Industry · Status at source date: Newsletter archive
Ads in AI Mode launch with three new formats: Conversational Discovery, Highlighted Answers, and Direct Offers
Google has officially launched Ads in AI Mode, a new generation of ad formats designed for the conversational, multimodal queries that now dominate AI Mode and AI Overviews. Glenn Gabe and Ginny Marvin both flagged the launch as the headline shift from the GML keynote.
What changed
The format is testing in the US in English, with Gemini powering creative that adapts to longer queries.
Three formats are being tested under the Ads in AI Mode umbrella.
Conversational Discovery ads generate ad creatives tailored to a specific search, such as "I am trying to make my house smell like those fancy spas or a rainy forest," surfacing relevant products with custom explainer copy built by Gemini.
Highlighted Answers lets relevant, high-quality ads appear as a Highlighted Answer when AI Mode provides a list of recommendations, such as the best language apps for a trip.
Direct Offers (expanded; see below) present exclusive discounts and bundles directly within AI Mode and Search at the point of buying intent.
All three formats are powered by AI Max and Performance Max. Importantly, the ad placements are clearly labelled as ads while being integrated into AI-generated responses: Google's positioning here is "ads that solve, not just show."
For you, this means Search Ads strategy needs to factor in three distinct opportunities: the conversational discovery moment, the curated list moment, and the high-intent offer moment: each requiring different creative inputs. The combination of AI Max + text customisation + AI Brief becomes the structural way to compete for these surfaces. Worth running a structured audit of which products and campaigns have the depth of feed data and landing-page coverage to qualify, then briefing creative teams on the conversational query patterns the formats are designed to serve.
Availability: Testing in the US, English.
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Original newsletter text and archive evidence
Ads in AI Mode launch with three new formats: Conversational Discovery, Highlighted Answers, and Direct Offers
Google has officially launched Ads in AI Mode, a new generation of ad formats designed for the conversational, multimodal queries that now dominate AI Mode and AI Overviews. Glenn Gabe and Ginny Marvin both flagged the launch as the headline shift from the GML keynote. The format is testing in the US in English, with Gemini powering creative that adapts to longer queries.
Three formats are being tested under the Ads in AI Mode umbrella.
Conversational Discovery ads generate ad creatives tailored to a specific search, such as "I am trying to make my house smell like those fancy spas or a rainy forest," surfacing relevant products with custom explainer copy built by Gemini.
Highlighted Answers lets relevant, high-quality ads appear as a Highlighted Answer when AI Mode provides a list of recommendations, such as the best language apps for a trip.
Direct Offers (expanded; see below) present exclusive discounts and bundles directly within AI Mode and Search at the point of buying intent.
All three formats are powered by AI Max and Performance Max. Importantly, the ad placements are clearly labelled as ads while being integrated into AI-generated responses: Google's positioning here is "ads that solve, not just show."
For you, this means Search Ads strategy needs to factor in three distinct opportunities: the conversational discovery moment, the curated list moment, and the high-intent offer moment: each requiring different creative inputs. The combination of AI Max + text customisation + AI Brief becomes the structural way to compete for these surfaces. Worth running a structured audit of which products and campaigns have the depth of feed data and landing-page coverage to qualify, then briefing creative teams on the conversational query patterns the formats are designed to serve.
Availability: Testing in the US, English.
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