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TL;DR
Google said on Oct. 28 that ads in its conversational AI Mode search are expanding to 10 additional countries, with ads also beginning to appear in US follow-up questions. The rollout arrives as Alphabet reported slower year-over-year growth in Search revenue and said lower monetization of AI Mode searches was one factor; the effect on publisher traffic and ad performance remains uncertain.
Google is expanding ads in AI Mode, its chat-style search service, to 10 more countries and adding ads to follow-up questions in the United States, the company said Oct. 28. The move places advertising in more parts of AI-generated search conversations as Alphabet reports slower growth in Search revenue and says AI Mode searches are currently less well monetized.
The 10 countries newly added to the AI Mode ads rollout are Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. Google also said it plans to bring the ads to Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company’s help information lists 12 countries for ads in AI answers as of Oct. 29; Germany and other European Union countries are not listed.
In the US, ads can now appear not only with an initial AI Mode response but also in later questions in the same conversation. Google Search ads chief Shashi Thakur announced the expansion. Google says the ads will be marked “Sponsored” and that advertising does not affect the AI’s answer. The latter is Google’s statement; the supplied source material identifies no independent audit of whether ads influence responses.
Advertisers do not get a separate campaign or a specific opt-out for these placements, according to Google’s Ads Help information. Existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can serve in the formats automatically. Google reports results in aggregate, and its AI can generate short explanations beside ads that advertisers cannot edit, the help information says.
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 the Search Conversation
The expansion matters because it moves ads further into an interaction that can resemble a direct answer rather than a list of links. In Google’s example, someone asking why a swimming pool has turned green receives advice on testing the water, cleaning the walls and vacuuming debris, alongside an ad for a pool vacuum. For users, that makes the “Sponsored” label an important distinction between paid placement and the AI-generated response.
It also raises questions for advertisers and publishers. Advertisers are included through existing campaign types, but the source material says they cannot separately target or opt out of the new placements. Publishers, meanwhile, depend in part on people clicking through from search results. A 2026 working paper by Agarwal and Sen, based on a randomized experiment with 1,065 US users, found that AI Overviews reduced website clicks by 39.8% when shown, while ad clicks showed no measurable change in that experiment. Those findings concern AI Overviews and the study’s test conditions; they do not establish the effect of this broader AI Mode rollout.
Alphabet’s earnings provide a business reason to watch the change. Google Search & other revenue was $63.4 billion in July–September, up 12% year over year, after growth of 17% in the preceding quarter. Alphabet said foreign exchange was the largest factor behind the slowdown and also cited lower monetization of AI Mode searches. The figures do not show how much revenue the new ad placements will generate.
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From AI Overviews to AI Mode
Google has been adding advertising to AI-assisted search in stages. Ads in AI Overviews—summaries shown above many standard results—went live for mobile users in the US in October 2024, according to Google’s earlier announcements. In May 2025, the company brought them to desktop and began testing ads in AI Mode, a separate, conversational search experience.
At Google Marketing Live in May 2026, Google began testing additional formats, including Conversational Discovery ads, in which Gemini generates ad text tailored to a query, and Highlighted Answers, which can place an ad within AI recommendations. The Oct. 28 announcement expands AI Mode ads geographically and adds US placements in follow-up queries; it does not, in the supplied material, establish that every previously tested format is now broadly available.
Google says AI Mode queries are on average three times longer than conventional searches and that click-through rates for sponsored and organic product-list items within AI Mode were similar. The company based that comparison on internal US data from Aug. 20 to Sept. 3, 2026. It compares paid and unpaid product listings inside AI Mode, not clicks to publishers’ websites.
“Google is launching multiturn ads “to allow ads in follow-up queries in AI Mode.””
— Shashi Thakur, who leads Google’s search ads business
Traffic and Ad Effects Remain Open
The announcement does not quantify how many ads will appear in AI Mode answers, how often users will click them or how much revenue the new placements may produce. Google has described its internal click-through comparison, but that data concerns product listings and does not establish how users respond to ads in conversational answers or what happens to publisher referrals.
The cited working paper offers evidence about AI Overviews in a randomized US experiment, not a direct measurement of this AI Mode expansion across countries. Its reported 39.8% decrease applies to website clicks when AI Overviews appeared in that study. The available material also does not show an independent test of Google’s claim that ads do not affect the AI answer. Availability in Europe, including Germany, is not listed as of Oct. 29, and Google’s plans for the named fourth-quarter markets remain future rollout intentions.
Rollout and Performance to Watch
Google’s next stated geographic step is a planned fourth-quarter 2026 rollout in Brazil, Mexico and the UK. Advertisers and users can watch for the feature to appear in eligible AI Mode experiences and for Google’s documentation to change as coverage expands.
Further evidence will be needed to judge the commercial and traffic effects: country-level availability, ad impressions and clicks, advertiser reporting, and independent measurements of visits sent to publishers. Alphabet’s next financial updates may also show whether Search growth changes, but the company has not given a revenue forecast for these placements. For now, the confirmed development is a wider ad rollout; its effect on user experience, publishers and Google’s advertising income is still being measured.
Key Questions
Where are AI Mode ads expanding?
Google named 10 new countries: 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.
Will ads appear in follow-up questions?
Yes. Google said ads are launching in US follow-up queries in AI Mode, so an ad may appear after the initial question as a conversation continues.
Can advertisers opt out of these placements?
According to Google’s Ads Help information, there is no separate opt-out for the placements. Existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can participate automatically.
How can users identify an ad?
Google says ads in AI answers will carry the “Sponsored” label. The company also says ads do not influence the AI’s answer, but the supplied material does not cite an independent audit of that claim.
Are AI search ads available across Europe?
Not according to Google’s help information as of Oct. 29, 2026. It lists 12 countries for ads in AI answers, while Germany and other European Union countries are not included.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
