At Marketing Live 2026, Google unveiled a new world of advertising. AI no longer merely interprets search queries; it formulates answers, anticipates purchase intent, and prepares transactions. As a result, ads become guides, shopping processes become guided journeys, and campaigns become systems that increasingly think for themselves in the background.

To many marketers, this sounds like the perfect efficiency machine. But this is precisely where a thought comes to mind that is strikingly reminiscent of a book published back in 2019: *The Age of Surveillance Capitalism* by Shoshana Zuboff. The Harvard economist, m&k interviewed her last year, in which he describes a digital economy that not only observes human behavior but also seeks to predict and influence it with ever-greater precision.

From Searching to Being Guided

Google used to work in a relatively simple way:

A person entered a search term. Google returned results and ads.

The new AI search works differently.

With AI Mode, Gemini, and Agentic Commerce, Google is increasingly trying to understand what people are likely to want—sometimes even before they have fully articulated it themselves.

The ad no longer responds merely to an existing intention. It moves closer to the moment when that intention first arises.

The Universal Cart Changes More Than Just Shopping

This change is particularly evident in the new Universal Cart.

Google describes it as a smart, seamless shopping assistant. The AI can bundle offers, take prices into account, combine products, and simplify the purchasing process.

For consumers, this is convenient.

But that is precisely where the broader cultural question lies.

After all, smoothness always means fewer interruptions, fewer comparisons, and fewer conscious decisions.

As AI increasingly determines which product is the «best fit,» which offers are displayed, and when the ideal time to buy has arrived, the role of humans is shifting.

The active searcher is gradually becoming an algorithm-driven consumer.

Between Assistance and Guidance

That does not automatically mean that these technologies are dangerous.

But they change the balance of power.

The real challenge, therefore, is not to reject AI, but to think critically about it.

Because the key question going forward will be:

Where does helpful guidance end—and where does algorithmic steering begin?

The advertising industry, in particular, should take this question seriously—not least because the new systems are extremely attractive.

They promise:

• higher conversion rate
• less friction
• better targeting of specific audiences
• more effective campaigns
• automated optimization

But it is precisely this efficiency that can lead to a gradual narrowing of the scope for human decision-making.

The industry's actual mission

Perhaps that is why the most important takeaway from Google Marketing Live 2026 isn't actually about individual features.

Rather, it is the realization that AI not only creates new tools—but also new responsibilities.

For advertisers, this means:

• communicate more transparently
• Using Data Effectively
• Respect freedom of choice
• preserve human judgment

The future of advertising will not be determined solely by how intelligent AI becomes, but by how human we remain.

Between AI Mode, Agentic Commerce, and Ask Advisor, it’s easy to lose track of what’s going on. That’s exactly why the question for Swiss companies now isn’t so much which buzzwords are important—but rather where there’s a concrete need for action.

After all, the new Google systems aren't just changing campaigns. They're changing the fundamentals of digital marketing.

1. SEO Is Becoming a Hot Topic

Traditional keyword optimization is becoming less important.

Google is increasingly approaching search from a conversational perspective. In the future, content will need to not only include search terms but also provide answers.

This means:

• Take longer-term issues into account
• Create interactive content
• write in a more problem-oriented way
• Expand FAQ Logic
• Making Expertise More Visible

Those who focus solely on optimizing keywords are increasingly missing the mark.

2. Product data is becoming essential to survival

With AI Shopping, Universal Cart, and Agentic Commerce, structured product data becomes a strategic foundation.

Google needs:

• clean product feeds
• detailed attributes
• Current Availability
• Compelling product descriptions
• distinct visual worlds

Of particular note: Google is introducing what are known as «conversational attributes.» In the future, product descriptions should be written in a way that more closely mirrors how people actually speak and search.

For many Swiss SMEs, this is likely where the greatest need to catch up will arise.

3. YouTube is becoming more important than many people realize

YouTube is becoming Google's central AI-commerce platform.

