Google has rolled out its AI-powered advertising tools in India, following a US debut earlier this year. The move comes as India scrapped its 6% digital ad tax in April, opening the floodgates for major global tech players.
The “Generated for You” tool in Product Studio uses AI to create images and videos from shopping catalogs. Smart Bidding Exploration is another new feature, using AI to identify and bid on new leads merchants usually miss. Google also added agentic AI features to Ads and Analytics.
Dan Taylor, Vice President for Global Ads at Google, said:
"These agentic tools can learn from advertising inputs, including datasets, landing pages, assets, and real-time campaign performance, to take the guesswork out of achieving business goals."
Google’s AI Max for Search Campaigns learns from landing pages and existing ads to boost search ad performance. Early tester Cashify reports a 15% rise in conversions and 12% lower customer acquisition costs.
Google is also bringing ads to AI Overviews and launching shoppable connected TV ads on YouTube in India. YouTube’s mobile masthead ads will also go live locally.
Roma Datta Chobey, managing director of Digital Native Industries at Google India, said:
"India is such a thriving digital ecosystem. We have the largest number of users who are actively trying and testing our products. So, that’s really the reason behind us getting these innovations to India faster."
Google confirmed the new AI-powered features support Hindi and include detailed urban/rural filters for better targeting. India’s digital ad market is projected to grow over 20% annually, nearing $7 billion by the end of 2025.
In FY24, Google’s India ad revenue rose 11% YoY to ₹312.21 billion ($3.6 billion), with net advertising revenue up 18% to ₹27.43 billion ($320 million).
