Ads in AI Overviews are now live. On 3 October 2024, Google started showing Search and Shopping ads inside its AI-generated answers for mobile users in the US. If you run Google Ads, your existing campaigns may already be eligible. If you work in SEO, you now have one more thing sitting near the top of the page, close to your organic links.
In this article I’ll explain what Google actually announced, how these ads get picked, what you can and can’t control, and what I’d do this month as an advertiser and as a site owner.
What Google Announced on 3 October 2024
Google shared the news in two posts on the same day: one on its Ads and Commerce blog and one on its Search blog. The ads part is short, so here are the confirmed facts.
- Where: mobile search results in the US only, for now.
- What: Search ads (text ads) and Shopping ads (product ads with an image and price).
- Placement: ads can show above and below the AI Overview, and also inside it, in a section labelled “Sponsored”.
- When they show: only when the ad is relevant to both the search and the information in the AI Overview.
- Which campaigns: ads come from existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns. Google says advertisers don’t need to do anything to be eligible.
Google says this follows several months of testing, and that people found the ads helpful in those tests. It did not share any numbers on clicks or conversions.
Google’s own example is a search about how to get grass stains out of jeans. The AI Overview explains the steps, and Shopping ads for stain remover products appear right inside that answer. You can read the full announcement on the Google Ads and Commerce blog.
Shopping Ads Are Coming to Google Lens Too
The same announcement covered Google Lens, the tool that lets you search with your camera. Google says Shopping ads will appear above and alongside Lens visual search results by the end of 2024.
If you take a photo of a backpack in a shop window, Lens tries to match the exact product and can show ads for it. Google also said Lens gets close to 20 billion visual searches a month, with about 20% of them shopping-related. For online stores, that is a second new ad surface to watch.
A Short History: From SGE Tests to a Live Rollout
This didn’t come out of nowhere. Google showed ads alongside AI answers back when the feature was still called Search Generative Experience (SGE), the Search Labs test I covered in my Google I/O 2023 SGE explainer.
When AI Overviews launched in the US in May 2024, ads could appear above and below the overview. At Google Marketing Live in May 2024, Google said it would soon test Search and Shopping ads inside AI Overviews as a small experiment in the US. The October rollout is that experiment becoming a normal part of US mobile results.
The timing also makes sense from Google’s side. AI Overviews take up a lot of screen space on mobile. If ads only sat above the overview, they would sit further away from the part people actually read.
How Ads in AI Overviews Work
The key point is that there is no new campaign type, no separate placement, and no special bid. Google takes ads from the campaigns you already run and decides if one fits the AI answer.
Relevance to Both the Query and the Answer
Normal search ads are matched mainly to the search term. Here, Google says the ad must be relevant to the search and to the content of the AI Overview. That’s a different idea.
Think about the grass stain example. The person didn’t search for “buy stain remover”. They asked how to fix a problem. The AI Overview mentions treating the stain with a product, and that creates room for a product ad. In my view, this is where these ads will matter most: informational searches that used to show few or no ads.
Which Campaign Types Can Show
Google names three sources:
- Search campaigns that use Google’s AI-powered features.
- Shopping campaigns that pull products from your Merchant Center feed.
- Performance Max, the automated campaign type that runs across Google’s channels.
Google has described eligible Search campaigns as “AI-powered” but hasn’t published a full checklist of exact settings. Broad match keywords and keywordless targeting are a likely fit, because the matching is based on meaning rather than exact words. I’d treat that as a reasonable guess, not a rule, until Google documents it.
What You Can’t Control Yet
Based on what Google has shared so far, a few things are missing:
- The announcement mentions no setting to opt in or opt out of this placement.
- It describes no separate report that shows how your ads performed inside AI Overviews.
- There is no separate bid for the placement. You pay the same way as for other search ads.
For most advertisers, that means your AI Overview ad results are mixed in with your normal search results. I don’t love that, because it makes it hard to tell if this placement is helping or wasting budget. But it’s also how Google has rolled out many new placements in the past, so I’m not surprised.
Ads in AI Overviews vs Regular Search Ads
Here is a simple side-by-side of what changes and what stays the same.
| Question | Regular search ads | Ads in AI Overviews |
|---|---|---|
| Where they show | Top and bottom of the results page | Above, below or inside the AI Overview |
| Main trigger | Search term and your keywords | Search term and the AI answer’s content |
| Markets (October 2024) | All Google Ads markets | US, mobile only |
| Setup needed | Campaign and keywords or feed | None beyond eligible existing campaigns |
| Label | Sponsored | Sponsored |
| Separate reporting | Yes, standard reports | Not announced |
What Advertisers Should Do Now
You don’t need to rebuild anything. But a few checks will help you understand if your ads are showing there and if that spend is useful. This is the order I’d follow.
- Check your campaign types. List which of your US campaigns are Search, Shopping or Performance Max. Those are the ones that can show in AI Overviews on mobile.
- Review your search terms report. Look for more question-style and “how to” searches on mobile from early October onwards. That’s often where AI Overviews appear.
