ISLAMABAD: Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft’s are placing advertising into AI experiments without providing a choice to opt-out, an approach that has already angered some brands and risks additional opt-out criticism from the industry, ad buyers told Reuters.
The two tech giants are racing to update their search engines with artificial intelligence capable of producing written responses to open-ended questions. That procedure, according to research firm MAGNA, would upend how advertisers reach consumers through ads on search results, a market that is expected to increase 10% to $286 billion this year.
In a May interview, Google’s general manager of advertisements, Jerry Dischler, stated that the tech company would also use existing search ads to experiment with ad placements within AI search snapshots, an early-test feature known as Search Generative Experience that was made accessible last month. Google stated that marketers cannot currently opt out of the test.
Both companies stated that they are in the early phases of testing advertising using generative AI features and that they are actively working with advertisers to gather feedback.
Some advertisers are concerned that their marketing budgets are being spent on features that are only available to a small percentage of consumers, according to ad buyers. Advertisers often desire control over where their ads show online and are cautious of appearing next to improper or inappropriate content.
Microsoft and Google both stated that existing guard rails on their search engines, such as lists of blocked keywords that prevent ads from displaying on such queries, would apply to their AI search tools as well.
