Google turned search into an AI product, and now it’s time to make money.
Google’s AI Overview is a complete transformation of what Google Search is, changing from a product that searches the web to show relevant links, to a place that scrapes the web of information and shows it directly to users. Google is not done making changes, though, and next for AI Overview is ads! We’re all so excited.
The Google Ads & Commerce blog shows what this will look like, with ads landing at the bottom of the AI Overview box. The overview box was already a massive, screen-filling box, and ads make it even longer, pushing what’s left of the web results even further down the page. Google’s demo shows the ads at the bottom of the overview box, and you have to scroll down to see them.
FURTHER READING
Google Search adds a “web” filter, because it is no longer focused on web resultsGoogle’s ad placement will surely be changed and tweaked a million times in the future, and Google mentions that “in early testing, we’ve heard that people find the ads appearing above and below the AI-generated overview helpful.” Leaving aside the unique perspective that ads are “helpful,” there’s your confirmation of the usual above-the-fold ad placement.
For now, AI Overviews are rolling out to everyone in the US, and Google says ads will start appearing in the overview box “soon.” Existing Google ad customers don’t have to do anything to get ads in the Overview box; just keep spending, and Google will take care of it.
Listing image by Sean Gallup | Getty Images
