Google Expands AI Mode Ads into International Markets

Google is expanding ads in AI Mode into international markets, while bringing multi-turn ads to the U.S.

By Career Ahead AI · Global — AI-assisted, fact-verified against cited sources. Readers should verify key facts.

Google is placing ads inside AI Mode answers

Philipp Schindler, Google's chief business officer, said the company is scaling high-quality ads within AI Overviews in AI Mode to more users and queries. The international expansion accompanies multi-turn ads in the U.S. Multi-turn ads let advertising appear within a search experience that can respond across successive exchanges, while the wider rollout puts sponsored placements into more of Google's AI-powered search activity.^¹²³

Google announced two Gemini-powered formats for AI Mode: Conversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers. Conversational Discovery ads respond to detailed or exploratory prompts. Highlighted Answers puts ads directly into recommendation lists generated by AI Mode. Both formats place advertising within experiences that answer or develop a user's search, rather than limiting placements to a conventional list of search results.^¹²³⁴

The formats include an independent AI explainer that synthesizes information about a product or service alongside the advertiser's creative. Google said the ads would keep sponsored labels and include AI-generated explainers. The company described the formats as tests within AI Mode but had not confirmed when they would start appearing. The label and explainer identify the placement as advertising while giving users additional product information in the AI-generated experience.^¹²³

Longer and visual queries are shaping the ad opportunity Search queries grew at their fastest year-over-year rate in five years, while queries in AI Mode are three times longer on average than traditional searches.

Longer and visual queries are shaping the ad opportunity

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Search queries grew at their fastest year-over-year rate in five years, while queries in AI Mode are three times longer on average than traditional searches. One in five AI Mode searches globally involves voice, images or documents. Google has also passed 50 billion visual searches per month. Together, those figures describe a search experience built around longer prompts and inputs beyond typed words, creating more varied contexts for ads to appear.^¹²⁴

Schindler said click-through rates for sponsored product listings in AI Mode are already comparable to those for organic listings. That comparison measures how often users click sponsored product placements against unpaid results. The Gemini app also grew to one billion monthly users, extending Google's AI products beyond search. The company is expanding its ad formats as users engage with AI through both the search interface and a standalone app.^¹²³⁴

Search growth slowed as Alphabet reported higher revenue

Alphabet reported $127.6 billion in third-quarter revenue, up 25% year over year. Google Search revenue grew 12%, slower than its 17% growth in the second quarter and 19% in the first. Google Services, which includes Search, brought in $96.3 billion, up 11%. The results show the difference between Alphabet's overall revenue growth and the slower pace in the search business where the new ad formats are appearing.^¹²³⁴

Alphabet shares fell 8% following the third-quarter results. The company invested $91 billion in capital expenditures last year, largely focused on AI. Over the past five months, Alphabet's stock price rose nearly 60%, pushing its market valuation to $4 trillion; Apple is also valued at $4 trillion. The spending and valuation figures frame the scale of Alphabet's AI investment alongside the search business's decelerating growth.^¹⁴

Google's ad changes meet new ChatGPT products

Google plans to retire Dynamic Search Ads, a format introduced in 2011, and begin automatic migration to AI Max in February 2027. Dynamic Search Ads have been part of Google's advertising system for years; the planned switch moves advertisers toward a newer automated format. Google has also announced unified reporting that traces an ad's path from a search query to the creative shown and the landing page visited.^¹²³

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OpenAI is launching Sponsored Agents for ChatGPT, where users can interact with brand-sponsored AI agents. It has opened direct advertising purchases through Ads Manager in India and other international markets, and its ChatGPT ad products include integrations with Shopify and HubSpot. Google is broadening ads inside AI search at the same time a competing AI service is adding sponsored interactions and advertiser tools.^¹²³

The results show the difference between Alphabet's overall revenue growth and the slower pace in the search business where the new ad formats are appearing.¹²³⁴

AI ads shift search marketing skills

If you manage search ads, the retirement of Dynamic Search Ads with migration to AI Max starting in February 2027 means you need to learn AI-driven campaign formats now. Click-through rates for sponsored product listings in AI Mode already match organic listings, so performance is not the barrier. The formats that matter are Conversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers, both powered by Gemini and designed for longer queries that run three times longer than traditional searches. Build skill in writing for exploratory prompts and visual inputs, since one in five AI Mode searches involves voice, images, or documents.^¹²³

For pay negotiations, note that Google Search revenue grew only 12% in the third quarter, down from 19% in the first quarter, while Alphabet's overall revenue rose 25% to $127.6 billion. The search business is decelerating even as the company invests $91 billion in AI. That gap means roles tied to traditional search advertising face slower budget growth, while AI product roles gain leverage. Also consider that OpenAI opened direct ad purchases in India, creating a competing channel where your skills transfer. Plan for a shift toward AI ad platforms rather than assuming legacy search formats remain stable.^¹²³⁴