Google Takes AI Mode Ads to 10 More Countries, Including India, and Starts Showing Them in Follow-Up Questions in the US

Google is putting ads into more AI answers before it has shown advertisers much evidence beyond its own. On October 28 it said it is scaling ads in AI Mode, its conversational search tab, to 10 more countries: Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. Brazil, Mexico and the United Kingdom are planned for the fourth quarter.

In the United States, Google is adding multiturn ads, which can appear in follow-up questions rather than only the first query in an AI Mode conversation. Ads will be labelled "Sponsored," wrote Shashi Thakur, who runs Google's search ads.

Google's case, in Google's numbers#

Google's argument rests on two data points from its own research. It says AI Mode queries are on average three times longer than traditional searches, a figure from a US report dated May 2026, and that click-through rates are already similar between sponsored and organic product listings inside AI Mode, citing internal US data from August 20 to September 3. It has said AI Mode queries were more than three times longer since its first usage disclosure in May.

The expansion landed the same day as Alphabet's third-quarter results, in which Google Search and other revenue rose 12% to $63.4 billion and chief executive Sundar Pichai said AI investments were driving search query growth to its fastest rate in five years. Google's blog post did not link the ad expansion to the results, but chief business officer Philipp Schindler announced it on the earnings call. TechCrunch notes that Search revenue growth slowed from 19% in the first quarter to 17% in the second and 12% in the third, and that Alphabet shares fell 8% after the results.

Advertisers cannot opt out or measure it separately#

Google's help page for advertisers explains why outside evidence is scarce. Existing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns are automatically eligible for ads inside AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no new campaign or budget needed. Advertisers cannot target AI Mode alone or opt out of it separately from Search. Results from these placements are included in aggregate in standard campaign and search-term reports, not broken out.

Some ads are also shown with "AI explainers," short texts written by Gemini that link an ad to the user's question. Google says advertisers "can't manually write, edit, approve, or opt out of them." For now the in-answer ads run only in English, and in Pakistan only text ads are shown, the page says.

Taken together, the expansion is automatic for advertisers in these countries, and the performance data they receive does not separate AI Mode from ordinary search. Advertisers in India and the other new markets will not be able to test Google's click-through claim with their own campaign reports. That leaves Google's internal research as the main evidence.

OpenAI is moving the same way inside ChatGPT, where it said this month it would test ads during image generation.

Limits#

• The click-through comparison and query-length figure are Google's internal data; no independent measurement of ad performance in AI Mode is public.
• The help page describes current settings, which Google says change as it tests; the country list was read on November 2.
• Google did not give revenue figures for AI Mode ads or say how multiturn ads are chosen.
• Exact launch dates for the fourth-quarter countries were not given.

Sources#

• Google Ads Help: About ads in AI-powered experiences in Google Search (accessed November 2, 2026)
• TechCrunch: Google expands AI Search ads globally as core ad growth slows (October 28, 2026)
• Google: Ads in AI Mode expand to new markets (October 28, 2026)
• Alphabet: Third quarter 2026 results, Exhibit 99.1 (SEC, October 28, 2026)