Google has announced a series of AI-powered advertising and marketing tools at Google Marketing Live 2026, expanding the role of Gemini across Search, YouTube, Google Ads and Merchant Center. The updates span new ad formats, campaign management features, creative tools and measurement capabilities aimed at helping businesses manage advertising more effectively across Google’s platforms.

Roma Datta Chobey, managing director, Connected Consumer Commerce, Google India, said that with 86% of surveyed online Indians turning to Google Search and YouTube, Indian businesses have a significant opportunity to reach consumers where they already are. She added that Gemini is now driving growth across Google’s ad products, marking a shift from marketing automation to marketing intelligence as the industry moves toward an agentic era of AI as a strategic growth partner.

Among the key announcements was Business Agent for Leads, a beta feature for India allowing users to interact with an AI-powered brand agent within Search ads, currently being tested by UpGrad for lead generation. Google also introduced YouTube BrandStack, a campaign planning, buying and measurement solution developed in India, with Axis Max Life Insurance among its early adopters, alongside YouTube Affiliate Partnerships Boost, a new ad format integrating creator content into campaigns.

Additional updates include AI Max for Shopping, AI Brief for Search campaigns, Retention Only Mode in Performance Max, expanded Demand Gen capabilities, and AI enhancements to Asset Studio. Google also announced that its open-source marketing mix model, Meridian, will integrate into Google Analytics 360, alongside a new metric called Attributed Branded Searches, an AI assistant called Ask Advisor, and new Merchant Center tools for tracking product visibility.