Google is bringing ads in AI Mode to 10 new countries, including India. This means Indian users will soon start seeing sponsored results in AI-generated answers, particularly when searching for products or shopping recommendations.
Google AI Mode to Show Sponsored Ads in India
According to Google's official blog post, ads can appear directly within or alongside AI Mode’s answers when searches have a shopping or commercial angle. For example, if you ask AI Mode for the best running shoes under a certain budget, you might see sponsored product listings in the response.
The good news is that these ads will be clearly labelled “Sponsored”, so users will be able to tell them apart from regular results. Google also says it will keep testing new ad formats to keep them “helpful and relevant.”
Moreover, Google is launching multi-turn ads in the US. These ads show up in responses to AI Mode's follow-up questions, meaning ads won’t just appear in the first query anymore. For now, multi-turn ads are limited to the US, but they could expand to other markets later.
Google first started showing ads in AI Mode in the US in May 2025. Now, it’s rolling them out to more countries in two phases. Here’s the full list:
| Roll out Phase | Countries |
|---|---|
| Rolling out now | India, Australia, Canada, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore |
| Will roll out in Q4 2026 | Brazil, Mexico, United Kingdom |
Google announced the expansion alongside Alphabet’s Q3 2026 earnings. Revenue from Search and other services grew 12% year-on-year to about $63.4 billion, but that’s a big slowdown from 17% growth in the previous quarter.
Google’s Chief Business Officer, Philipp Schindler, said that AI Mode, which shows fewer ads than a regular search results page, was one of the reasons for the slower growth. “The strong growth in AI Mode queries had an impact,” he said. That said, he added, “we feel very good about our trajectory here.”
Google also says people are comfortable with ads in AI Mode. According to its internal US data, click-through rates for sponsored and organic product listings in AI Mode are already similar. So, if you use AI Mode for shopping searches in India, expect to see a few sponsored results soon.
Related Articles
