🔍 Read the full analysis: Understanding Google’s Global Push Into AI Search Advertising on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Google said Oct. 28 that ads in its chat-style AI Mode are expanding to 10 more countries and, in the U.S., to follow-up questions. The move comes as Alphabet reported slower year-over-year growth in Search revenue and said AI Mode searches currently generate less monetization. Google says ads will be labeled “Sponsored”; independent evidence about their effect on clicks and how they influence AI answers remains limited.
Google is expanding advertising inside its AI-powered search answers, bringing ads in AI Mode to 10 more countries and adding them to follow-up questions in the United States, the company said Oct. 28. The change puts commercial messages into more stages of conversational search as Alphabet reports that Search revenue growth slowed to 12% in the third quarter and says AI Mode searches are generating less revenue per search than traditional formats.
The new AI Mode markets are Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. Google said it plans to add Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom in the fourth quarter of 2026. In the U.S., ads can now appear not only in response to an initial AI Mode query but also in follow-up questions, extending advertising into a longer exchange between a user and the search engine.
Google describes AI Mode as a conversational search experience, distinct from AI Overviews, which summarize information at the top of many standard search results. The company says ads in AI answers will carry a “Sponsored” label. Its advertising help materials say existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can participate automatically; advertisers do not get a separate targeting option or an opt-out for this placement. Google also generates short explanations beside some ads, which advertisers cannot edit, according to the help materials.
Alphabet reported that its Search & other revenue reached $63.4 billion in July through September, up 12% year over year. The growth rate was 17% in each of the prior two quarters and 19% in the first quarter of 2026. Chief business officer Philipp Schindler cited currency movements as the largest factor behind the slowdown, along with other market conditions. He also said that strong growth in AI Mode queries had an effect because those searches had lower monetization.
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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Ads Follow Users Through AI Search
The expansion changes where advertising can appear: an ad may sit alongside an AI-generated response or arrive during a follow-up exchange, rather than only beside a list of conventional search results. For advertisers, that creates access to a growing search format, but the available campaign controls are limited: existing campaigns participate automatically, and Google reports performance in aggregate rather than offering a separate AI Mode campaign setting, according to its help page.
For publishers, the concern is that a user may get enough information from an AI response to visit fewer websites, while ads remain visible within Google’s own results. A 2026 working paper by Agarwal and Sen reports a randomized experiment involving 1,065 U.S. users: when AI Overviews appeared, clicks to websites fell by 39.8%, while the researchers found no measurable change in ad clicks. That result is specific to the experiment and is not proof of the impact of the new AI Mode placements or of every search query.
For users, the practical distinction is between an AI-generated answer and an ad shown alongside it. Google says ads do not influence the AI’s answer, but the source material provides no independent audit of that claim. Clear labeling and the placement of sponsored material therefore matter as these formats spread.
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From AI Overviews to AI Mode
Google has added advertising to AI search in stages. Ads in AI Overviews began appearing for mobile users in the U.S. in October 2024, according to the company; in May 2025, Google brought them to desktop and began testing ads in AI Mode. At its May 2026 Google Marketing Live event, it also began testing formats called Conversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers, according to Google’s announcements.
The Oct. 28 update extends that rollout geographically and into follow-up queries. Google says AI Mode questions are, on average, three times longer than conventional searches. It also reported that click-through rates for sponsored and unpaid product-list items in AI Mode were similar, based on its U.S. data from Aug. 20 to Sept. 3, 2026. That internal comparison concerns clicks on product-list items; it does not establish whether users click through to publishers’ websites.
Search remains a major part of Alphabet’s business, bringing in about half of the company’s reported revenue in the third quarter. Alphabet has also said query growth is at its highest level in five years. The tension is that more searches do not necessarily translate into the same revenue if more activity shifts to a format Google says is currently less monetized.
““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 company’s third-quarter earnings call
Open Questions on Labels and Clicks
The rollout does not yet establish how much revenue the new placements will generate or how they will affect traffic to publishers across the countries involved. Google’s reported comparison of ad and unpaid product-list click-through rates covers a short period of U.S. internal data and does not measure publisher website clicks. The working-paper findings about AI Overviews also cannot be treated as a direct measure of the newly expanded AI Mode ads.
It remains unclear whether users will consistently distinguish sponsored placements from AI-generated information, or whether Google’s ads affect the answers in any way. Google says the answer is not influenced by advertising, but no independent audit is identified in the source material. Google’s help page lists 12 countries for ads inside AI answers, with English-language availability; Germany and other European Union countries are not listed as of Oct. 29. The source does not specify when or whether those markets may be added.
Fourth-Quarter Market Expansion
Google’s next stated geographic milestone is its planned fourth-quarter 2026 expansion to Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom. The company has not provided a specific date for those launches in the material available. Advertisers and publishers will also be watching for further detail on how campaign reporting works, whether additional ad formats reach general availability, and how performance compares with standard search placements.
Alphabet’s subsequent quarterly results may show whether AI Mode’s lower monetization persists as its use grows, but future revenue and traffic effects cannot be determined from the current announcements. For now, the confirmed changes are the 10-country expansion, U.S. ads in follow-up questions, and Google’s plan for more markets later in the year.
Key Questions
Where is Google expanding ads in AI Mode?
Google named Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. It said Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom are planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.
What is changing for U.S. users?
Google is adding ads to follow-up questions in AI Mode. Ads can therefore appear during later turns of a conversation, not only in response to the initial query.
Can advertisers opt out of these AI search ads?
Google’s advertising help materials say existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can participate automatically. They describe no separate targeting setting or opt-out for this placement.
How will users identify ads in AI answers?
Google says ads will be labeled “Sponsored.” The company also says advertising does not influence the AI’s answer, but the source material identifies no independent audit of that claim.
Are ads in AI search reducing publisher clicks?
The available evidence does not answer that for the new AI Mode placements. A 2026 working paper reported fewer website clicks when AI Overviews appeared in an experiment, but that finding is not a direct measurement of AI Mode ads across the new markets.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
