Google’s Gemini AI could eventually become an advertising platform, with CEO Sundar Pichai hinting at “native ad concepts” during the company’s earnings call.
The big picture:
- Gemini currently offers a free tier and paid subscription options
- Pichai signaled potential future advertising integration
- The company plans $75 billion in capital expenditures this year to advance AI capabilities
What they are saying. “We always want to lead with the user experience and we do have very good ideas for native ad concepts,” Pichai told investors.
Why we care. Gemini represents a massive potential new ad platform with sophisticated targeting capabilities. Google’s $75 billion AI investment and hints of “native ad concepts” signal a strategic opportunity for early positioning in an emerging advertising ecosystem with billions of potential users.
Between the lines. While ads won’t appear in Gemini this year, Google’s ad-driven business model suggests monetization is likely inevitable. The company has already introduced ads in AI Overviews, indicating a potential roadmap for Gemini.
Bottom line. Google is treading carefully, prioritizing user experience while quietly exploring advertising opportunities in its AI offerings.
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About the author
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.
In 2008, Anu’s career started with
delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event – PPC Live and host of weekly podcast PPCChat Roundup.
She is also an international speaker with some of the stages she has presented on being SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna) and more.