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October 20262 stories

Google takes ads in AI Mode to 10 more countries

Ads now appear in AI Mode answers in countries such as India, Canada and Australia, with Brazil, Mexico and the UK planned next. Google’s search sales grew 12%, more slowly than earlier this year.

Google said on October 28 that it is bringing ads in AI Mode, its chatbot-style search, to 10 countries outside the US. They include Australia, Canada, India, Nigeria and Singapore. In the US, ads will also start to appear in follow-up questions. The news came with Alphabet’s results, which showed search revenue up 12% to $63.35 billion.

3 min read

Policy & LawOct 24

Linked Gmail and Photos data can now shape Google ads

Google’s privacy policy of October 16 adds an exception to its promise not to base ads on Gmail, Drive and Photos content. If people connect these apps to Search, that data may shape their ads. Google says advertisers never see the content itself.

Google’s privacy policy used to promise plainly that it doesn’t show personalised ads based on content from Drive, Gmail or Photos. The version in force since October 16 adds an exception for people who make that data available to other Google services that support personalised ads. Tech sites reported the change this week.

3 min read

September 20261 story

Policy & LawSep 23

UK regulator wants AI assistants on Google’s choice screens

The competition regulator’s plan is still a proposal.

On September 23, the UK’s competition regulator proposed a search choice screen for new Android phones and for Chrome. It can list up to 12 services, including AI assistants such as ChatGPT or Perplexity if they meet technical and security criteria. Comments are due by October 9.

4 min read