🔍 Read the full analysis: Google’s AI Search Ad Expansion Arrives As Growth Slows on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Google said on October 28 that ads in its AI Mode search experience are expanding to 10 additional countries and to U.S. follow-up questions. The announcement came as Google Search & other revenue growth slowed to 12% in the third quarter, and Google said lower monetization of AI Mode searches was one factor. The effects on publishers and users remain uncertain.
Google is expanding ads inside AI Mode to 10 more countries and adding them to U.S. follow-up questions, a change that comes as its Search & other revenue growth slowed to 12% in the third quarter. Google said lower monetization of fast-growing AI Mode searches was one factor in the results, putting the rollout at the intersection of the company’s AI product strategy and its largest advertising business.
Google announced the changes on October 28. Ads in AI Mode are rolling out in Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. Google said it plans to bring them to Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom in the fourth quarter of 2026. In the United States, ads can now appear in follow-up questions within AI Mode, not only in response to the initial query.
AI Mode is Google’s chat-style search experience, where users can ask longer questions and continue with additional prompts. It is distinct from AI Overviews, the generated summaries shown in many standard search results. Google has also placed ads in AI Overviews. The company says ads in AI answers will be labeled “Sponsored” and that advertising does not affect the answer generated by its AI. That assurance is Google’s statement; the source material reports no independent audit of the claim.
Advertisers using existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns are included automatically, according to Google Ads Help. The source says advertisers cannot opt out or set separate targeting for these placements, and performance is reported in aggregate. Google’s AI may also write short explanatory text beside an ad, which advertisers cannot edit. These limits matter because the formats are being expanded without a separate campaign setting or a clear individual-placement reporting option.
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.
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AI Ads Meet Slower Search Growth
Google Search remains a major source of Alphabet’s revenue: the division recorded $63.4 billion in the July-to-September quarter, about half of Alphabet’s total revenue, according to the company’s results. Its year-over-year growth rate fell to 12%, from 17% in the prior quarter. Google identified currency movements as the largest factor and also cited lower monetization in AI Mode, making the ad expansion relevant to how it develops its search business as user activity shifts toward AI experiences.
The rollout also has consequences beyond Google and advertisers. Publishers that rely on search referrals may receive fewer visits if AI answers satisfy users without a click. A 2026 working paper by Agarwal and Sen, based on a randomized experiment with 1,065 U.S. users, found that AI Overviews reduced clicks to websites by 39.8% when they appeared. The study reported no measurable change in ad clicks. That result concerns the experiment and AI Overviews; it should not be treated as proof of how the newly expanded AI Mode ads will perform or affect publishers.
For users, the key practical distinction is whether a result is an ad or part of the generated answer. Google says the “Sponsored” label will mark ads, but the source material does not establish how prominently users will see those labels across countries, devices or follow-up prompts. Ads appearing within a conversational experience may also make it harder for readers to distinguish commercial placements from information unless labeling is clear.
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How AI Search Ads Expanded
Google has added advertising to AI search in stages. Ads in AI Overviews began appearing for mobile users in the United States in October 2024, according to Google’s previous announcements. In May 2025, the company brought them to desktop and began testing ads in AI Mode. At Google Marketing Live in May 2026, it introduced tests of additional formats, including conversational ads with text tailored to a user’s question and ads highlighted within AI-generated recommendations.
The October expansion extends that effort from initial queries into multiturn conversations. Google’s search ads chief, Shashi Thakur, said the company was launching ads in follow-up queries in AI Mode. Google has said AI Mode queries are, on average, three times longer than conventional searches. It also cited internal U.S. data from August 20 to September 3, 2026, saying click-through rates for sponsored and organic product-list items in AI Mode were similar. That comparison is limited to those items and that period; it does not measure website clicks or independently establish the performance of the new international placements.
In its third-quarter earnings discussion, Alphabet business chief Philipp Schindler cited several influences on Search revenue, including exchange rates, retail advertising effects in Asia and normalized media and entertainment spending after a strong World Cup quarter. He also said the growth in AI Mode queries affected revenue because the company was seeing lower monetization in that format. The figures and explanation are Alphabet’s reported results and management’s account of them, rather than an independent breakdown of the impact from each factor.
““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 third-quarter earnings call
Open Questions on Ads and Clicks
The announcements do not establish how much revenue the new placements will generate, how many users will encounter them, or whether ad performance will differ across the newly added countries. Google’s cited click-through comparison covers its internal U.S. data for a short period and compares sponsored with unpaid product listings inside AI Mode. It does not show whether these ads change clicks to publisher websites.
It is also unclear how the rollout will affect publishers’ traffic over time. The cited working paper concerns AI Overviews in an experiment, not the new follow-up ads in AI Mode, and its findings cannot by themselves establish the effects of this expansion. The source material says Google’s help page listed 12 countries for ads in AI answers as of October 29 and did not list Germany or other EU countries; availability could change after that date.
Finally, Google says ads do not influence AI-generated answers, but the available material supplies no independent audit of that assertion. The company has not provided, in the information cited here, a country-by-country timetable beyond the named markets or a separate reporting and opt-out mechanism for advertisers.
The Next Markets and Metrics
Google’s stated next rollout milestone is the fourth quarter of 2026, when it plans to add Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom to the AI Mode ad markets. Advertisers and users can watch for changes to Google’s Ads Help documentation and product announcements for confirmation of availability and any revisions to campaign controls or reporting.
The next earnings updates may offer more information about Search revenue growth and how Google describes AI Mode’s monetization. Those results will not, on their own, isolate the effect of the new ads unless the company provides a specific breakdown. For publishers, the key evidence will be measured referral traffic and independent research that distinguishes AI Mode from AI Overviews. For users, the immediate check is whether a placement is marked “Sponsored” and whether Google provides more detail about how ads are selected and shown alongside AI answers.
Key Questions
Where is Google expanding ads in AI Mode?
Google said ads are rolling out in 10 additional countries: 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 changed for users in the United States?
Ads can now appear in follow-up questions in AI Mode, so an ad may appear later in a conversational search, not just after the initial query.
Can advertisers opt out of these placements?
According to the cited Google Ads Help information, existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns participate automatically. The source says there is no separate opt-out or targeting setting, and results are reported in aggregate.
Did Google say AI Mode caused the slower Search growth?
No. Alphabet reported 12% year-over-year growth in Search & other revenue and cited several factors. Philipp Schindler said exchange rates were the largest driver and also mentioned lower monetization of AI Mode searches, alongside other advertising-market factors.
Are ads in AI answers independently verified as separate from the answer?
Google says ads are labeled “Sponsored” and do not affect the AI’s answer. The source material does not identify an independent audit of that claim, so it remains Google’s stated policy rather than an independently verified finding.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
