This week, Google introduced new innovations in Search, including new ways to ask questions on Google and Lens, and the expansion of ads in Lens and AI Overviews. Think with Google sat down with Brendon Kraham, VP of search and commerce, global ads solutions, to get answers to the top questions advertisers are asking about the future of Search.
Thanks for speaking with us, Brendon. Google just announced some new Search innovations. Can you tell us about them and what they mean for advertisers?
Sure! Look, one of the primary reasons we started investing in AI decades ago was to make Search better. Each day, 15% of the searches on Google are new. What’s amazing is that this statistic has remained true for over a decade.1 But, there are still plenty of questions that never get asked by users. Maybe they don’t have time, or they don’t think Search will give them a helpful response. In that regard, Search is never truly solved, and AI is helping a lot, both in terms of the questions people can ask and the responses we give them. The better we get at this, the more helpful Search will be, and we think there’s lots of headroom here.
AI is expanding what Search can do. Search is no longer limited to text in the Search bar; you can search with your camera, your voice, or just circle what you see on your screen. For advertisers, this is great news. It means more opportunities to get in front of their customers. It gives us better signals of intent to connect people with relevant ads. And, most importantly, it gets consumers from discovery to decision even faster.
I’m particularly excited about visual search. I’m really enjoying using Google Lens to identify plants for a landscaping project I’m working on at home. It’s incredibly helpful. We already see that Lens is used for nearly 20 billion visual searches every month, making it one of the fastest growing query types on Search.2 You won’t be surprised to learn that younger users (ages 18 to 24) are engaging most with Lens.3 Today, we announced that you can start using Lens search with video and introduced a more helpful results page for Lens searches that shows key information about the product you’re looking for, including reviews, price comparisons across retailers, and where to buy.
Search is never truly solved, and AI is helping a lot, both in terms of the questions people can ask and the responses we give them.
AI Overviews, which enables people to ask more complex questions than ever before, is another game changer. Already people are asking longer questions, diving deeper into subjects, and uncovering new perspectives. This creates more opportunities for people to discover content from publishers, advertisers, and creators.
Sundar [Pichai, CEO of Google] recently called AI Overviews one of the most significant improvements to Search in 20 years. Why is this such an important innovation?
I think of AI Overviews as a supersmart, superfast librarian who has read everything on the web. You ask a question, and boom! It hands you a perfectly organised summary with the best information, highlighting the most important parts, and showing you links to explore the web and go further with your research.
It’s like Google Search with superpowers. It’s not just summarising; it’s actually understanding what you’re looking for and delivering a more helpful, more relevant response, every time. It brings the magic of an LLM (large language model) experience integrated with Google’s core Search systems, connecting you to high-quality results from the web.
I think of AI Overviews as a supersmart, superfast librarian who has read everything on the web.
Users are loving it. Since launching in the U.S., we’ve found that people who use AI Overviews search more and are more satisfied with their results; they visit a greater diversity of websites for help with more complex questions; and we even see higher engagement from younger users aged 18 to 24. In addition, when people click from search result pages with AI Overviews, these clicks are higher quality for websites — meaning users are more likely to spend more time on the sites they visit. And businesses get a chance to connect with those users in a more meaningful way, with ads that deeply match their needs. Now, when you search “how do I get a grass stain out of jeans,” you get a quick guide on stain removal with tips and tricks, plus an ad for a miracle stain remover that’s perfect for the job. It’s all about making search smarter and your ads more helpful.
The popularity of social platforms is on the rise. What does this mean for the role of Google Search in the purchase journey?
The fact is, today’s shoppers are open-minded. They’re looking for brands to understand their needs and provide relevant suggestions, but they aren’t necessarily set on a specific brand or product. They’re searching for things like, “best hiking boots,” “best rated EV cars,” and “luxury hotels in rome.” They’re very much looking to discover. Of course, discovery happens in lots of places: YouTube, social platforms, out-of-home advertisements, word of mouth. But decisions happen on Google Search.
Think about the last time you saw an ad for a product on social media. What was your immediate next step? You probably went to Google to learn more, to read reviews, and to explore different brands. The incidence of social-inspired, spontaneous purchases is low — most plan or research their online purchases. In fact, when purchases are socially influenced, consumers tend to use even more platforms to evaluate their purchase beforehand.4 From discovery to decision, people turn to Google because they trust it; consumers are more likely to say that they trust Google “to provide them with the most relevant information and content” as compared to other top online platforms.5
How much do all of these innovations really matter to advertisers?
They are a big deal. The beauty of Google Search is that people tell us exactly what they are looking for. And, to a business, that signal of intent is the most valuable signal in the world. It allows us to match what someone is looking for with a brand’s products at the exact moment they are looking for it. AI is expansionary for Search. Innovations like Lens and AI Overviews allow us to capture more searches and even stronger signals of intent that we use to connect highly qualified users with the most helpful ads. For an advertiser, it doesn’t get more important than that.
Discovery happens in lots of places. But decisions happen on Google Search.
After all, the same world-class AI that powers Search also powers advertising on Search, and it’s the reason we deliver the best ROI. When the proper measurement is applied, the impact of campaigns like Google’s Performance Max speaks for itself. In marketing mix models run by TransUnion among U.S. retail and consumer electronics advertisers, Performance Max campaigns drove 19% higher return on ad spend in 2023 than AI-powered and automated performance campaigns on the largest social platform by share of spend.6
We’ve been investing in AI for decades now, and our goal in doing so is to help our customers get more return on their ad spend and meet their business objectives. We want to help them build better ads, so they can build a better business.
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