Google’s ad network has begun showing advertising within the flow of conversations with chatbots — part of Alphabet Inc.’s efforts to keep its edge in digital advertising as generative artificial intelligence takes off. Earlier this year, Google’s AdSense for Search network, which traditionally shows ads within the search results of other websites, expanded to include conversations with chatbots operated by AI startups. Google made the move after conducting tests last year and earlier this year with a handful of startups, including AI search apps iAsk and Liner, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Showing ads alongside its own search results is the heart of Google’s business, bolstered by a business that serves up advertising across much of the web. That empire has come under threat as new entrants like OpenAI and Perplexity AI seek to siphon off the search giant’s audience with products aiming to help users find what they are looking for more quickly. Generative AI startups are increasingly exploring advertising-based business models to offset the high costs of answering users’ questions with artificial intelligence. For example, before inviting users to ask follow-up questions, iAsk shows ads below its AI-generated responses. In addition to Google, startups such as Koah Labs have begun allowing brands to serve ads to the chatbot audience. AI search startup Perplexity, one of the most prominent players using AI to reshape internet services, establishes relationships directly with brands that want to buy ads on the site, according to a person familiar with the matter. Perplexity allows brands to sponsor follow-up questions to users’ queries.
Google’s AdSense for Search places ads inside chatbot conversations with AI startups
Google’s ad network has begun showing advertising within the flow of conversations with chatbots — part of Alphabet Inc.’s efforts to keep its edge in digital advertising as generative artificial intelligence takes off. Earlier this year, Google’s AdSense for Search network, which traditionally shows ads within the search results of other websites, expanded to include conversations with chatbots operated by AI startups. Google made the move after conducting tests last year and earlier this year with a handful of startups, including AI search apps iAsk and Liner, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Showing ads alongside its own search results is the heart of Google’s business, bolstered by a business that serves up advertising across much of the web. That empire has come under threat as new entrants like OpenAI and Perplexity AI seek to siphon off the search giant’s audience with products aiming to help users find what they are looking for more quickly. Running experiments with AI startups will allow the company to test the waters for advertising in the relatively new world of AI chats. Generative AI startups are increasingly exploring advertising-based business models to offset the high costs of answering users’ questions with artificial intelligence. For example, before inviting users to ask follow-up questions, iAsk shows ads below its AI-generated responses. In addition to Google, startups such as Koah Labs have begun allowing brands to serve ads to the chatbot audience. AI search startup Perplexity, one of the most prominent players using AI to reshape internet services, establishes relationships directly with brands that want to buy ads on the site, according to a person familiar with the matter. Perplexity allows brands to sponsor follow-up questions to users’ queries.
Google is testing access to AI Mode directly within Search and adding new functionalities such as visual place and product cards that can be tapped on to get more details on a topic
Google is expanding access to AI Mode, its experimental feature that allows users to ask complex, multipart questions and follow-ups to dig deeper on a topic directly within Search. The tech giant is also adding more functionality to the feature, including the ability to pick up where you left off on a search. Now anyone in the U.S. who is at least 18 years old can access the feature if they’re enrolled in Labs, Google’s experimental arm. Google is also going to make AI Mode accessible outside of Labs, as it’s testing an AI Mode tab in Google Search that will be visible to a small percentage of people in the U.S. As for the new functionality, Google is making it possible to go a step beyond asking detailed questions about places and products. Now you can use AI mode to do things like find a new restaurant or things you need for your next trip. You will now start to see visual place and product cards in AI Mode that you can tap on to get more details. Google is also making it possible to pick up where you left off when using AI Mode, which should be helpful in cases where you’re working on longer-running projects and tasks. On desktop, you can now click the new left-side panel in AI Mode to get to your past searches to see the information you were already given, and to ask follow-up questions.
Google to expand Gemini’s feature to reference past conversations to free users; Gemini to become proactive assistant that anticipates user needs, offers insights and actions before they ask and turns ideas into action
Google announced the ability for Gemini to reference your past conversations in February for Gemini Advanced. Today’s “launching soon” tease does suggest it will come to free users as well, just like Saved info. Looking ahead, the future is “personalized context” from the Google services you use: “Gmail, Photos, Calendar, Search, YouTube, etc.” Google started testing this in March with the “Personalization (experimental)” model. Right now Gemini looks at your past Search history when considering a prompt to see if it can “make the answer better.” Beyond Search, Google at the time teased YouTube and Photos, with the company uniquely positioned to already have this information. On the proactive front, Google wants an assistant that anticipates your needs. Gemini will “offer insights and actions before you ask, freeing your mind and time for what truly matters,” or “Less prompting, more flow.” In terms of powerful, Google says the “best assistant turns your ideas into action.” This is talking about Gemini 2.5 Pro. Notably, Woodward says this “new era of models” will lead to a “new era of user experiences.” A recent example of that is something like Canvas. Meanwhile, the Gemini app lead credits Google’s infrastructure, especially TPUs, as making all this possible. It’s the kind of infra people dream about, but it actually exists here — and it’s going to let us make all this FREE for everyone to try, especially students.
