Google is increasing ad placement within its AI interfaces to boost revenue as traditional search ads slow. The company notes that queries on Google have grown, but ad revenue growth slowed in the third quarter of 2026 due to user queries migrating to AI Overviews and AI Mode, which monetize less effectively. To address this, Google will scale ads in AI Mode to 10 new countries, including Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, and Singapore, with Brazil, Mexico, and the UK planned later in the year.

In the US, Google is introducing multiturn ads that can appear within follow-up queries in AI Mode when there is commercial relevance. Ads may appear on initial AI Mode queries as well, but some queries may not show ads if there is no purchase intent. This shift aims to better target products by leveraging information gathered during back-and-forth conversations. As ads expand in AI Mode, the tendency for users to click on traditional content links below the fold may decrease, reducing organic site traffic for publishers.

Experts warn that this approach could make it harder for users to find articles from preferred publishers within Google search results. Google’s AI tools are designed for ongoing dialogue and may direct users toward ads and AI-sourced answers rather than direct publisher links. Users who want traditional links can still scroll the results page or set up preferred sources to see more publisher pages in personalized results.

Google notes that AI Overviews and AI Mode are designed to provide summarized or interactive responses, potentially decreasing click-through to publisher sites as more information is supplied directly within Google’s interface. Publisher traffic has already declined since the May 2024 launch of AI Overviews, a trend Google attributes to shifting user behavior toward AI-generated answers.