New Delhi: Google has showcased the next generation of AI-powered tools at Google Marketing Live India, its flagship event for the advertising and marketing ecosystem. Designed to empower marketers in an increasingly complex digital landscape, the new innovations promise to reimagine the advertising experience—from creative development to campaign performance and measurement—using the full potential of Google AI.
With 80% of Gen Z relying on Google Search for shopping and research, the platform’s new AI features aim to make discovery more seamless, intuitive, and action-oriented. Among the highlights were Ads in AI Overviews, Performance Max updates, and AI-generated creative tools, many of which are tailored specifically for Indian brands and users.
Roma Datta Chobey, Managing Director – Digital First Businesses, Google India, said, “As consumer behaviour continues to evolve, with people searching, streaming, scrolling, and shopping across multiple screens, purchase journeys have become increasingly non-linear and complex. To help marketers navigate this landscape, our latest launches unlock further enhanced capabilities in scaling creative capacity with AI, delivering relevant messages at the right moments, and driving greater precision. Google’s full stack of AI-powered advertising solutions gives marketers new opportunities to drive profitability and deliver outcomes with unmatched efficiency.”
Cashify and Swiggy were among the early testers of several new Google AI ad solutions, with impressive results.
Arjun Choudhary, VP (Revenue & Growth – Head Food Delivery & Instamart), Swiggy, commented, “As a hyperlocal business, we prioritise quality over volume, while focusing on users across cohorts. Google has played a key role in helping us reach and engage them effectively. With Performance Max, we’ve delivered the right ads to the right users, driving new user growth while reducing costs. Testing Retention Mode has also helped cut re-engagement costs by nearly two-thirds, and we’re looking to scale this success across new business lines. Google AI is supporting every stage of our marketing – from accelerating creative production to smarter bidding and more effective measurement. These capabilities have helped us improve results while making our campaigns more efficient.”
Key Product Announcements and Innovations:
1. AI-Powered Creativity with “Generated for You”
Later this year, Google will launch the “Generated for You” feature in Product Studio. This tool identifies the most relevant products from a brand’s catalog and automatically creates high-quality images and videos aligned with the brand’s aesthetic. It also leverages trend data to suggest campaign concepts and seasonal themes.
2. Smarter Campaign Performance: AI Max and Retention-Only Mode
AI Max for Search, now available in India, enhances Search campaigns using insights from brand landing pages and keywords. Cashify reported a 15% increase in conversions during early testing.
Performance Max Retention-Only Mode, currently in beta, allows campaigns to target only existing customers. Swiggy saw a two-thirds drop in re-engagement costs with this feature.
3. Smarter Bidding: Smart Bidding Exploration
This is Google’s biggest bidding upgrade in a decade, increasing the range of unique, high-converting search queries by 18% for participating campaigns.
4. Discovery and Shoppability
Ads in AI Overviews, currently used by over 1.5 billion users globally, will roll out to Indian users later this year, integrating Search and Shopping ads in AI-generated summaries.
Shoppable CTV and YouTube Masthead: These formats allow users to engage with products directly through QR codes, “send to phone” features, and more, bringing inspiration and conversion closer than ever before.
5. Better Measurement with Meridian
The Meridian open-source MMM tool will now include an interactive planner and more frequent access to core performance metrics via API, enabling brands to optimize spend across channels more effectively.
6. Agentic AI in Ads and Analytics
Soon, advertisers will get AI assistants across Google Ads and Google Analytics. These agents will aid in onboarding, setup, optimization, and insight generation—proactively suggesting keywords, audiences, creative strategies, and campaign improvements with a simple interface and visual guidance.
With these updates, Google continues to position itself at the intersection of AI and marketing, empowering Indian brands with faster, smarter, and more intuitive tools to engage with digital-first consumers and unlock business growth at scale.
