Google claims users find ads in AI search ‘helpful’

Google AI mode and AI Overviews now have ads, which, according to the search engine giant, are “helpful.”

At the Google Marketing Live event last week, Google confirmed it has started rolling out ads to AI mode and AI Overviews in the US, which create new “opportunities for customers.”

While I haven’t seen ads in AI Overviews, some users spotted them last week, and these ads appear below the AI Overviews, followed by the traditional blue links.

Ads in Google AI overviews (Desktop)

In a support document spotted by SER, Google described ads in AI search results as a new way to find information on the web.

SEO consultant Gagan Ghotra pointed out an interesting excerpt in the document that claims users find ads in these AI search results helpful.

“Google internal data shows that people have been finding the ads within AI Overviews helpful because they can quickly connect with relevant businesses, products, and services to take the next step at the exact moment they need them,” the company wrote in the document.

Google won’t share the numbers or methodology of its “internal data,” but it wants you to believe that ads are helpful, especially in AI search results.

Ads aren’t necessarily bad, but they’re certainly not helpful when they mislead users or appear above the actual content and disrupt the flow.

Google reported $72.5 billion in advertising revenue in its last quarterly report, and it’s expected to increase as ads expand beyond the blue links.