• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer, May 21, 2025

Google ads in AI Mode, an AI-powered search engine that launched earlier this year, will outperform any other types of advertising online based on keywords in queries, intent, and location.

It's like stepping into a query and over information to get to the intelligence and intent.

AI Mode can support more nuanced or complex questions than traditional search and AI Overviews, because of its ability to reason and learn. AI Mode can support more nuanced or complex questions than traditional search and AI Overview, because of its ability to reason and learn.

AI Overviews generates quick summaries at the top of search results, but AI Mode goes much deeper.

On Wednesday at its annual Google Marketing Live event on Wednesday, Google announced it will expand ads in AI Overviews to desktop, and bring ads to AI Mode.

The goal, of course, should be to create new opportunities for advertisers.

Test ads in AI Mode, when relevant, will serve up the ad below the responses. For example, someone may use AI Mode to search “how to build a website for a small business with limited resources.”

The query might return a comprehensive response with a step–by-step guide and tops on how to choose a product and connect with audiences. In some cases, a website builder might be a good next step, so a helpful ad may be shown. From there, the user can ask questions to explore possible business ideas, what type of content they should develop, and even learn about their target audience.

Advertisers that are already using Performance Max, Shopping and Search campaigns with broad match terms, including AI Max for Search campaigns, can have their ads appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Ads in AI Overviews are placed in AI-generated summaries “when relevant to both the query and the response provided,” and labeled as Sponsored. Google in the U.S. brought ads to AI Overviews on mobile in October 2024.

Perplexity launched ads last November. Microsoft briefly piloted ads in its Copilot chatbot.

OpenAI said it may adopt an ad-supported model to supplement subscriptions. You.com displays advertisements alongside its search results.