Google unveils new AI tools to support marketers at Google Marketing Live India

Google showcased a series of new AI-powered advertising and marketing tools at its annual Google Marketing Live India event, outlining how brands can adapt to evolving consumer behaviour through automation, creative enhancement, and improved measurement.

With 80% of Gen Z in India using Google Search for shopping, discovery, and research, the company emphasised the growing role of AI in creating more relevant, engaging, and measurable ad experiences. The announcements covered a wide range of updates across search, YouTube, product studio, and Google Ads.

One of the key rollouts includes ads in AI Overviews, set to launch in India later this year. These ads will appear within Google’s AI-generated summaries in response to user queries, providing new visibility opportunities for advertisers. Additionally, Google introduced AI Max for Search, now available in India, which helps optimise existing Search campaigns using brand-specific inputs such as landing pages and keyword data. Early tests by Cashify showed a 15% increase in conversions.

In the creative space, “Generated for You” in Product Studio will help merchants automatically generate product visuals and campaign suggestions based on catalog data and trending themes. Google reported a 250% year-on-year increase in advertiser use of AI-generated creatives globally.

For performance marketing, Performance Max’s new Retention Only Mode—currently in beta—enables brands to focus on re-engaging existing users. Swiggy, an early tester, reported nearly a two-thirds reduction in re-engagement costs.

A significant update to Google’s smart bidding was also announced, designed to help advertisers discover underutilised search queries. Campaigns using the feature saw an average 18% increase in conversions from unique query categories.

Google also introduced enhancements in connected TV and video formats. Shoppable CTV allows viewers to engage with ads through QR codes and other interactive features, while YouTube’s Masthead on mobile is now shoppable, supporting product discovery and brand promotion during key marketing moments.

To help brands better evaluate and optimise their efforts, Google is expanding features within its open-source Meridian Marketing Mix Model platform. Updates include API-based access to metrics like reach and frequency, along with a scenario planner to support media planning.

Google also announced upcoming agentic AI capabilities in Google Ads and Google Analytics. These assistants will help users set up and optimise campaigns and generate insights using natural language prompts and visualised reports.

Roma Datta Chobey, managing director – digital first businesses, Google India, said: “As consumer journeys become increasingly complex, our AI-powered tools are aimed at supporting marketers across creative production, precision targeting, and performance measurement.”

Marketers and partners including Swiggy and Cashify were among the early adopters of these features, reporting improvements in campaign performance and efficiency.