Google Marketing Live: key takeaways

Google Marketing Live: key takeaways

We’ve joined marketers around the world and tuned in to Google Marketing Live 2025. Unsurprisingly, Google’s new suite of AI-powered tools and features was the main highlight. It’s clear that AI in advertising is no longer just a buzzword – it’s something brands must embrace.

If you’ve missed it here are the top announcements from GML that ecommerce advertisers should pay close attention to for 2025:

Ads in AI Overviews 

With the rollout of AI Overviews and AI Mode, search is becoming more intuitive. Google Ads within AI Overviews are already live on desktop in the US and will expand to mobile and the UK by the end of the year. These placements allow brands to appear directly within AI-generated search responses.

Campaigns using Search, Shopping, Performance Max or the newly announced AI Max with Broad Match are eligible. We expect higher impressions, but potentially lower intent and reduced control – is this just another way for Google to soak up unspent daily budgets?

AI Max

Google is set to launch AI Max, a one-click enhancement designed to make it quicker and easier to optimise existing Search campaigns. Open beta testing will begin soon.

AI Max will introduce keywordless targeting and offer insights across headlines, keywords, and landing pages to support continuous improvement. Early data suggests it could drive 27% more conversions compared to exact match. Could this help plug the gaps left by manual keyword research and support relevance as trends evolve?

Smart Bidding Exploration Mode

Smart Bidding Exploration Mode is a new feature aimed at giving advertisers greater flexibility when using ROAS-based bidding strategies. It enables more aggressive bidding on less obvious - but potentially valuable - search queries, helping to drive incrementality through high-value conversions that may otherwise be missed.

The Power Pack

Google introduced the Power Pack, an evolution of the previous Power Pair. This is now the recommended strategy for a more connected setup.

Google suggests combining Search (using AI Max), Performance Max and Demand Gen into one full-funnel, AI-powered strategy. Is the traditional funnel approach dead? With customer journeys becoming more linear, marketers need to engage users at all stages of the journey.

Measurement and Campaign Setup Upgrades

Performance Max campaigns have long lacked channel-specific insights. That’s changing.

Performance Max is now rolling out more transparent reporting (currently in beta), offering clearer data on how impressions, clicks, and conversions are distributed – moving us away from relying on custom scripts.

In addition, campaign settings will now include more detailed exclusion options, allowing advertisers to filter out people who aren’t considered prospects - such as existing customers, people searching for your brand, website visitors, app users, and past engagers.

Creative Production

Finally, the most exciting one yet (in our opinion!). Google has announced a suite of AI-driven creative tools.

Launching later this year, Asset Studio will be a single destination designed to help advertisers scale creative production and generate high-quality images and videos for different formats and placements.

By uploading product images from Merchant Centre and providing a short brief (e.g. "create a lifestyle image set outside a café"), users will receive a collection of AI-generated assets – including videos. This tool promises to streamline content creation and shows Google’s commitment to making creative production more accessible. We’re really looking forward to testing this, especially as asset creation remains a major challenge for smaller clients.

YouTube is also becoming even more commerce-focused, with more shoppable ad formats on the horizon and a new creator partnership hub coming soon - marking a clear push towards creative storytelling.

Google Creator hub

Final Thoughts

Overall, this feels like a major leap forward in helping brands stay visible, relevant, and competitive with the ever-changing landscape and switches in user behaviour.

Personally, I’m excited to test these new products and features across clients of all sizes. Because let’s be honest – how we advertise is changing rapidly. If we don’t evolve with it, we risk being left behind. AI is no longer just influencing strategy – it’s completely redefining it.

The real question isn’t if we adapt - but how quickly.

If you'd like to see how Herd can help you with the changing search landscape, get in touch with us today!

About the author

Ashleigh Winter

Ashleigh Winter, Senior Paid Media Manager

Ashleigh, our Senior Paid Media Manager brings years of experience in paid media - across a number of different verticals. From automotive to eCom, she can help you scale your paid media footprint.

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