The new demand generation campaigns combine:

• Video
• Creator Content
• Commerce
• Product Feeds
• AI Targeting

This creates a new opportunity, especially for Swiss brands: rather than just buying reach, they can build demand early on.

Google is thus directly challenging traditional social media mechanisms.

4. AI Needs Strong Brands

The more campaigns are automated, the more important brand identity becomes.

Why?

Because AI can only work with what's available.

Companies with:

• clear tone
• consistent visual style
• precise positioning
• good story
• strong assets

will be much easier to automate in the future than brands without a clear identity.

Paradoxically, in the age of AI, brand management is becoming more human—not more technical.

5. Data quality becomes a competitive advantage

One comment from Google Marketing Live almost went unnoticed:

«Measurement is no longer a report card. It’s a steering system.»

This is how Google describes the actual shift in power.

After all, AI is only as good as the data it's based on.

The following will be particularly important in the future:

• First-party data
• proper attribution
• cross-channel measurement
• Incrementality
• Marketing Mix Modeling

Google is therefore integrating Meridian directly into Google Analytics 360.

The message is clear: If you measure poorly, your automation will be poor in the future.

6. Switzerland will remain an observer for the time being—but not for long

Many of the new features are still in progress:

• only in the U.S.
• as a pilot project
• in English only
• with limited availability

But experience shows that what Google tests in the U.S. often makes its way to Europe faster than expected.

The crucial question, therefore, is not:

«Is that coming to Switzerland?»

Rather:

«Are Swiss companies ready when the time comes?»

For over two decades, Google Search has been a tool for keywords, clicks, and search intent. Now it’s becoming a conversation partner. At Google Marketing Live 2026 this week, Google heralded nothing less than a transformation of its entire advertising ecosystem—from Search to YouTube to Shopping. At the heart of it all is Gemini, the new AI engine. For advertisers, this means ads are becoming answers, campaigns are becoming agents, and marketing is increasingly evolving into a dialogue between humans and machines.

Air Traffic Controller in a Storm

Anyone trying to keep track of all the news from Google Marketing Live 2026 these days might feel a bit like an air traffic controller in the middle of a storm. No sooner is one new AI feature explained than the next one comes along. AI Mode. Ask Advisor. Conversational Discovery Ads. Universal Commerce Protocol. Agentic Commerce. Asset Studio. Demand Gen. Meridian. QFC. Gemini Omni.

Google didn't just unveil new advertising products in Mountain View. The company presented a new approach to how digital advertising will work in the future.

The most significant change: Search is no longer primarily a place for links. Search is becoming an AI-powered decision-making space. That is exactly where Google plans to integrate advertising in the future—in a more subtle, context-sensitive way, and much more deeply embedded in users’ actual thought processes.

Or to put it another way: 2026 could go down in marketing history as the year Google began not just delivering ads—but also thinking along with them.

From Search Engine to Answer Engine

Perhaps the most important statement of the entire Google Marketing Live event was made almost in passing during the media talk in front of us journalists:

«The best ads are simply answers.»

Google is gradually moving away from the traditional search model, in which users type in keywords and are shown ads and blue links. Instead, Search is evolving into a conversational AI interface.

The figures are impressive:

• The average length of search queries in AI mode is already three times longer than in traditional search.
• One in six inquiries is made using multiple modes—that is, via voice, image, or camera.
• According to Google, 75 percent of users say they can make faster and more confident decisions in AI Mode.

As a result, searching is becoming less transactional and more exploratory. People no longer just «Google» things. They engage in a dialogue with the machine. For advertisers, this means that traditional keyword logic is losing its dominance. Instead, understanding context is becoming increasingly important.

Posts Become Replies

To that end, Google introduced two key new formats:

Conversational Discovery Ads

Here, Gemini dynamically generates ads tailored to a user's specific question. As a result, the ad is no longer primarily a sales message, but rather a solution to a problem.

