Issue 2
Google puts ads in AI Mode in India
My take
This week Google started showing ads inside AI Mode in India. It was expected: AI Mode has taken over a good chunk of the space where we used to see paid search ads. What worries me is the hurry. AI Mode's answers still need a lot of work compared with ChatGPT's, and pushing ads in before fixing that could push users further towards ChatGPT. For advertisers, though, it's additional real estate, and a welcome move.
Meta, meanwhile, explained the AI that now picks which ads people see. I strongly feel Meta is blurring the line between organic and paid content. People engage with your ad when the message fits, when it isn't in their face, and when the purchase intent is hidden behind something useful, just like organic content.
The big one
Your Search ads can now show inside AI Mode in India
On 28 October Google started rolling out ads in AI Mode to India and nine other markets, with the UK, Brazil and Mexico next. You don't set anything up: your existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns qualify automatically. It's English only, you can't opt out separately from Search, and results are mixed into your normal Search numbers, so watch the search terms report. If you only use exact and phrase match, you'll mostly miss it, because those keywords only show on clearly commercial questions.
Also this week
Meta's AI now reads what's in your ads, and scores how varied they are
Meta upgraded the systems that choose which ad each person sees: Andromeda builds the shortlist, GEM learns what people respond to, and a new model, GenRecs, reads each ad's brand, colour and style. Nothing to switch on. The practical side is a Creative diversity column in Ads Manager that rates each ad set High, Medium or Low on how different its images and videos are. If yours say Low, add genuinely different ads, not ten versions of one.
Free AI video ads inside Google Ads
Asset Studio now makes video ads with Gemini Omni from your website, product photos or a brief, free, for Demand Gen, Performance Max and YouTube. It's a better format than text and images, but it's the low-hanging fruit, an easy way out. It won't get your message across the way you or your design team would with real effort, and it doesn't guarantee results. Test it as an extra asset, not a replacement.
Everything else that changed that week is on Performance Marketing News.
From Social Masla
Need more varied ads? See what's already working for your competitors. My guide shows how to let Claude go through the Meta Ad Library, pull every active ad from three competitors and group them by hook, angle, offer and format. Read the guide →
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