INDIA: Generative artificial intelligence is no longer just faster and cheaper, it is now matching human creativity in real-world advertising performance, according to a large-scale field study conducted on Taboola’s advertising platform.
The research, carried out by academics from Harvard University, Columbia University, the Technical University of Munich and Carnegie Mellon University, analysed hundreds of thousands of live ads running on Taboola’s Realize platform, covering more than 500 million impressions and three million clicks.
The findings show that AI-generated advertisements performed on par with human-created ads in driving engagement. In raw results, AI ads even recorded a marginally higher average click-through rate of 0.76 per cent compared with 0.65 per cent for human ads, though performance evened out under stricter statistical controls.
Crucially, AI ads that did not appear artificial delivered the strongest engagement, outperforming both traditional creative and AI visuals that looked overtly machine-made. The presence of clear human faces emerged as a key trust driver, making ads feel more authentic and boosting performance: a cue that AI-generated creatives included more frequently than human-produced ones.
The study also found that AI visuals increased or maintained click-through rates without hurting downstream conversions, suggesting advertisers no longer need to choose between speed and effectiveness. Early adoption was most visible in food and drink and personal finance brands.
Columbia Business School vice dean for research Oded Netzer said the scale of real-world data enabled researchers to move beyond laboratory testing to measure GenAI’s true impact on consumer behaviour.
The researchers used a “sibling ads” methodology, comparing AI-generated and human-made ads created by the same advertiser for the same campaign on the same day, allowing for tighter control of variables such as timing, targeting and landing pages.
