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TL;DR
Google said on October 28 that ads in its chat-style AI Mode are expanding to 10 more countries, with ads also rolling out in US follow-up questions. The move comes as Search & other revenue growth slowed to 12% in the third quarter; Google says AI Mode queries are less monetized, while independent research cited in the source found fewer website clicks when AI Overviews appeared.
Google said on October 28 that it is expanding ads in its conversational AI Mode to 10 more countries and adding them to follow-up questions in the United States. The change puts sponsored placements into more AI-generated search interactions as Alphabet reported that Google Search & other revenue grew 12% in the third quarter, slower than in the previous quarter.
The new AI Mode markets are Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. Google said it plans to add Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom in the fourth quarter of 2026. In the US, ads can now appear not only alongside an initial AI Mode response but also in answers to follow-up questions in the same conversation.
The rollout covers two related Google features. AI Overviews are generated summaries shown within standard search results; AI Mode is a separate, chat-style search experience that supports longer questions and follow-ups. Google previously introduced ads in US mobile AI Overviews in October 2024, expanded them to desktop in May 2025 and began testing ads in AI Mode that same month, according to the source material.
Google’s advertising help information says existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns may participate automatically. Advertisers do not have a separate targeting control or opt-out for these AI placements, according to that guidance. Reporting is aggregated, and Google generates short explanatory text alongside ads that advertisers cannot edit. Google says ads in AI answers are labeled “Sponsored.”
Google also said AI Mode searches are, on average, three times longer than conventional searches, and that click-through rates for sponsored and unpaid product-list items in AI Mode were similar. The company’s comparison used its internal US data from August 20 to September 3, 2026; it concerns product-list items within AI Mode, not clicks from search answers to publishers’ 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 Move Further Into AI Search
The expansion adds advertising placements to Google search interactions that use generated answers. For advertisers, the new inventory offers access to users asking detailed questions. According to Google’s advertising guidance, campaigns may be included automatically, and advertisers do not have placement-level targeting or opt-out options for these AI placements.
For publishers, a key question is whether users who receive an answer on Google still visit the sites that supplied information. A 2026 working paper by Agarwal and Sen, cited in the source material, reported a randomized experiment involving 1,065 US users. When AI Overviews appeared, clicks to websites fell by 39.8%; the study found no measurable change in ad clicks. Those results apply to that experiment and do not establish effects across all searches, markets or AI features.
Google says sponsored placements are labeled and do not shape the AI-generated answer. The supplied material reports that no independent audit of this separation was found. The expansion therefore adds paid placements to more AI search interactions, while the extent to which users distinguish ads from generated information has not been independently assessed in the cited material.
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Slower Search Growth Raises Stakes
Alphabet reported $63.4 billion in third-quarter 2026 revenue from Google Search & other, around half of Alphabet’s total revenue, according to its earnings release. Growth was 12%, compared with 17% in the second quarter, 19% in the first quarter and 17% in the fourth quarter of 2025. The source’s author calculated that revenue rose about 0.1% from the second to the third quarter; that is the author’s arithmetic based on the company’s reported figures.
On Alphabet’s earnings call, chief business officer Philipp Schindler cited several factors behind the growth rate, including currency movements, changes in some retail advertisers’ spending and a normalization in media and entertainment advertising after a strong World Cup quarter. He also said growth in AI Mode queries affected revenue because those searches had “lower monetization” than other search activity. Google’s October ad expansion arrives against that backdrop, although the company has not said that the rollout alone will reverse the revenue trend.
Google’s advertising chief, Shashi Thakur, announced the country expansion and US follow-up placements. The source also reports that Google introduced tests of other AI advertising formats at its May 2026 Marketing Live event, including conversational ad text and ads highlighted within AI recommendations. The current announcement is a further geographic and product expansion, not evidence that every planned format is broadly available.
“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 earnings call
Traffic Effects Remain Unsettled
Google has not provided evidence in the supplied material showing how the expansion affects publisher visits across the 10 new markets or how the US follow-up ads perform over time. The cited experiment measured AI Overviews for a particular group of US users; it does not establish the effect of AI Mode ads or predict outcomes in other countries. Its finding that website clicks declined while ad clicks showed no measurable change should be read within that study’s scope.
It is also unclear how many users will see the new placements, how much revenue they will generate, or whether advertisers will be able to distinguish performance by AI placement when reporting is aggregated. Google says ads do not influence the AI answer, but the source material identifies no independent audit verifying that claim. The precise rollout dates in each new country were not specified.
Google’s help page, as described in the source and checked on October 29, lists AI-answer ads in 12 countries and says the feature is English-only. Germany and the rest of the European Union were not listed at that time. The planned UK expansion is separate from whether or when the feature will reach EU markets.
Country Rollout and Performance Data
Google’s stated next step is to extend AI Mode ads to Brazil, Mexico and the UK during the fourth quarter of 2026. The company has not supplied exact launch dates in the source material. Advertisers and publishers will be watching for information about availability, reporting and the effect on traffic and campaign results as the rollout proceeds.
The clearest indicators to track are whether Google publishes comparable performance data for the new markets, whether it adds controls or more detailed reporting for advertisers, and whether independent studies measure changes in clicks to websites alongside clicks on ads. Until such evidence is available, the confirmed development is the expansion itself; its broader commercial and publishing effects remain open.
Key Questions
Where is Google expanding AI Mode ads?
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 is changing for US users?
Ads are being added to follow-up questions in AI Mode, so sponsored placements may appear beyond the first question in a conversation. Google says these ads will be labeled “Sponsored.”
Can advertisers opt out of these placements?
According to Google’s advertising help information cited in the source, existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns can participate automatically, with no separate opt-out or targeting control for these placements. Reporting is described as aggregated.
Do AI Overviews reduce clicks to websites?
A 2026 working paper cited in the source reported that AI Overviews reduced website clicks by 39.8% in a randomized experiment with 1,065 US users. That result is specific to the study and should not be treated as a measured effect of the new AI Mode rollout.
Are ads in AI answers available in Europe?
The source says Google’s help page listed the feature in 12 countries and specified English-language availability as of October 29, 2026. Germany and other EU countries were not listed; Google’s planned UK rollout does not confirm EU availability.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
