: Google Expands AI Search Advertising on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
Get smart everyday buys delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
TL;DR
Google said on October 28 that ads in its chat-style AI Mode are expanding to 10 countries, with ads also entering U.S. follow-up answers. The move comes as Google Search advertising growth slowed to 12% in the third quarter; advertisers using existing campaigns are included automatically, while the effects on users and publishers remain uncertain.
Google is expanding ads in AI Mode, its conversational search feature, to 10 more countries and is adding ads to follow-up answers in the United States, the company said October 28. The rollout extends advertising into more of the AI-generated search experience as Google’s Search and other advertising revenue growth slowed to 12% in the third quarter, according to Alphabet’s results.
The newly listed countries are Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. Google said Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom are planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. Its help page lists 12 countries for ads in AI answers, with the feature available in English; Germany and other European Union markets were not listed as of October 29.
In the U.S., Google is launching what it calls “multiturn ads”: ads can appear not only in response to an initial AI Mode query but also in answers to later questions in the same conversation. Google says ads will carry a “Sponsored” label. It also says advertising does not affect the AI’s answer, a company claim for which the source material reports no independent audit.
According to Google Ads Help, existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can participate automatically. Advertisers do not have a separate targeting control or opt-out for these placements, and reporting is provided in aggregate. Google’s AI may write short explanatory text next to an ad; advertisers cannot edit that text, according to the help page.
Infographic 01 · From test to global
The answer now carries the ad, in more places.
How Google moved ads into its AI answers in two years, where they show today, and the revenue pressure behind the move.
Where ads appear inside AI answers
Per Google’s help page and the 28 Oct post. The list “may not be exhaustive”.
Follow-up questions (“multiturn ads”): US only. Germany and the rest of the EU: not listed. Ads above or below AI Overviews can show wherever AI Overviews exist (200+ countries and territories).
Why now: Google Search & other revenue growth
Year over year, as reported by Alphabet. Bars scaled to 19%.
Q2 to Q3 2026: about +0.1%. Same months a year earlier: about +4.4% (my arithmetic). Google names exchange rates as the largest driver of the slowdown, and the “lower monetization” of AI Mode as one factor.
- 3 Oct 2024Ads inside AI Overviews go liveUS, mobile, after months of testing
- 21 May 2025Desktop in the US; first tests in AI ModeEnglish-speaking countries announced for later in 2025
- 20 May 2026New formats in testingConversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers, both with a Gemini-written “AI explainer”
- 28 Oct 2026AI Mode ads in 10 more countriesPlus “multiturn ads” in follow-up questions in the US; labeled “Sponsored”
- Q4 2026Planned: Brazil, Mexico, United Kingdom“Additional locales, including” these three
Sources: Google, 28 Oct 2026; Google Ads Help, accessed 29 Oct 2026; Google, 3 Oct 2024; Google, 21 May 2025; Google, 20 May 2026; Alphabet Q3 2026 release and the Q4 2025, Q1 2026 and Q2 2026 releases. “3× longer” is Google’s AI Mode report (US, May 2026). Quarter-on-quarter changes and bar scaling: Thorsten Meyer.
Powered by Thorsten Meyer AI
AI Answers Become More Commercial
The expansion puts advertising into a search format where users may receive a synthesized response rather than a list of links. That could change how people encounter both paid placements and unpaid websites: an ad may appear within the answer experience, while fewer users may need to visit a publisher’s page to get basic information. The precise effect will depend on how the ads are displayed, how often users see them and whether they click.
There is a potential tension between Google’s commercial model and user trust. Clear labeling can help readers distinguish paid placements, but the company’s statement that ads do not influence the generated response remains its own assurance. The supplied material does not describe an independent review of that separation.
One research finding offers a limited point of comparison, not a direct forecast of this rollout. A 2026 working paper by Agarwal and Sen reports a randomized experiment with 1,065 U.S. users: when AI Overviews appeared, clicks to websites fell by 39.8%, while clicks on ads showed no measurable change. That result concerns AI Overviews in the study, not the new AI Mode placements. It should not be read as a prediction of the expansion’s effects.
Popular right now
Ninja Hot & Iced XL Coffee Maker with Rapid Cold Brew, Black, CM371
Ninja DualZone Air Fryer 10 Qt Smart 6-in-1 Grey (DZ950)
Vitamix 5200 Professional-Grade Blender, 64 oz. Container, Black
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Search Summaries to Follow-Ups
Google has introduced AI search advertising in stages. The source account says ads in AI Overviews began appearing for U.S. mobile users in October 2024, followed by desktop placements in May 2025, when Google also began testing ads in AI Mode. At Google Marketing Live in May 2026, the company started testing formats including Conversational Discovery ads, which tailor ad text to a query, and Highlighted Answers, which can place an ad within AI recommendations.
The October announcement extends the reach of AI Mode ads geographically and into later turns of a U.S. conversation. Google says AI Mode queries are, on average, three times longer than traditional searches. It also says click-through rates for sponsored and organic product-list items in AI Mode were similar, based on internal U.S. data from August 20 to September 3, 2026. That comparison concerns product listings inside AI Mode, not clicks from search results to websites.
The expansion arrives amid a slowdown in reported search advertising growth. Alphabet said Search and other revenue was $63.4 billion in July through September, up 12% year over year, compared with growth of 17% in the previous quarter. On the earnings call, Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler cited currency movements as the largest factor and also said lower monetization of fast-growing AI Mode searches affected results.
““The strong growth in AI Mode queries had an impact because of the lower monetization we were seeing in AI mode.””
— Philipp Schindler, Alphabet chief business officer, on the earnings call
What the Rollout Has Not Settled
Google has not provided, in the source material, a detailed timetable for availability in each of the 10 new markets or specific dates for the planned fourth-quarter additions. It is also unclear how frequently ads will appear in follow-up answers, which queries will trigger them, or how users will respond to the placements.
The available information does not establish whether ads in AI Mode will reduce visits to publishers or change advertising performance. The working-paper result on AI Overviews is a separate finding and cannot answer that question. Google’s statement that ads do not influence its AI answers has not been independently audited in the material provided.
The reported search revenue figures show slower year-over-year growth, but they do not isolate the effect of AI Mode ads or explain how much revenue the new formats may generate. Google cited exchange rates and lower monetization of AI Mode searches among the factors affecting the quarter.
Markets and Ad Formats Ahead
Google’s announced next geographic step is the planned fourth-quarter 2026 expansion to Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Advertisers and users will be able to observe how the placements appear as the rollout reaches more markets, while existing eligible campaigns are included without a separate opt-in, according to Google Ads Help.
Further evidence will come from Google’s future disclosures on the availability and performance of AI search advertising, and from independent research tracking ad recognition, clicks and publisher traffic. For now, the confirmed changes are the 10-country expansion and U.S. follow-up ads; their wider effects remain to be measured.
Key Questions
Where is Google expanding ads in AI Mode?
Google listed Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom are planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.
What are multiturn ads?
They are ads that can appear in answers to follow-up questions in a U.S. AI Mode conversation, not only in response to the first query.
Can advertisers opt out of these AI search placements?
Google Ads Help says existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can participate automatically, with no separate opt-out or targeting control for these placements. Reporting is provided in aggregate.
How will users identify an ad?
Google says ads in AI answers will carry a “Sponsored” label. The company also says ads do not influence the AI’s answer, but the source material reports no independent audit of that claim.
Will the new ads reduce traffic to publishers?
That is not yet known. A 2026 working paper found fewer website clicks when AI Overviews appeared in its experiment, but it did not test the new AI Mode ads or establish their effect on publisher traffic.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
