Google does not exclude ads in Gemini

The second is advertiser tools. If you’re a small business, you’re not thinking about all the queries people will type. AI is great at knowing what keywords to use, what the optimal design is, and generating all of that.

The third part is the latest: announcements in new experiences. Our general philosophy is to build a great consumer product, then figure out how to monetize it. Since the business is so strong and healthy, this is a luxury we have.

What have you learned from experiments with ads in AI mode?

Ads are always separate from organic results and clearly labeled. If we do not believe an ad is appropriate, we do not display any ads. Perhaps the biggest principle of all is that advertising should be useful.

What I showed (AI mode ads) is mostly intuitive stuff. If it is relevant, the user will click on it. If not, they won’t do it.

In Davos, Demis Hassabis said Google has no plans to bring advertising to Gemini. How do you think about it now?

The reason we focus on AI-placed ads and AI Insights is because we see them as extensions of the search experience. It is the most natural place for us to conduct initial experiments.

I expect that the lessons we learn from ads in AI mode will likely carry over to what we might want to do in the Gemini app in the future. We’re able to get all of these lessons within a context and structure that users already know about ads. It’s weird to say, but our research shows that users actually like ads within the context of search. Over time, we’ll figure out what makes sense for Gemini.

So you guys aren’t ruling out ads in Gemini completely?

No, we are not ruling them out. It’s not where we were focusing.

Gemini is a huge producer now, it’s growing very quickly. OpenAI is already experimenting with advertising in ChatGPT. What makes you think Gemini isn’t ready for ads?

We are very happy with how much it has grown. I would say it’s just a prioritization question – what’s the right area to focus on now?

Do you think OpenAI introduced ads too early?

It’s hard for me to say. I think it will really depend on how they do it. What we’ve seen is that when we do advertising right, it builds up on the product experience. But the really important thing is to do it right, and that means relevance, quality, and not placing ads where users don’t want to see ads.

It’s hard to do. We have over 20 years of experience learning how to do this. It’s not a matter of timing as much as it is a matter of doing it right, and in a way that respects users.

Google recently launched the Personal Intelligence feature in Gemini and AI mode. I imagine advertisers would love to have that data. How do you think about that?

Interpersonal intelligence is incredibly useful. For example, I was skiing and couldn’t see well through my goggles, and it was cloudy. I asked AI Mode a somewhat vague question about which lens I needed for the conditions. From my email, I was able to determine which resort I was staying at, which mountain I would be skiing, and what the weather was like. It also contained a receipt my wife sent me for my goggles, showing that she had bought me an extra lens. It’s like hidden magic.