Google has two very different AI products, and they're being monetized very differently.
AI Overviews (the AI summaries in Search): Already showing ads. Expanding globally. Part of the core search monetization machine.
Gemini (the standalone chatbot): No ads. No current plans for ads. Google's VP of Global Ads said so explicitly in December 2025.
The Current State
Gemini is ad-free. A Google spokesperson confirmed: "The Gemini Apps chats are not being used to show ads."
This is notable because Gemini is growing fast—monthly active users surged 30% between August and November 2025, significantly outpacing ChatGPT's 6% growth in the same period. It hit 650 million MAUs by October 2025.
Google is deliberately prioritizing user acquisition over monetization. They want market share first, revenue later.
The Contradiction
Here's where it gets interesting.
In December 2025, Adweek reported that Google told advertising clients during private calls that ads would come to Gemini in 2026. The report cited multiple agency buyers who heard this directly from Google reps.
Hours later, Google's VP of Global Ads denied it publicly: "This story is based on uninformed, anonymous sources who are making inaccurate claims. There are no ads in the Gemini app and there are no current plans to change that."
Notice the phrase "no current plans." Not "we will never add ads." Current plans.
The market response was immediate. Media analyst Matthew Keys replied that ads appear inevitable "because there exists no other way to monetize Gemini." He's not wrong.
Why Gemini Will Eventually Have Ads
The economics are inescapable:
- Cost pressure: Google's projected capital expenditures for 2026 are $75 billion. Inference costs for reasoning models are exploding. Someone has to pay.
- Revenue dependency: Google gets over 80% of revenue from advertising. A major product without ads is a strategic choice they can only sustain temporarily.
- Competitive positioning: If ChatGPT and Perplexity introduce ads first, they set the format expectations. Google likely wants to control that standard.
- CEO signals: Sundar Pichai said at the February 2025 earnings call that Google has "very good ideas for native ad concepts" for Gemini—just that they'll "lead with user experience" first.
The question isn't whether Gemini will have ads. It's when and in what format.
What It Might Look Like
Nobody knows for sure, but reasonable speculation:
- Sponsored recommendations: You ask Gemini for product advice, and some suggestions are paid placements. Similar to what Perplexity tested (and retreated from).
- Conversational commerce: Multi-turn conversations that naturally lead to purchase decisions, with commercial partners integrated into the flow.
- Display units within responses: Visual cards or carousels for product queries, like you'd see in Shopping results.
The challenge is that chatbot interfaces are more intimate than search. Users are more sensitive to commercial intrusion. Early moves by Amazon (Alexa+ ads) and OpenAI (disabled shopping suggestions after backlash) show how fragile user trust is here. Google appears to have learned from these missteps.
What This Means for Advertisers
Today: Nothing. You can't buy Gemini placements. Don't plan for it.
Near-term (2026): Watch for announcements. If Google opens Gemini to ads, early adopters will have less competition and likely lower costs.
Strategically: Gemini's 650M users represent a massive audience you currently can't reach through paid placements. When that changes, the opportunity will be significant.
Gemini vs. AI Overviews: Know the Difference
For planning purposes:
| AI Overviews | Gemini | |
|---|---|---|
| Ads today | Yes (US, expanding) | No |
| Placement type | Within Search results | Standalone chatbot |
| User intent | Transactional queries | General assistance |
| Your action | Optimize, monitor | Wait and watch |
AI Overviews affect your existing Search campaigns. You're already competing in that environment. Gemini is a future channel—potentially massive, but not actionable today.
The Bottom Line
Google Gemini doesn't have ads right now. It probably will by 2026. When that happens, it'll represent one of the largest new ad inventory pools in years.
For now, focus on AI Overviews in Search (where ads are live), monitor announcements about Gemini monetization, and prepare your strategy for conversational ad formats.
Google is being patient with Gemini because they can afford to be. The 30% growth rate buys them time. But $75 billion in capital expenditures eventually needs a return. Ads are coming. Just not today.