- Add negative keywords where needed. If question searches are spending money without results, negatives are still your main tool, since there’s no placement opt-out.
- Clean your Merchant Center feed. Shopping ads inside AI Overviews depend on Google matching your product to the answer. Clear titles, correct categories and full product details help that matching.
- Segment by device. Compare US mobile performance before and after 3 October. It’s not a perfect test, but it’s the closest view you have right now.
- Annotate the date. Mark 3 October 2024 in your reporting so future you knows why mobile numbers may have shifted.
One habit I’d recommend: search your own top informational queries on a phone, while in the US or using a US-based device setup, and see what shows. You won’t see everything, because ads and AI Overviews change with each search. But it helps you understand what your buyers see.
Writing Ads That Fit an AI Answer
Your ad now sits next to, or inside, an answer to a question. An ad that reads like a solution to that problem will likely fit better than one that just repeats your brand name.
For responsive search ads, I’d make sure some headlines describe the problem you solve in plain words. For example, a carpet cleaner brand might add “Removes Red Wine Stains” alongside “Shop Our Cleaners”. It’s simple, but it makes the ad match the kind of question people ask.
What It Means for SEO and Organic Clicks
This is the part most site owners care about. AI Overviews already push organic results down the page on mobile. Ads above, below and inside the overview add more paid content before a searcher reaches the blue links.
Informational Content Faces More Competition
For years, how-to and question searches had fewer ads than buying searches. That made them a safe place for blogs and publishers to earn traffic. With Shopping ads appearing inside answers to practical questions, that gap is getting smaller.
I don’t think this means informational content is dead. People still click to read full guides, compare options and check details. But I would expect fewer easy clicks on short, simple answers, and more value in content that goes deeper than a summary can.
Better Links Inside AI Overviews
There was some good news for publishers in the same week. In its October 2024 Search update, Google said it is rolling out a new AI Overviews design with more visible links to websites inside the text. Google says this design sent more traffic to supporting sites in its tests, though it didn’t share numbers.
Google also started rolling out AI-organized search results pages in the US, beginning with recipes and meal ideas on mobile. These group articles, videos and forum posts into one page. If you run a food site, it’s worth checking how your pages appear there.
How to Track the Effect
Search Console doesn’t separate AI Overview clicks from normal web results. So you have to look for patterns instead. Here’s what I check:
- Mobile vs desktop clicks for your informational pages, since the ads are mobile only.
- Click-through rate (CTR), the share of impressions that become clicks, for question-style queries. A falling CTR with steady impressions can point to more content above your result.
- US vs other countries, because the ads are US only for now.
- Your own searches on mobile for your top queries, to see if Shopping ads now appear in the answer.
Keep in mind that clicks also move with seasons, core updates and normal ranking shifts. When I see a drop, I always check those causes before blaming one new feature.
Is This Good or Bad for Users and Businesses?
My honest opinion is that it’s mixed, and it depends on who you are.
For advertisers, it opens a new place to reach people earlier, while they’re still learning about a problem. That can be useful. The downside is less control and less clear reporting, at least for now.
For publishers and small content sites, it’s more pressure on clicks from searches that used to be mostly organic. When AI Overviews first launched, some answers were plainly wrong, which I covered in my article on AI Overviews odd answers. Putting ads into those answers raises the stakes for Google to keep quality high.
For searchers, Google says the ads are clearly labelled and only show when relevant. The “Sponsored” label matters here, because ads inside an AI answer could feel like part of the answer if they weren’t clearly marked.
There’s also the wider context. In August 2024 a US court ruled that Google holds a monopoly in general search and search text ads, which I explained in my piece on the Google search antitrust ruling. That case is still moving toward a decision on remedies, so how Google expands ad space in search will get a lot of attention.
Common Questions I Expect From Business Owners
Will My Ads Show in AI Overviews Outside the US?
Not yet. Google’s rollout is for US mobile users only. AI Overviews themselves are available in a few more countries, but the ads inside them are US only for now. I’d expect wider rollouts later, but Google hasn’t given dates.
Do I Need a Bigger Budget?
Not by default. These ads draw from the same campaigns and budgets you already have. If anything, I’d watch whether new mobile question searches are eating budget that used to go to stronger buying searches.
Should I Change My SEO Strategy Because of This?
I wouldn’t make big changes based on one ad rollout. I would keep building content that answers questions well and goes beyond what a short summary can give. I’d also make sure product pages and feeds are in good shape, because Shopping results now show up in more places.
Conclusion
Ads in AI Overviews are now part of US mobile search. Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can show there with no setup. There’s no announced opt-out and no separate report yet. For advertisers, the job right now is to watch mobile search terms, use negatives, and keep feeds clean. For SEOs, it’s to track mobile CTR on informational queries and keep making content worth clicking.
If you haven’t looked at how AI Overviews work in the first place, start with my guide to the AI Overviews launch and what it means for clicks. Then search a handful of your most important questions on a phone this week and note what you see.
