MUMBAI: The curtain is rising on AI-made ads, and Google wants viewers to know who’s pulling the strings. As generative AI becomes a bigger part of the advertising toolkit, the tech giant is introducing a new transparency feature that tells users when an advertisement has been created or edited using artificial intelligence.
The update will appear within My Ad Center, accessible through the three-dot menu or information icon on advertisements across Google Search, YouTube and Discover. A new section titled “How this ad was made” will indicate whether AI played a role in creating or modifying the advertisement.
The move comes as marketers increasingly rely on generative AI to produce campaign assets, from placing products in virtual environments to generating marketing visuals without traditional photo shoots. Google said the new feature is designed to help users better understand how the advertisements they see are produced.
For advertisers using Google’s own generative AI advertising tools, the disclosure will be applied automatically. Those creating advertisements with third-party AI tools will be able to manually indicate that generative AI was used through a new disclosure control. Google said it will not independently verify AI usage for ads created outside its own ecosystem.
Depending on local legal requirements, AI labels may also appear directly on advertisements, either automatically or when advertisers opt to disclose AI-generated content through the new controls.
The feature builds on Google’s broader push for AI transparency. The company noted that content generated using its AI tools already includes invisible SynthID identifiers, while advertisers have been required since 2023 to disclose synthetic or digitally altered content in election advertisements.
Google also reiterated that its existing advertising policies continue to prohibit misleading or deceptive ads, irrespective of whether they are created using AI. It added that advertiser verification systems remain in place to help users identify who is behind the advertisements they encounter.
As AI reshapes digital marketing, the latest update reflects growing industry efforts to balance creative automation with greater transparency, giving users more context about the content competing for their attention.
