Google unveils generative AI boost to search

Google has shared an update on how it’s using generative artificial intelligence to boost its search and marketing tools.

During its Google Marketing Live event this week the company shared a number of updates including an example of how its search generative experience (SGE) could work.

Vidhya Srinivasan, vice president and general manager of advertising at Google, demonstrated how advertising could be integrated natively into experiences, presenting consumers with snapshot of what to do and how to buy it.

For example, searching for a trip to Hawaii with kids could throw up suggestions for what to do and enable follow-up questions such as help with sourcing a kids’ hiking backpack with relevant ads to make a purchase.

Srinivasan described it as an “opportunity to delight consumers with something highly relevant.”

She added that the new capability is in the context being “carried over from question to question” and the generation of an appropriate ad.

Demonstrating further, Srinivasan said the consumer then might ask “how easy is it for them to learn to surf” with the technology knowing that the question relates to kids and that the destination is Maui and presenting organic results and ads accordingly.

She said the company was enabling experimentation of the SGE via its Search Labs and that the new search experiences would be coming to United States customers in the near future.

The example of travel in Hawaii used GetYourGuide, which has also just unveiled its ChatGPT plugin, to demonstrate how AI could create copy that brings together the elements searched for by the consumer and the appropriate ads.

Google also demonstrated how AI could be used to create images for advertising campaigns through a new Product Studio tool.

The technology aims to help companies stand out through the creation of engaging imagery. For example, Product Studio enables marketers to add a description of how they want the background to look (e.g. beach, plants, mountains). The tool then provides four options to pick from.

The search giant said the tool will be available in English in the U.S. later this year. Further details and demonstrations of the launches are available on the Google ad and commerce blog.