A variety of ad innovations have been previewed by Google and they are powered by AI as they look to evolve its ad options in line with discovery trends and helping marketers maximize the opportunities of improved systematic understanding of consumer preferences.
Insights into these innovations were recently shared by Vidhya Srinvivasan, GM of Ads and Commerce at Google. They have come up with a new ad option which would showcase relevant products based on an AI answer. Google would soon be providing a new ad placement that would highlight relevant product matches which would align with its AI answers.
Google would soon be providing a new ad placement would be highlighting relevant product matches which align with its AI answers. These promotions would be marked as Sponsored so that there is no confusion regarding these paid placements but it could be a great way for brands to drive traffic based on Ai answers. This feature is currently in testing phase with plans of launching Ai answer ads later in 2026. It is also developing its Direct Offers option which let businesses offer promoted deals tailored to an AI response.
Now it would directly align promoted deals with Ai answers and provide another way for marketers to tap into the rise of Ai chatbot usage. It is also looking forward to expand its AI agent tools which would become a bigger consideration as more consumers would get accustomed to getting AI tools for undertaking tasks for them.
As per Google, UCP has standardized how businesses would connect with AI agents across entire shopping journey which includes the critical step of enabling secure digital identity and payments. It has improved shopping experiences on Google. UCP powered checkout is getting rolled out and is letting US shoppers buy items from Wayfair and Etsy, right in AI Mode in Search and Gemini app.
It would streamline connection within Ai chatbots which would let people to make purchases without leaving the chat stream. Google is also looking at improving its processes for connecting brands with relevant creators for collaborative promotions.
Open Call process which is right now being tested in U.S. lets brands to post request for UGC creative videos for finding relevant creators to partner with on promotions. It is also looking to expand this by using AI to better match brands with the creator communities that would be most open to their products.
In case these features work then you can expect other AI platforms to integrate as they all are looking to make more money for supplementing the larger costs of running AI infrastructure.
In 2026, Search would turn into a powerful tool for discovery where ads will inspire and answer all at once. They are reinventing ads which would bring together Search and AI experience. It would give businesses to fit naturally into the conversation. Google has been testing new ad formats which bridge inspiration and action. As per research, AI mode provides a more helpful shopping experience where users will be able to easily compare a variety of stores and brands.
A new ad format is being tested for showcasing retailers that offer products which are marked as sponsored. This new format would be helping shoppers easily find convenient buying options and give retailers the opportunity to show up in the major moments of consideration. Also, they are testing similar formats in categories beyond retail like travel which would help people find relevant products and services. Direct Offers, a new monetization experience has been introduced in AI mode which would be helping brands to stand out in the moment which matters.
With more people getting information from AI answers, let us see how people will approach AI search.
