Google to test ads within recent AI Overviews feature

Delhi: Google announced it will introduce ads to its AI-generated Overviews. 

These ads, clearly labelled as "sponsored," will appear in a sub-section related to the user's search query. For instance, a search for "how do I get wrinkles out of clothes" showed an AI Overview with wrinkle-removal methods, followed by ads for wrinkle-removing sprays from Downy and Bounce.

These ads will only appear when relevant to the query and the AI Overview. They are the same ads from Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns, now potentially displayed alongside AI Overviews if appropriate.

Google stated on its blog, “Soon, we'll start testing Search and Shopping ads in AI Overviews for users in the U.S. They will have the opportunity to appear within the AI Overview in a section clearly labelled as ‘sponsored’ when they're relevant to both the query and the information in the AI Overview.”

Currently, AI Overviews and their ads are available only in the US. There is no way to disable AI Overviews in search results. This feature, rebranded as the Search Generative Experience (SGE), was released experimentally to beta testers in May 2023.