Highlighted Answers

When AI Mode generates lists of recommendations, sponsored content may appear directly as a featured answer in the future.

So the advertisement becomes part of the actual AI response.

This is a fundamental shift. Until now, search engine advertising has relied heavily on buying attention alongside organic results. Now, Google is attempting to integrate advertising directly into the trust logic of AI-generated answers.

Gemini Becomes an Advertising Engine

The big story of GML 2026, however, isn't a single ad format. It's Gemini itself. That's because Google is no longer positioning Gemini simply as an AI model, but as a universal intelligence layer for Search, YouTube, Commerce, and Ads.

Or, as Google puts it:

«Gemini is the engine that drives growth.»

You can see this everywhere:

• Gemini analyzes search queries
• Gemini creates creatives
• Gemini Optimizes Campaigns
• Gemini Explains Products
• Gemini generates shopping recommendations
• Gemini orchestrates agents
• Gemini Evaluates Campaign Performance

In effect, Google is building an autonomous marketing operating system.

Ask Advisor: The Beginnings of Autonomous Marketing

The new AI agent, «Ask Advisor,» is particularly exciting.

It connects:

• Google Ads
• Google Analytics
• Merchant Center
• Google Marketing Platform

in a shared AI interface.

The vision behind it is radical:

In the future, a marketer should be able to simply say:

«Find new customers for my hair care products.»

And Ask Advisor takes care of the rest: retrieving product data, creating campaigns, defining target audiences, analyzing performance, and recommending optimizations.

Google explicitly refers to this as a transition:

«From automation to intelligence.»

YouTube Is Becoming a Commerce Powerhouse

The developments surrounding YouTube are at least as significant as the new features in Search.

Google is increasingly positioning YouTube not just as a branding channel, but as a full-fledged commerce and performance platform.

Among other things, the following are now possible:

• AI-generated video ads
• Dynamic product videos
• Direct Creator Integration
• Shopping features right in the video
• Checkout Processes via UCP
• New locations on Google Maps

Particularly interesting: Google talks about reaching potential customers «before they even start searching.».

YouTube should no longer just meet demand—it should generate demand.

Specifically, using artificial intelligence.

This article provides an overview and does its best to organize the information. As a starting point for further study, we recommend this Blog post from Google including various links explaining how the individual AI features work.

He gives away airplanes, sells 90,000 stadium tickets, streams million-dollar stunts - and at the same time produces for 450 million followers. MrBeast is not a traditional influencer, but a company with its own innovation logic. Mateo Price, Chief Strategy Officer of the MrBeast cosmos, gave a rare insight into the engine rooms of this creator empire in Dublin.

The talk with Google Managing Director Aarthi Scott revealed that MrBeast's success is not based on a gut feeling, but on data-driven precision, strategic speed and a deep understanding of cultural relevance. The most important insight: brands can learn from creators - but only if they really understand their mechanics.

It all starts in the first frame

A MrBeast video does not start with the content. It starts with the thumbnail, the title and the promise. Within seconds, the question must arise: What the hell is happening? No detail is a coincidence - everything follows the logic of maximum attention.

Learning for brands: The first impression is not a design decision. It is a conversion moment. Those who use YouTube are practicing story design - not campaign extension. This also applies to brand content: The introduction decides whether relevance even gets a chance.

Data is the raw material, speed is the currency

The MrBeast team analyzes millions of videos. Success factors are not estimated, but measured. Trends are anticipated - as with the legendary Squid Game video, which went online six weeks after the series was released. The success? Over 500 million views.

Learning for brands: Speed is not a question of size, but of preparation. Brands need systems, not silos. The difference between viral and irrelevant is often a time window of a few days - if you miss this, you have already lost culturally.

