Google says it’s open to putting ads in Gemini

• Google has not yet put ads in its Gemini AI app. That could change.
• Chief business officer Philipp Schindler said on Wednesday that Google was open to the idea.
• “If done well, ads can be really valuable,” he said.

Google has so far not put ads in its Gemini AI app, but it’s not ruling it out.

Google is currently focusing on ads in AI Mode — its AI-powered, conversational version of Search — but this could eventually carry over to the standalone Gemini app, chief business officer Philipp Schindler said on Wednesday’s earnings call.

“Our focus right now is on AI Mode, but it’s fair to say that we really believe a format that works well in AI mode would transfer successfully to Gemini app,” Schindler said.

In addition to AI Mode, Google also has some ads in AI Overviews, but the standalone Gemini experience has remained ad-free. Google’s VP of global ads told Business Insider in January that there were “no plans” for ads in Gemini.

Speaking on Wednesday’s call, Schindler said Google was focused on the Gemini app subscription plans and “creating a really great user experience” — but said ads could play a key role in growing Gemini if executed well.

“But let’s also be clear, ads have always been a big part of scaling products to reach billions of people,” he said. “And if done well, ads can be really valuable and really helpful commercial information, and at the right moment we’ll share any plans as we have said, but we’re not rushing anything here.”

OpenAI is in the early stages of rolling out ads in ChatGPT to free and low-cost subscription members. Anthropic poked fun at OpenAI’s decision in a February Super Bowl ad and said it would not put ads in its own AI model, Claude.

Google, which already has a mammoth advertising business across Search and YouTube, has the luxury of not needing to turn to ads yet for its chatbot.

Instead, the company has packaged more premium Gemini features into paid subscriptions, which bundle in extras such as Fitbit Premium and photo storage alongside its most cutting-edge AI. Google said on Wednesday that its overall subscriptions business had hit 350 million paying subscribers.