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TL;DR
Google said Oct. 28 that ads in its conversational AI Mode search will reach 10 additional countries, with ads also appearing in U.S. follow-up queries. The expansion comes as Alphabet reported 12% year-over-year growth in Search & other revenue for the third quarter, down from 17% in the previous quarter; Google cited foreign exchange and lower monetization of AI Mode searches among the factors.
Google is expanding ads in its chat-style AI Mode search to 10 more countries and adding ads to follow-up questions in the United States, the company said Oct. 28. The rollout comes as Alphabet reported that Search & other revenue grew 12% year over year in the third quarter, down from 17% in the second quarter; Google said lower monetization of AI Mode searches was one factor behind the slowdown.
The new AI Mode markets 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. In the U.S., ads can now appear in answers to follow-up questions, extending advertising beyond the initial prompt in a conversation.
Google describes the change as “multiturn ads”: a person asking a question and then asking for more detail may see sponsored content during that exchange. The company says ads will be labeled “Sponsored” and that its AI-generated answer is not influenced by ads. Those are Google’s statements; the supplied material does not cite an independent audit of how ads and answers are separated.
For advertisers, participation is tied to existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns, according to Google Ads Help. The source says advertisers cannot opt out or separately target these AI answer placements, and that reporting is aggregated rather than broken out by this format. Google may also generate short ad explainers that advertisers cannot edit. These details matter because the rollout changes where existing campaigns can appear without offering advertisers a dedicated control for the placement.
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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AI Ads Meet Slower Search Growth
The expansion gives Google additional opportunities to show commercial links inside searches that may otherwise produce an AI-generated answer. That is relevant to advertisers seeking visibility in conversational search, but it also changes how users encounter paid results: an ad may appear within the answer flow rather than in a familiar list of search results. Google says the “Sponsored” label will identify paid placements.
The business backdrop is a deceleration in Search & other. Alphabet reported $63.4 billion in third-quarter revenue for the segment, up 12% year over year. In the previous quarter it reported $63.3 billion, up 17% year over year. Google’s chief business officer, Philipp Schindler, said foreign exchange was the largest driver of the slower growth and also cited lower monetization of fast-growing AI Mode searches. The figures do not show that the new placements will reverse the slowdown; they show why monetizing AI search is a business issue for Google.
Publishers also have reason to watch how the format develops. The source cites a 2026 working paper by Agarwal and Sen reporting that, in a randomized experiment with 1,065 U.S. users, AI Overviews reduced website clicks by 39.8% when they appeared, while ad clicks showed no measurable change. That finding concerns the experiment described in the paper, not every search or the new AI Mode rollout. It points to a possible tension: AI answers may reduce traffic to websites even if paid placements continue to attract clicks.
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From AI Overviews to AI Mode
Google’s AI search formats include AI Overviews, summaries shown within many standard search results, and AI Mode, a separate chat-style search experience that supports longer prompts and follow-up questions. The ad expansion announced Oct. 28 concerns AI Mode markets and U.S. follow-up queries, while Google has also placed ads in AI Overviews.
According to the timeline in the source, ads in AI Overviews began appearing for U.S. mobile users in October 2024 and reached desktop in May 2025. Google started testing ads in AI Mode that same month. At its May 2026 marketing event, the company introduced tests of formats including “Conversational Discovery ads,” in which Gemini generates ad text tailored to a question, and “Highlighted Answers,” which can place an ad among AI recommendations.
Google has described AI Mode queries as averaging three times the length of conventional searches and said click-through rates for sponsored and organic product-list items in AI Mode were similar. The source attributes those figures to Google and notes that the click-through comparison used the company’s internal U.S. data from Aug. 20 to Sept. 3, 2026. It compares paid and unpaid product listings within AI Mode, not clicks to external websites.
““The strong growth in AI Mode queries had an impact because of the lower monetization we were seeing in AI mode.””
— Philipp Schindler, Alphabet’s chief business officer, on the company’s third-quarter earnings call
Controls, Measurement and Trust
It is not yet clear how often people will encounter the new placements, how they will affect advertiser performance, or whether Google will later add placement-level reporting or controls. The source says campaigns participate automatically and that results are reported in aggregate, limiting an advertiser’s ability to isolate this particular format.
Google says its ads do not influence the AI’s answer, but the source reports no independent audit verifying that separation. The cited working-paper findings concern AI Overviews and a particular U.S. experiment; they do not establish how the new AI Mode ads will affect traffic across markets or websites. Google’s internal click-through comparison likewise does not measure clicks to websites.
Availability outside the announced markets remains uncertain. As of Oct. 29, the Google Ads Help page cited in the source listed 12 countries for ads in AI answers and specified English-language availability; Germany and other European Union countries were not listed. The source does not establish whether or when Google plans an EU rollout.
Markets and Metrics to Watch
Google’s stated next expansion is to Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom in the fourth quarter of 2026. Advertisers and publishers will be watching for further market launches, clearer reporting on where ads appeared, and evidence about how the formats affect clicks and campaign results.
The next useful financial comparison will come with Alphabet’s subsequent quarterly results, which can show whether Search & other growth changes as AI Mode use and ad availability expand. Until then, the company’s announcement establishes the rollout and its stated ad policies, but not the eventual revenue effect, user response or impact on publisher traffic.
Key Questions
Where are Google’s AI Mode ads expanding?
Google said ads are expanding to Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. It plans to add Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom in the fourth quarter of 2026.
What changes for U.S. users?
Ads can now appear in follow-up questions in AI Mode, not only in the initial search exchange. Google says those ads will carry a “Sponsored” label.
Can advertisers opt out of these placements?
According to the Google Ads Help information cited in the source, existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns participate automatically. Advertisers cannot separately target or opt out of the placements, and reporting is aggregated.
Why is the expansion happening as Search growth slows?
Alphabet reported 12% year-over-year growth in Search & other revenue for the third quarter, compared with 17% in the second. Schindler cited foreign exchange as the largest factor and also said lower monetization of AI Mode searches affected growth. The announcement does not establish that the new ads will reverse the slowdown.
Are ads influencing Google’s AI answers?
Google says ads do not influence the AI’s answer and says paid placements will be labeled “Sponsored.” The source does not cite an independent audit of the separation, so that remains a company claim rather than an independently verified finding.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