MrBeast sets Alex an extreme challenge: life in the supermarket - 10,000 dollars a day. Every day that Alex spends in the store, he earns 10,000 dollars, but has to give goods of the same value to MrBeast, which are then donated. Equipped with a place to sleep, provisions and the will to persevere, he defies power cuts and loneliness. After 45 days, he finishes voluntarily - and takes 450,000 dollars with him. The video was localized into German by dubbing - so seamlessly that the original is barely noticeable. The video has over 400 million views.

The algorithm loves authenticity

Authenticity is not a product of chance, but the result of radical consistency. MrBeast is staged, but never artificial. Mateo Price names three success factors: Authenticity, obsession, consistency. The relationship with the audience is not a KPI - it is the core.

Learning for brands: People follow brands when they sense people. No script can replace closeness. And no paid media campaign can replace the trust that creators build up with patience and attitude.

YouTube is no longer YouTube

YouTube has arrived on the television. At MrBeast, every second view is via the big screen. The platform is no longer mobile-first, but a networked media universe with its own gravity. The long-form boom shows: People want more than just snacks.

Learning for brands: YouTube is not a social channel. It is a TV, platform, community hub - and the new home for moving image brands. Those who produce content for YouTube produce for living rooms - not just for the timeline.

MrBeast pits amateurs against sports legends - with up to one million dollars in prize money. In spectacular challenges, fans duel with stars such as Tom Brady, Noah Lyles and Cristiano Ronaldo. In addition to sporting highlights, the video provides excitement, underdog moments - and clever self-promotion.

Localization is the new scaling

70 percent of views come from people who do not speak English. This is made possible by AI-supported dubbing and universal storytelling. Travel creator Drew Binsky, for example, tripled his reach with YouTube Aloud. Football creator Seline reaches 3 billion views per month - thanks to localization.

Learning for brands: Being global does not mean being the same everywhere - but being understandable everywhere. The algorithm rewards relevance in every language - and brands can tap into unexpected new target groups through clever localization.

Creators are co-builders, not advertising space

Nick DiGiovanni, chef-creator with an audience of millions, did not advertise kitchen products - he integrated them. And viewers loved it: the brand recorded record sales. Mateo Price calls this co-creation, not cooperation.

Learning for brands: Creator marketing does not work as an insert. It only works if the brand and creator tell a common story. Successful creators work with brands, not for them. Those who don't understand this will be weeded out - by the community.

Humanity in the engine room

MrBeast has Crohn's disease. He talks openly about his illness, about exhaustion, about his limits. In the midst of algorithmic excellence, he shows vulnerability. Paradoxically, this makes him untouchable.

Learning for brands: Vulnerability is not a risk. It is the strongest lever for relevance in an over-staged media world. If you only shine, you lose touch with reality. And therefore also with the target group.

MrBeast makes Squid Game real: In a spectacular YouTube production, hundreds of contestants compete against each other in games familiar from the series such as "Red Light, Green Light", "Tug of War" and a finale à la "musical chairs". The winner receives 456,000 dollars - everyone else goes home empty-handed. The video has almost 800 million views and over 600,000 comments.

YouTube as a platform: studio, stage and network all in one

Mateo Price emphasizes: "YouTube is more than just a channel - it is a media ecosystem in its own right. From AI dubbing and creator matchmaking tools to CTV-optimized players, Google is investing in the creator economy as an infrastructure partner. For MrBeast, YouTube is not just distribution - it is the basis for scaling, testing and community building.

Learning for brands: If you want to use YouTube properly, you need to understand the platform - and you shouldn't confuse YouTube with social media. It's not about "extending" content, but about thinking of it natively - as your own production, with your own story arc and your own format.

The price of success: being exposed as a permanent condition

MrBeast is not just in the spotlight - he lives in it. As his success grows, so does the pressure. Criticism, complaints, setbacks: Whether it's lunch kits with spoiled cheese, questionable crypto deals or class action lawsuits surrounding his Amazon show "Beast Games" - there's a fine line between hero and hate object.

Learning for brands: Exposure needs resilience. And attitude. Brands that play in the creator world need a plan for shitstorms - and ethics that go beyond performance KPIs.

