Google Ads in AI Overviews - anyone seeing them?

neonlights

If you're running Google Ads and haven't checked your placements lately, now's the time. Paid ads are now showing up directly inside AI Overviews and AI Mode. Someone posted a screenshot on X showing sponsored ads sitting right in the AI-generated response-headline, description, brand logo, thumbnail, and a "Sponsored" tag. Looks identical to a standard SERP ad but embedded in the AI answer block.

This was first spotted back in November but it was spotty. Now it's clearly expanding. The obvious concern is user trust-people already ignore half the ads they see, and now Google is putting them inside the very content that was cannibalising clicks. That said, it also means they're chasing attention where it actually is. If your CTR's been dropping, this might be a new way to reclaim some of those lost impressions.

From a bidding and creative angle, I'm treating these like regular search ads for now, but the intent is different. Someone asking an AI question is likely in research mode, not buying mode. So the ad creative needs to match that-more educational, less "buy now." Also worth noting: this hasn't rolled out to all languages yet. No sightings in German results as of today. But it's coming.

Anyone here actually seen their own ads served in these placements yet? How are you handling bidding? Are you splitting them out as a separate campaign or just letting them run in the standard search campaign mix? This is going to hit activation rates hard if we don't get ahead of it.

wordweaver

AI Overviews cannibalising ad clicks? Yeah, that's a real thing. But the bigger truth is most ads were already getting ignored long before this AI nonsense showed up. If your CTR's been tanking, the issue didn't start with Google getting fancy - it started with your ads being rubbish.

ctrjunkie

Honestly not surprised they're shoving ads into AI overviews. Google was never going to let that revenue stream just vanish, were they? It's basically the same story every time - new feature, same old monetisation.

storyweaver

Anyone who thought Google was going to build a genAI feature and not monetize it was kidding themselves. Google is, apart from search, an ad network.

The rollout actually seems very strategic. They waited just long enough for users to get accustomed to the convenience of AI Overviews before quietly injecting ads in there.

We've been keeping an eye out if these placements are already showing up - so far, none yet. It feels it's going to be a black box placement for now. With no opt-out option for now, as well.

24fire

We're seeing ads pop up in roughly a quarter of AI Mode results now. PMax and AI Max campaigns are automatically in; standard Search isn't. Early numbers suggest nearly 20% higher engagement but over a third higher CPC. That margin eats into any efficiency gain pretty quickly. The real lever isn't bidding-it's asset quality and how deep the landing page goes. Treat it like a new channel where the content itself is the targeting.

buggedout

These have been live since late 2025 - just a gradual ramp as promised. To qualify, you're looking at broad match keywords or keywordless targeting (P-Max, AI-Max, DSAs). Anyone tracking performance differences yet?

analyticsjunkie

Oh joy, Google's AI feeding frenzy keeps expanding the menu. Been seeing this creep up for months, but lately it's like someone flipped a switch. Search, PMax, shopping - all fair game now. No need to tick some fancy "AI Max" or DSA box either. Just slap on broad match and watch your budget disappear into the void. Because of course that's the magic ingredient. Can't wait for Google to eventually tell us "broad match required for survival" in their next update.

buggedout

Still wondering if AI Max is mandatory for these placements. We ran three tests earlier this year - CPA jumped 40% each time. Hopefully they let standard search ads in soon. Anyone else seeing similar?

coopplayer

Honestly, the AI Max toggle in Search campaigns is such a subtle visual shift on the dashboard, but flipping it on changes everything about where your ad lands - suddenly it's sitting inside the AI Overviews, right in that glossy, curated space where brands either pop or get lost. Worth a test if you want your creative to live in that new, conversation-style environment.

marketingmule

Not seen that myself yet - most of my keyword sets are head terms and commercial intent. All the research-y queries get left to the SEO team. Anyone else still waiting for these to pop up in their accounts?

neonlights

finally, Google figured out that burying ads under a wall of AI fluff was a terrible activation strategy. They're chasing user attention to the only place people still look - the first few lines of the AI response itself.

Question is whether users actually scroll down to the ad placement, or if they just take the free info and bounce. If the answer's already in the first paragraph, click-through rates are going to be abysmal. We'll see if this actually moves the needle on conversion or if it's just a band-aid on a cannibalised search funnel

backlinker

Google's not stupid - they're not going to cannibalise their own ad revenue stream for the sake of a shiny AI interface. If anything, expect those placements to become the new premium inventory. I've been testing this with a local client's campaign and already saw impression data trickling through from 'AI Overview' placements in the last week. it's still early, but the auction dynamics are going to shift: fewer above-fold slots, higher CPCs for anyone who wants visibility in that AI-generated snippet.

The real question is how Google handles attribution when a user sees a brand in an AI Overview but clicks on a traditional ad result later. That's going to introduce a whole new attribution mess for local businesses running search campaigns. i'd bet they'll push harder on broad match and Performance Max to hide the granular data.

neonlights

As they say "AI is the best thing that could happen to search"