What to know about ads in Google’s AI Overview
In early October, Google announced it was rolling out ads in its AI Overviews, and after weeks of anticipation, marketers are finally seeing these placements in action. As of early November, these placements have only been spotted on mobile, but desktop placements shouldn’t be far behind.
Image source: Search Engine Land
How to secure AI Overview ad placements
According to Google, marketers don’t have to do anything to their current campaigns to access this prime ad real estate. If brands are running search, shopping, or Performance Max campaigns, their ads are eligible. If an ad is relevant to both the search query and the information in the AI Overview, it can be featured in a “sponsored” section at the bottom of the overview.
That said, to increase chances of showing up here, Collective Measures recommends revisiting broad match and Performance Max to see if they make sense for your goals. Referred to as the “Power Pair” by Google, these are two powerhouse tools in Google’s AI-driven arsenal. Broad match keywords increase the possibility of capturing long-form and unique queries, which can be incredibly helpful as 15% of queries have never been searched before, according to Google. On the other hand, Performance Max campaigns provide vast placement opportunities across Google’s search, display, and YouTube inventory. When leveraged together, they provide the best opportunities to increase the chance for a brand’s ads to appear within the AI Overview placement.
While the “Power Pair” has seen strong results across many brands, it works best for brands in ecommerce, technology, travel, and education. Brands in highly regulated industries with more strict advertising guidelines such as finance, healthcare, and legal services can still use Performance Max campaigns and broad match keywords effectively, but negative keyword lists and careful performance monitoring is advised.
What marketers should know
AI Overview ads aren’t stealing the spotlight from traditional placements just yet, but they’re a placement marketers should keep an eye on as Google’s search landscape continues to evolve. As AI Overview ad inventory becomes more accessible, advertisers who have adopted the “Power Pair” strategy are in a great position to benefit from their ads having greater opportunity to appear in this placement. If your brand has yet to implement Google’s AI tactics such as broad match or Performance Max campaigns on Google Ads, it’s never too late to test. AI-powered strategies are the future of search and there’s never been a better time to embrace this trend.
It’s also worth noting that ad measurement within AI Overviews is lagging behind the launch of this new ad format. Currently, Google isn’t providing performance metrics for the AI Overview placement, so marketers will not be able to report on ads in this space. However, we anticipate this will eventually change as the inventory becomes more commonplace. For now, these ad placements will likely impact top-of-funnel awareness and consideration strategies more than bottom-funnel conversion strategies. This means that marketers who are utilizing top-of-funnel strategies should aim to maximize their chances of serving in the overview.
