Google to show advertisements in Search's AI-generated Overviews: Details

Google's AI Overviews will display related products available for purchase alongside answers. The advertised products will reportedly appear below a "sponsored" header

Google is introducing product advertisements in some of its AI Overviews. When a user searches for something, Google’s AI summaries will now show the answer accompanied by products related to the search query that the user can purchase. The advertised products will be visible below the “sponsored” header. Google spokesperson Craig Ewer told The Verge that the advertisements will only appear if a question has a “commercial angle.”

Google has been experimenting with advertisements in AI Overviews since May and is now beginning to roll them out. Additionally, Google is changing the formatting of AI Overviews. After testing in August, the company will now feature cited webpages more prominently on the right side of summaries, as this change has reportedly led to an increase in traffic to the supporting websites compared to the previous layout.

Advertisements will initially be shown in AI Overviews in the US on mobile. For context, Microsoft also displays advertisements in its Copilot chatbot.

Google is also introducing AI-organised search pages, which will present a customised results page with relevant information rather than just a list of links. This feature is currently available exclusively on mobile in the US for searches related to recipes and meal ideas.

What are AI Overviews?

AI Overviews provide users with concise summaries of information pulled from various sources on the web. By leveraging artificial intelligence, these overviews highlight key points and insights related to a user's query, making it easier to grasp complex topics quickly. The feature also includes cited webpages, allowing users to access additional details directly from reliable sources. It was announced at the Google for India event that AI Overviews in Search will be expanded to include Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, and Marathi. These AI Overviews is already available in Hindi.

Other notable features include AI-generated summaries of reviews in Google Maps and a new AI Overview with a video option for Search. This experimental feature, currently available in Search Labs, allows users to record a video using Google Lens within the Google app, providing AI-generated overviews based on the video's context.