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TL;DR
Google announced on Oct. 28 that ads in its chat-style AI Mode are expanding to 10 more countries, with ads also entering U.S. follow-up questions. The move comes as Google Search & other revenue growth slowed to 12% in the third quarter; Google said fast-growing AI Mode searches were less monetized. Advertisers are included through existing campaigns, while independent research cited by the source found AI Overviews reduced website clicks but showed no measurable change in ad clicks.
Google said on October 28 that ads in its conversational AI search feature, AI Mode, are expanding to 10 more countries, while U.S. users will also see ads in follow-up questions. The rollout comes as Alphabet reported 12% year-over-year growth in Google Search & other revenue for the third quarter, down from 17% in the previous quarter; the company cited lower monetization of AI Mode searches as one factor.
The new markets for AI Mode ads are Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. Google also said Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom are planned for the fourth quarter of 2026. In the United States, the change extends ads into later turns of a conversation: a user’s second or third question in AI Mode can carry an ad, not just the initial query.
Google’s advertising help information says existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can participate automatically. Advertisers do not get a separate targeting control or an opt-out for these placements, according to the supplied source material. Reporting is aggregated, and Google generates short explanations alongside ads that advertisers cannot edit. The company says ads in AI answers are labeled “Sponsored.”
AI Mode is a chat-style search experience; AI Overviews are generated summaries shown within ordinary search results. Google has previously introduced ads in AI Overviews in the U.S., first on mobile in October 2024 and then on desktop in May 2025, while testing ads in AI Mode. In May 2026, it also began testing formats called Conversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers, according to the source account.
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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Search Ads Follow the Conversation
The change puts commercial placements closer to the point where users receive an answer, rather than limiting ads to a conventional results page. For Google, that creates more opportunities to earn from longer, multi-part queries as people use AI search. It also comes while the company says those queries currently generate less revenue than conventional search activity.
For advertisers, the rollout offers access to placements across more markets but with limited campaign-level control, based on the information provided. For publishers, the concern is that an AI answer may satisfy a query without sending a visitor to a website, even as advertising remains visible within the search experience.
A working paper by Agarwal and Sen, described in the source material, reports a randomized experiment involving 1,065 U.S. users. When AI Overviews appeared, clicks to websites fell by 39.8%; the study found no measurable change in ad clicks. That is evidence from one study, not proof that every AI search placement has the same effect. The result nonetheless highlights a possible difference in exposure: fewer visits to sites while ads retain their place in the search experience.
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Slower Growth Meets AI Search
Alphabet reported that Google Search & other brought in $63.4 billion in the July-to-September quarter, about half of Alphabet’s revenue. The unit’s growth rate was 12%, compared with 17% in the second quarter, 19% in the first quarter and 17% in the fourth quarter of 2025. The supplied account calculates that revenue rose about 0.1% quarter over quarter, compared with about 4.4% over the same period a year earlier; those comparisons are its arithmetic based on Alphabet releases.
On the earnings call, Google chief business officer Philipp Schindler cited foreign exchange as the largest factor behind the slower growth. He also mentioned pressure on some Asian retail advertisers after the EU ended a duty exemption for small parcels, and normalized media and entertainment spending following a strong World Cup quarter. Schindler added that growth in AI Mode queries affected results because those searches had lower monetization.
Google says AI Mode queries are, on average, three times longer than traditional searches. It also reported that click-through rates for sponsored and organic product-list items in AI Mode were similar, based on its internal U.S. data from August 20 to September 3, 2026. That comparison concerns product-list interactions within AI Mode; it does not establish how often users click through to websites.
““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 the company’s third-quarter earnings call
Controls and Ad Separation
Google says ads do not influence the AI-generated answer, but the source material reports no independent audit of that claim. The company’s stated “Sponsored” label may help users distinguish paid placements, but the available information does not establish how consistently users recognize it or how ads affect trust in AI answers.
The longer-term financial effect is also unclear. Google has not provided, in the cited material, a separate revenue figure for AI Mode ads or a forecast for how quickly the format may close the monetization gap. The cited working paper examines AI Overviews, not the full set of new AI Mode placements, so its results cannot settle what the international expansion will mean for publisher traffic.
As of October 29, Google’s help page lists 12 countries for ads inside AI answers and says the placements are English only; Germany and other EU markets are not listed. The exact timing and availability of planned launches in Brazil, Mexico and the U.K. may change, and the source gives no confirmation that the plans have already been completed.
Rollout and Revenue Tests
Google’s announced next step is to bring ads in AI Mode to Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom during the fourth quarter of 2026, following the expansion to the 10 named markets. Advertisers and users will be able to see how the placements appear as the rollout proceeds, while Alphabet’s next earnings updates may provide further evidence about Search growth and AI Mode monetization.
For now, the practical points to watch are whether Google adds more countries or language support, whether it changes advertiser controls or reporting, and whether independent studies find similar effects on website visits and ad clicks. Google has not provided a separate performance breakdown for the new markets in the material cited here.
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 United Kingdom are planned for the fourth quarter of 2026.
What is changing for U.S. users?
Ads can now appear in follow-up questions in AI Mode, so a later turn in a conversation may include an ad as well as the initial query.
Can advertisers opt out of these placements?
According to the supplied account of Google Ads Help, existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns participate automatically, with no separate opt-out or targeting control for these AI placements. Reporting is aggregated.
How does Google say users can identify an ad?
Google says ads in AI answers carry the label “Sponsored.” It also says ads do not influence the AI’s answer, but the source material cites no independent audit of that claim.
Why does the rollout matter to publishers?
AI answers may reduce the need for some users to click through to websites. A working paper described in the source reported a 39.8% reduction in website clicks when AI Overviews appeared in an experiment with 1,065 U.S. users; it found no measurable change in ad clicks. The result is limited to that study and does not establish the effect of every AI search format.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
