🔍 Read the full analysis: Inside Google’s Move To Take AI Search Ads Worldwide on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
Google is expanding ads in its chat-style AI Mode to 10 additional countries and adding ads to follow-up questions for US users. The move comes as Google Search advertising growth slowed to 12% in the third quarter; the effects on publishers and users remain uncertain.
Google said on October 28 it will expand ads in its conversational AI Mode to 10 more countries and begin showing them in US users’ follow-up questions. The expansion comes as Alphabet reported that Search & other revenue grew 12% in the July-to-September quarter, slower than in each of the prior three quarters.
The new markets for AI Mode ads 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. Its October 29 help-page listing covered 12 countries for ads in AI answers and specified English-language availability; Germany and other European Union countries were not listed.
In the United States, the change adds ads to follow-up questions in AI Mode, not just an initial query. Google describes this as “multiturn ads.” The company says advertisers’ existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can participate automatically. According to Google Ads Help, there is no separate targeting or opt-out for this placement, and reporting is provided in aggregate. Google also generates short explanations beside ads that advertisers cannot edit.
Google says ads in AI answers carry a “Sponsored” label and do not affect the AI-generated answer. The latter is Google’s claim; the source report says it found no independent audit of that separation. Google also reported that AI Mode searches average three times the length of conventional searches. Its claim that sponsored and organic product listings have similar click-through rates refers to internal US data from August 20 to September 3, 2026, and does not measure clicks to external websites.
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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Ads Follow Users Into AI Search
The expansion tests whether Google can make conversational search a larger advertising channel as more queries move from standard results pages into AI-generated responses. For advertisers, the change offers access to users’ longer questions and follow-up interactions, but the described automatic participation gives them limited control over this specific placement.
For publishers, a central concern is whether AI answers reduce visits to websites while advertising remains visible within Google. A randomized experiment involving 1,065 US users, described in a 2026 working paper by Agarwal and Sen, found that AI Overviews reduced website clicks by 39.8% when they appeared, while clicks on ads showed no measurable change. That result is limited to the study’s setting and is not proof of how the new AI Mode placements will affect traffic or publisher revenue.
For users, Google says the “Sponsored” label identifies ads. The company also says ads are separate from the answer itself, but the source material identifies no independent audit confirming that separation.
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From AI Overviews to Follow-Ups
Google’s AI Overviews are summaries shown in some standard search results; AI Mode is a separate, chat-style search experience that supports longer questions and follow-ups. Ads in AI Overviews began appearing for US mobile users in October 2024, according to Google’s timeline, and expanded to desktop in May 2025. Google also began testing ads in AI Mode that month.
At Google Marketing Live in May 2026, the company described tests of formats including “Conversational Discovery ads,” whose text can be tailored to a user’s question, and “Highlighted Answers,” where an ad can appear in a list of AI recommendations. The October announcement extends the geographic reach of AI Mode advertising and brings placements into later turns of US conversations.
Alphabet reported $63.4 billion in Search & other revenue for the third quarter, about half of its total revenue. The growth rate was 12%, compared with 17% in the preceding quarter, 19% in the first quarter of 2026 and 17% in the fourth quarter of 2025. On the earnings call, chief business officer Philipp Schindler cited exchange rates as the largest factor behind the slowdown and also pointed to lower monetization of AI Mode searches.
““The strong growth in AI Mode queries had an impact because of the lower monetization we were seeing in AI mode.””
— Philipp Schindler, Alphabet chief business officer, on the third-quarter earnings call
Controls, Labels and Traffic Effects
Google has not provided, in the cited material, a separate opt-out or targeting control for these AI placements in existing campaigns. It is also unclear how often an ad will appear in a given conversation, how the system selects one for a follow-up question, or whether the rollout will change advertiser costs or campaign performance.
The available click-through comparison is limited to Google’s internal data on sponsored and unpaid product listings within AI Mode during a short period in August and September. It does not establish the effect on visits to publishers’ websites. The working-paper experiment concerns AI Overviews, not the newly expanded AI Mode ads, so its results should not be treated as a direct forecast.
Google’s statement that ads do not influence AI answers has not been independently verified in the source material. The eventual country list and timing may also change: Brazil, Mexico and the UK were described as planned for the fourth quarter, while the cited help page did not list EU markets.
Rollout and Performance to Watch
Google’s next stated geographic step is a planned fourth-quarter 2026 expansion to Brazil, Mexico and the UK. Advertisers and users can watch for updates to Google’s country and language eligibility information as those plans develop.
After launch, relevant measures include advertiser reporting, user recognition of the Sponsored label, and changes in publisher referrals as more searches take place inside AI experiences. Google has not announced a timetable for independent evaluation or provided a public breakdown of ad performance across the new markets.
Key Questions
Where is Google expanding ads in AI Mode?
Google named Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. It said Brazil, Mexico and the UK are planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.
What are multiturn ads?
They are ads that can appear in follow-up questions within a US AI Mode conversation, rather than only in response to the initial query.
Can advertisers opt out of these placements?
According to Google Ads Help, existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns participate automatically, with no separate opt-out or targeting for the placement described. Reporting is provided in aggregate.
How does Google say users can identify an ad?
Google says ads in AI answers will carry a “Sponsored” label. Its separate claim that ads do not influence the AI answer has not been independently verified in the cited material.
Does the announcement show that publishers will lose traffic?
No. A 2026 working-paper experiment found fewer website clicks when AI Overviews appeared, but it studied AI Overviews, not the new AI Mode ad rollout. The effect on publisher traffic from these changes remains unknown.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
