Google is folding ads straight into its AI search answers. At Google Marketing Live 2026, the company detailed four Gemini-powered ad formats for AI Mode and Search, all carrying a "Sponsored" label, per its company blog. The pitch: instead of a static headline and a price, the model writes ad copy tied to whatever you actually asked.
Two formats lead in AI Mode. Conversational Discovery ads answer a specific query, and Highlighted Answers drop sponsored products into AI-generated recommendation lists. Both pair the advertiser's creative with an AI explainer that Google says it writes itself, not the advertiser. AI-powered Shopping ads do something similar for big purchases, generating a custom reason a given espresso machine or TV fits your search.
The bigger change is Business Agent for Leads. It swaps static contact forms for a chatbot trained on the advertiser's own website, so you can quiz a brand without leaving the results page. Google also expanded its Direct Offers pilot, which launched in January with Chewy, Gap, and L'Oreal, adding promo bundles and native checkout for merchants on the Universal Commerce Protocol.
Worth noting what's absent: Google hasn't explained how the "independent" explainer stays independent when it sits next to a paid placement. The conversational and shopping formats are in US testing now on mobile and desktop, per Search Engine Land. AI Mode recently crossed 1 billion monthly users, the surface Google now wants to monetize.
Bottom Line
Google's Conversational Discovery and Shopping ad formats are in US testing on mobile and desktop now, with AI Mode at 1 billion monthly users.
Quick Facts
- 4 new Gemini-powered ad formats announced
- Unveiled at Google Marketing Live 2026
- All formats carry a Sponsored label
- AI Mode: over 1 billion monthly active users (company-reported)
- Direct Offers pilot launched January 2026 with Chewy, Gap, L'Oreal
