The Paid Media Lowdown 

2024 has seen a surge in the evolution of AI–everything, from generative LLMs like ChatGPT and Copilot to full AI video and creative production, AI is everywhere. It has been no different within the paid media space with a raft of AI features and functionality creeping into platforms. Paid advertising platforms like Google Ads, Meta, and TikTok have all jumped at the chance to add new AI-driven features to their ad platforms to enhance the way ads are served and efficiently created.  

Nearly all platforms now have the ability to utilise generative AI to produce ad copy text, creative assets such as images or even video to be used in ads. Google is fully embracing its ability to utilise AI in its advertising platform, with recent updates to the likes of Google Merchant Center Next with Product Studio allowing end-users to produce generative AI backgrounds for products or utilise ML-based measurement modelling within GA4.  

This year has truly been the year we’ve seen the potential for AI in digital marketing, that said we can safely assume it is nowhere near its full use or potential. We envisage that 2025 will see an even greater shift towards AI-driven features and possibly even sweeping changes to the way that users search, interact and journey through to conversion.  

Here are some of the latest developments related to paid media and development in AI: 

Meta Cutting Reliance on Google in AI Search 

Meta has reportedly developed a search engine index for its own AI chatbot designed to reduce the reliance on Google for AI-generated summaries of current events. This suggests that Meta is evolving to the next stage of developing a fully independent AI search engine.  

Google Launches AI-Powered Search Summaries to Over 100 Countries 

Google’s AI-generated overviews in Search, which was initially launched in the US and is slowly phasing into the UK, is now available in over 100 countries which is estimated to be reaching around 1bn users monthly.  

Google has been slowly phasing in generative AI Overviews in search results across the US and various other countries users who have AI overviews and more turned on in Chrome over the last 12 months powered by its own generative Search Engine.  

The AI Overviews are a vast change to the way the SERP operates, with authoritative sites or information being cited in summary answers. Inevitably this may completely change the way that users interact with search results, and lead to zero-click searches (when a user gets the information, they need directly in the SERP). This also presents a challenge for paid visibility; however, Google does have plans to incorporate paid ads into AI Overviews over the coming year according to Google I/O 2024 – so we can expect to see changes in the way users interact with paid ads and SERPs over the coming year.  

Google AI Shopping 

In the US, Google is launching an AI-powered revamp of Shopping designed to personalise the online shopping experience. Google is launching AI-enhanced product searches and generating AI summaries based on user queries, dynamic filters for size, colour and availability options and AR-based virtual try-on tools.  

Google has said that they have paired over 45 billion product listings with their own Gemini models to transform the online shopping experience with a new personalised shopping home in the search results. It is being rolled out across the US over the coming weeks. 

Here’s how Google say it will work: A search for “Men’s winter jacket for Seattle” will provide an AI brief with the most important things you should know before investing in a new coat for this climate. They’ll show products recommended by sources across the web and an explanation of why they’re a fit for your needs. 

As you can probably tell, the search and digital marketing landscape is embracing AI and evolving at a rapid pace with sweeping changes that will change the way in which we search, purchase and interact online. 2025 looks to be an exciting, yet ever-more demanding year for paid advertising.  

Check out our November Webinar to keep up to date with the evolving paid media landscape.