INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Google has built an enormously successful business around the idea of putting ads in search results
Its most recent quarterly results showed the company made more than $50 billion from search ads, but what happens if AI becomes the dominant
form of finding information? Google is preparing for that possibility by testing chatbot ads, but you won't see them in Google's Gemini
Usually, AdSense ads appear in search results and are scattered around websites
Google ran a small test of chatbot ads late last year, partnering with select AI startups, including AI search apps iAsk and Liner.The
testing must have gone well because Google is now allowing more chatbot makers to sign up for AdSense
"AdSense for Search is available for websites that want to show relevant ads in their conversational AI experiences," said a Google
spokesperson.If people continue shifting to using AI chatbots to find information, this expansion of AdSense could help prop up profits
There's no hint of advertising in Google's own Gemini chatbot or AI Mode search, but the day may be coming when you won't get the clean,
ad-free experience at no cost.Google is racing to catch up to OpenAI, which has a substantial lead in chatbot market share despite Gemini's
This has led Google to freely provide some of its most capable AI tools, including Deep Research, Gemini Pro, and Veo 2 video generation
There are limits to how much you can use most of these features with a free account, but it must be costing Google a boatload of cash.
