Today Google introduced new AI ad tools that include a new visual profile for e-commerce brands, generative AI features to improve product images and immersive ad formats. Highlights include new Performance Max creative controls that will soon allow advertisers to provide their font and colour guidelines and helpful image reference points to generate new asset variations. This feature has image editing capabilities so advertisers can try adding new objects, extending backgrounds, and cropping to adapt to any format, size and orientation.
To offer more immersive shopping ad experiences, advertisers can enhance Shopping ads with immersive visuals such as Virtual Try-On and generated 3D spinning ads. Later this year, Google will launch a feature that lets shoppers dive deeper into an ad to see product videos, summaries and similar products provided by the advertiser.
With search being an important part of the consumer product information and purchase journey, Google will soon be testing Search and Shopping ads in AI Overviews for marketers in the U.S. along with a test of a new ad experience in Search to help guide users through purchase decisions.
The new visual brand profile on Search provides richer results for common shopping queries, 40% of which mention a brand or retailer. The brand profile will highlight information provided by marketers through Google Merchant Center and Google’s Shopping Graph to showcase brands and their offerings.
New features for Product Studio, which was introduced last year, put the power of Google AI in the hands of advertisers with the ability to generate new product images that match the brand’s style. They just upload an image that represents the brand’s aesthetic, add a prompt describing the scene and within moments Product Studio generates campaign-ready content. Product Studio will also provide the ability to generate videos from just one photo. With the click of a button, components of still product images will be animated to create short videos or product GIFs for social media. Product Studio is now available in Australia, Canada, U.K. and the U.S. in Merchant Center Next and the Google and YouTube app on Shopify.
Generative AI is also bringing Shopping ads to life through three new ad formats. Initially launching for retailers as a closed beta later this year, marketers will be able to connect a brand’s short-form product videos or videos from creators to ads. Consumers can access short videos to see how clothes look on others, view helpful styling suggestions, and explore related or complementary products from the brand. AI summaries will be shown below the video highlights so shoppers can see key details about a product before they make a decision to buy.
Since introducing Virtual Try-On technology to Search last year, Google has seen people click out to retailer sites more when viewing products with Virtual Try-On enabled, and brands have seen that their Virtual Try-On imagery get 60% more high-quality views than other images. Virtual Try-On in apparel ads for men’s and women’s tops is now being launched to let shoppers see how products look on a variety of body types. In addition, Google is using 3D technology to automatically create 3D spins from a set of images, making asset creation easier for merchants who sell shoes.
