Google just announced the biggest set of changes to search advertising since Performance Max launched. And this time, the shift is not about a new campaign type or an extra button in the interface. It is about what an ad looks like, where it appears, and what it does when users stop searching with keywords and start having conversations.
At Marketing Live 2026, Google unveiled ad formats that work directly inside AI Mode. With over one billion monthly users, AI Mode is no longer an experiment. It is the primary surface where Google is building the future of advertising. And the PPC rules we have relied on are starting to look different.
A recent article on Search Engine Journal covers the new formats in detail. We analyzed them from the perspective of the campaigns we manage daily at difrnt.
From keywords to conversational context
The first new format is called Conversational Discovery ads. Unlike a traditional search ad that triggers on a keyword match, these ads respond to full conversations. The user no longer types "premium home fragrance." They ask something like: "How do I make my house smell like a high-end spa without spending a lot of time on maintenance?"
The difference is fundamental. Gemini interprets the intent behind the question, not just the words, and generates creative tailored to the conversation context. The ad is no longer a static banner with a generic headline. It is a dynamically built response, specific to each user and each question.
What matters now: landing page quality and product data become more important than keyword bids. If your website does not answer the user’s real question, Gemini simply will not include you in the conversational response. We spotted early signs of this shift when we wrote about conversational advertising in ChatGPT. Google is now moving in the same direction, but with an audience of one billion people.
Ads that blend into recommendations
The second format, Highlighted Answers, goes even further. Ads appear directly within recommendation lists generated by AI Mode. A concrete example: a user asks for language-learning app recommendations before a trip. AI Mode generates a list of options, and a sponsored result appears naturally within that list, labeled accordingly but visually integrated.
In practice, the ad no longer sits next to results. It sits within results. Labeled as "sponsored," but part of the recommendation experience. This means the user sees the ad at the exact moment they are making a decision, not in a sidebar they have already learned to ignore.
For PPC teams, the implication is direct: contextual relevance of your offer matters more than auction position. If your product solves the problem the user describes in their conversation, you have a real chance to appear. If it does not, no budget will save you.
From discovery to checkout, no redirect needed
Google did not stop at ad formats. They introduced Universal Cart, a native checkout system that works inside AI Mode, across search, YouTube, and Gmail. Users can buy without leaving the Google interface. They can add multiple products in a single session. They get buy-now-pay-later options through Google Pay.
The Direct Offers feature, piloted since January 2026, lets retailers upload discounts and coupons that Gemini automatically combines into relevant bundles for each user. Chewy, Gap, and L’Oréal are already using the system. It is now expanding to travel platforms like Expedia and Booking.com.
Business Agent for Leads completes the picture: instead of static lead gen forms, prospects can chat directly with an advertiser-trained AI agent. A sales chatbot that appears exactly when the user is searching for what you offer.
Together, these features build a complete funnel inside the Google ecosystem. From discovery to conversion, without the user opening another tab. For e-commerce brands, well-structured product feeds become mandatory, not optional. We explored this topic recently.
For markets like Romania, where advertisers have only recently adopted Performance Max and are still adjusting to automated campaigns, these changes may seem premature. But experience has shown us that the gap between a Google feature launch and its availability in smaller markets keeps shrinking. When these formats reach non-US markets, prepared brands will have the advantage.
What needs to change in your campaigns
Dan Taylor, VP Global Ads at Google, summed up the direction simply: "the best ads are just answers." If that is the vision, several things change concretely in how you manage PPC.
Website content becomes a delivery factor. AI Mode no longer shows ads based on mechanical keyword matching. It evaluates information quality, data structure, and landing page relevance. A site with weak content will not generate impressions, regardless of budget size.
Measurement gets harder. When users have conversations instead of typing three-word queries, traditional attribution becomes imprecise. First-party conversion signals gain importance over the last-click models currently in use. We explored this challenge in a dedicated article.
Creative needs to work as an answer. The classic "headline + description + URL" format does not disappear, but it is no longer enough on its own. You need content that also works in a conversational context, where Gemini builds the ad dynamically from your data.
Structured product data is no longer optional. Universal Cart and Direct Offers run on product feeds. If your data is incomplete, you lose access to these new formats. Simply running a campaign no longer guarantees eligibility.
This is not about tomorrow. It is about today
Google is not experimenting with these formats. With one billion active monthly users in AI Mode and Gemini 3.5 Flash as the engine, they are building the advertising infrastructure of the coming years. And this infrastructure no longer works on the principle of "pay for a keyword, get visibility." It works on the principle of "have content relevant to the user’s conversation, appear in the answer."
At difrnt., we have already started revising product feed structures for e-commerce clients and adjusting landing page content for active campaigns. Not because the new formats are available in Romania yet, but because preparation is free and the results show in current formats too.
If you are still optimizing only for keywords and traditional ad copy, you are optimizing for an interface that loses ground every month. The best time to start adapting was three months ago. The second best is today.