Google’s AI Overviews which summarizes results from the web in a AI-generated text form, is now used by more than 1.5 billion users, . Circle to Search, is now available on more than 250 million devices
By Google’s estimation, AI Overviews is now used by more than 1.5 billion users monthly across over 100 countries. AI Overviews compiles results from around the web to answer certain questions and will show AI-generated text at the top of the Google Search results page. While the feature has dampened traffic to some publishers, Google sees it and other AI-powered search capabilities as potentially meaningful revenue drivers and ways to boost engagement on Search. During its Q1 2025 earnings call, Google highlighted the growth of its other AI-based search products as well, including Circle to Search. Circle to Search, which lets you highlight something on your smartphone’s screen and ask questions about it, is now available on more than 250 million devices, Google said — up from around 200 million devices as of late last year. Circle to Search usage rose close to 40% quarter-over-quarter, according to the company. Google also noted in its call that visual searches on its platforms are growing at a steady clip. According to CEO Sundar Pichai, searches through Google Lens, Google’s multimodal AI-powered search technology, have increased by 5 billion since October. The number of people shopping on Lens was up over 10% in Q1, meanwhile.
Google’s Android devices would be able to include SIM in backups in addition to contacts, call history, device settings, apps & app data, SMS & MMS, potentially making it that much easier to swap phones
Device backups currently save things such as your app list, contacts, SMS/MMS/RCS messages, call history, and some device settings as well. Combined with Google Photos for photo/video backup, that makes it easier to swap phones, especially in the case that your previous device is lost, stolen, or broken. Google is apparently looking to extend on this. New findings suggest that Android devices may soon be able to include your SIM in a device backup, potentially making it that much easier to swap phones. Google’s services would be able to “back up contacts, call history, device settings, apps & app data, SMS & MMS messages, and SIMs.” This is very likely referring to eSIM rather than a physical SIM card, but the utility here is obvious. Google is already working to make it easier to transfer an eSIM between devices, and the ability to back that SIM up would just make things all the more painless when restoring from a device you no longer have access to. There are still a lot of questions around how SIM backup on Android would work, including how carriers would be involved, but it’s a nice idea. As for when it might be implemented, that’s not remotely clear either.
Google CEO says Gemini could be added as a built-in option to iPhones this year
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said his company’s AI service, Gemini, could soon become part of Apple’s iPhone. Pichai said he is hopeful that Gemini will be added as a built-in option on Apple’s smartphone this year. Apple’s AI system, Apple Intelligence, uses its own models for most AI tasks available on the company’s phones, tablets and computers. However, the company has partnered with ChatGPT from OpenAI for integration with its Siri voice assistant and Writing Tools, a feature for creating and editing text. Pichai said he hopes that Gemini, a ChatGPT rival, will be added as an additional AI option on Apple products. He said he spoke with Apple CEO Tim Cook on the topic last year and hopes to have a deal hammered out by mid-2025. Google is in the middle of its largest AI push yet. The company has integrated AI across its product lines, with 15 of its products each having more than half a billion users now using Gemini models. AI Overviews in search have reached 1.5 billion monthly users. “We continue to see that usage growth is increasing as people learn that search is more useful for more of their queries,” Pichai said adding that AI Mode queries tend to be twice as long as those in traditional search.
Google CEO says Gemini could be added as a built-in option to iPhones this year
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said his company’s AI service, Gemini, could soon become part of Apple’s iPhone. Pichai said he is hopeful that Gemini will be added as a built-in option on Apple’s smartphone this year. Apple’s AI system, Apple Intelligence, uses its own models for most AI tasks available on the company’s phones, tablets and computers. However, the company has partnered with ChatGPT from OpenAI for integration with its Siri voice assistant and Writing Tools, a feature for creating and editing text. Pichai said he hopes that Gemini, a ChatGPT rival, will be added as an additional AI option on Apple products. He said he spoke with Apple CEO Tim Cook on the topic last year and hopes to have a deal hammered out by mid-2025. Google is in the middle of its largest AI push yet. The company has integrated AI across its product lines, with 15 of its products each having more than half a billion users now using Gemini models. AI Overviews in search have reached 1.5 billion monthly users. “We continue to see that usage growth is increasing as people learn that search is more useful for more of their queries,” Pichai said adding that AI Mode queries tend to be twice as long as those in traditional search.
Google Messages rolling out ‘Unsubscribe’ button to stop SMS and RCS spam
Google Messages is gaining a new “Unsubscribe” feature to combat spam and other unwanted SMS texts or RCS chats from business senders. “Unsubscribe” is for businesses that send “unwanted messages in Google Messages, like promotions and other non-essential content.” The new button can appear at the bottom of the chat (just above the text field) or in the conversation’s overflow menu. A sheet then slides up asking “Why are you unsubscribing?”: Not signed up, Too many messages, No longer interested, Spam, or Other. In the case of spam, there’s a “Report this sender” option. Behind-the-scenes, Google Messages sends “STOP” to the sender from your number. Afterwards, “you should no longer receive non-essential messages from that sender. Unsubscribe applies to: 1) RCS for Business messages in the United States, Brazil, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Spain, and the United Kingdom. 2) SMS or MMS messages in the United States from short codes (phone numbers with 5-6 digits) and alphanumeric senders.