🔍 Read the full analysis: Google’s AI Search Advertising Expands Beyond Early Markets on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Google said on October 28 that ads in its chat-style AI Mode are expanding to 10 additional countries, with ads also entering U.S. follow-up answers. The move comes as Google Search advertising growth slowed to 12% in the third quarter; the company says AI Mode searches currently generate less advertising revenue.
Google said on October 28 it is expanding advertising in its chat-style AI Mode search to 10 more countries and adding ads to U.S. answers to follow-up questions. The expansion comes as revenue from Google Search and related services grew 12% in the third quarter, down from 17% in the previous quarter, putting greater focus on how the company will earn from AI-driven searches.
The new AI Mode markets are Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. Google said Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom are planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. In the United States, ads can now appear not only in an initial AI Mode response but also in answers to subsequent questions in the same search conversation.
Google’s advertising formats also appear in AI Overviews, the summaries shown within standard search results. These are distinct from AI Mode, a separate conversational search experience. Google’s published timeline says ads in mobile AI Overviews began in the U.S. in October 2024; they reached desktop in May 2025, when the company also began testing AI Mode ads.
Google says the ads will carry a “Sponsored” label. Existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can participate automatically, according to Google Ads Help; advertisers have no separate campaign targeting or opt-out for these placements. Google’s system generates short explanatory text alongside ads, which advertisers cannot edit. Performance reporting is provided in aggregate rather than as a separate breakdown for each AI placement.
Infographic 01 · From test to global
The answer now carries the ad, in more places.
How Google moved ads into its AI answers in two years, where they show today, and the revenue pressure behind the move.
Where ads appear inside AI answers
Per Google’s help page and the 28 Oct post. The list “may not be exhaustive”.
Follow-up questions (“multiturn ads”): US only. Germany and the rest of the EU: not listed. Ads above or below AI Overviews can show wherever AI Overviews exist (200+ countries and territories).
Why now: Google Search & other revenue growth
Year over year, as reported by Alphabet. Bars scaled to 19%.
Q2 to Q3 2026: about +0.1%. Same months a year earlier: about +4.4% (my arithmetic). Google names exchange rates as the largest driver of the slowdown, and the “lower monetization” of AI Mode as one factor.
- 3 Oct 2024Ads inside AI Overviews go liveUS, mobile, after months of testing
- 21 May 2025Desktop in the US; first tests in AI ModeEnglish-speaking countries announced for later in 2025
- 20 May 2026New formats in testingConversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers, both with a Gemini-written “AI explainer”
- 28 Oct 2026AI Mode ads in 10 more countriesPlus “multiturn ads” in follow-up questions in the US; labeled “Sponsored”
- Q4 2026Planned: Brazil, Mexico, United Kingdom“Additional locales, including” these three
Sources: Google, 28 Oct 2026; Google Ads Help, accessed 29 Oct 2026; Google, 3 Oct 2024; Google, 21 May 2025; Google, 20 May 2026; Alphabet Q3 2026 release and the Q4 2025, Q1 2026 and Q2 2026 releases. “3× longer” is Google’s AI Mode report (US, May 2026). Quarter-on-quarter changes and bar scaling: Thorsten Meyer.
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A New Route to Search Revenue
The expansion creates more opportunities for Google to show commercial results inside AI-generated search experiences, including during a multi-question conversation. That matters to advertisers because their existing campaigns may reach users in these placements without a separate AI Mode campaign. It also raises questions for publishers whose businesses depend on referrals from search: if users get answers directly in Google, fewer may click through to websites, even if ads remain visible within the search experience.
One working paper by Agarwal and Sen, based on a randomized experiment involving 1,065 U.S. users, reported that AI Overviews reduced website clicks by 39.8% when they appeared, while ad clicks showed no measurable change. The finding is from a working paper, not a peer-reviewed study, and concerns AI Overviews rather than this newly expanded AI Mode rollout. It offers an indication of why publishers may watch the change closely, but it does not establish how the new placements will affect traffic or advertising outcomes across markets.
The financial backdrop is relevant but does not by itself explain the expansion. Alphabet reported $63.4 billion in Search and other revenue for July through September, about half of the company’s total revenue. Chief business officer Philipp Schindler said exchange rates were the largest factor in the slower growth and also cited lower monetization of fast-growing AI Mode searches. The new ad placements give Google additional ways to monetize those searches; their eventual contribution has not been disclosed.
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From AI Summaries to Conversations
Google’s rollout has proceeded in stages. It began showing ads in mobile AI Overviews in the U.S. in 2024 and brought them to desktop the following year. In May 2026, at Google Marketing Live, the company began testing additional formats, including ads with text tailored to a user’s question and ads highlighted within AI recommendations. The October announcement extends the advertising effort geographically and into later turns of an AI Mode conversation.
Google says AI Mode queries are, on average, three times longer than conventional searches. It has also said click-through rates for sponsored and unpaid product-list items within AI Mode were similar in internal U.S. data from August 20 to September 3, 2026. That comparison is limited to those product-list items and that period; it does not report how often users click through to websites or establish results in the newly added countries.
Search revenue growth slowed from 17% in the second quarter to 12% in the third, according to Alphabet’s earnings releases. Schindler also cited retail advertisers in Asia affected by the European Union’s end to a duty exemption for small parcels and a normalization in media and entertainment spending after a strong World Cup quarter. He described lower monetization of AI Mode searches as one factor, while identifying foreign-exchange rates as the largest driver.
“The strong growth in AI Mode queries had an impact because of the lower monetization we were seeing in AI Mode.”
— Philipp Schindler, Google chief business officer, on Alphabet’s third-quarter earnings call
Placement Results Still Unreported
Google has not disclosed how much revenue the new placements are expected to generate, how many users will see them, or what share of follow-up answers will contain ads. The company’s reported comparison of sponsored and unpaid product-list click-through rates does not measure clicks to external websites, and the cited data covers a short U.S. period rather than the international expansion.
It is also not yet clear how the ads will affect publisher traffic or advertiser performance across the new markets. Google says ads do not influence the AI-generated answer, but the material provided does not include an independent audit of that claim. Google says ads are labeled “Sponsored”; how users identify and interpret the placements in practice remains to be seen. As of October 29, Google’s help page listed 12 countries for ads in AI answers, with English-language availability; Germany and other European Union markets were not listed.
More Markets and Performance Data
Google’s next stated expansion is to Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom, which it plans to add in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company has not provided a more precise schedule in the announcement. Advertisers and publishers will be watching for information on regional availability, reporting tools and measurable effects on clicks and revenue as the rollout develops.
The next useful financial checkpoint will be Alphabet’s subsequent quarterly results, which may show whether Search growth or AI Mode monetization has changed. Until Google releases placement-specific figures, the scale of the new ad inventory and its effects on users, advertisers and publisher referrals remain uncertain.
Key Questions
Where are Google AI Mode ads expanding?
Google named 10 new markets: Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom are planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.
Will ads appear in U.S. follow-up questions?
Yes. Google said ads are being added to answers to follow-up questions in U.S. AI Mode, so an ad may appear later in a conversation as well as in an initial answer.
Can advertisers opt out of these placements?
According to Google Ads Help, existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns participate automatically. Google does not offer a separate opt-out or targeting setting for these AI answer placements, and reports results in aggregate.
How will users know an AI answer contains an ad?
Google says ads in AI answers will be marked “Sponsored.” The company also says advertising does not influence the AI’s answer, but the source material does not cite an independent audit of that claim.
Are AI search ads available in Germany?
As of October 29, 2026, Germany and other European Union markets were not listed on Google’s help page for ads in AI answers. Google has not announced a date for availability there.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