What's Next?

YouTube is no longer a platform - it is a cultural machine, a universe of moving images and a space of trust. MrBeast shows how a global brand can emerge from this. For advertisers, marketers and brand managers, this is where the new reality begins: not as viewers, but as players.

Dublin - The atmosphere at Google Marketing Live 2025 was charged: electrifying, efficient - but also noticeably driven. Google feels the breath of the new AI competition breathing down its neck. The answer? A wave of new products. Over 30 innovations, many AI-supported. Some seem like strategic advances, others seem like snap breath.

Search business in upheaval

The topic of search remains central. Traditional search is increasingly being replaced by AI-Overviewschat interfaces and multimodal experiences. Queries are becoming more complex, longer and more intuitive. GenZ and GenAlpha in particular are changing user behavior through social search on platforms such as TikTok. Google is fighting back - with tools, traffic and an asset that is still unrivaled: YouTube. The search business is and remains the entry ticket to the marketing universe.

Dan Taylor: AI is changing everything - especially search and YouTube

In a video interview with m&k Dan Taylor, VP Global Ads at Google, emphasized that AI is the game changer for online search - and that only AI-powered campaigns can leverage the full potential. The centerpiece is the "Power Pack" with Performance Max, AI Max and Demand Gen. Taylor presented impressive figures: 27 percent more conversions through AI Max, 1 billion shoppable conversions on YouTube and new tools for creator integration. AI Max in particular is designed to recognize search intent instead of keywords - and thus marks a new era of semantic advertising, according to Taylor. His conclusion: if you want to remain visible, you have to be prepared to rethink yourself - in image, text and sound.

Debbie Weinstein: AI as the answer to human curiosity

Debbie Weinstein, President of Google for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, spoke in Dublin not only as a top manager, but also as a convinced bridge builder between technology and consumer behavior. Her credo: artificial intelligence is not a threat to creativity, but rather its amplifier - if it is used correctly. According to Weinstein, AI is currently the most effective tool for translating human curiosity into valuable interaction.

She pointed out that 15 % of all search queries on Google are completely new every day - proof of how unpredictable humans remain in their joy of discovery. This is precisely why AI is particularly well suited to extracting patterns from this unpredictability - and bringing advertising messages to where they are relevant: at the moment of discovery, scrolling, searching or buying.

Using Volvo Cars as an example, she showed how the use of AI-supported keyword extensions led to a 47 % increase in leads. Through value-based bidding, Volvo was also able to evaluate the quality of conversions in a more differentiated way - and even double the ROI in a three-month A/B test. For Weinstein, one thing is clear: marketing is one of the AI use cases with the clearest return on investment to date.

What drives her is more than technical euphoria: it is the aspiration to put AI at the service of brand management - not to replace people, but to understand them better. Or as she says herself: "Our search is the mirror of human curiosity - and AI helps us to polish it more clearly."

The power pack against complexity

With solutions such as Performance Max, AI Max and Demand Gen, Google is taking campaign management to a new level. The goal: automation and efficiency. But despite the one-click promise, the question remains: Do these tools really take the pressure off - or do they just shift the complexity towards black box algorithms? After all, what if the tools become more complex than the problems they are supposed to solve?

Agentic Functions and strategic AI consulting

With features such as Smart Bidding Exploration and new agent functions, Google wants to support advertisers - also strategically. An AI-based marketing consultant promises not only to recognize tasks, but also to implement them straight away. The goal: less manual work, more results. However, smaller players in particular could get lost in the flood of functions.

Creatives at the touch of a button - a blessing or a show?

From dynamic outpainting and the new image-to-video function to automatically generated voiceovers: Google gave an impressive demonstration in Dublin of how advertising media can now be produced using AI. Tools such as Product Studio enable retailers to generate personalized product visuals in real time from just a few images - without the need for a traditional shoot. A new addition is the Asset Creation Studio, which provides advertisers with suggestions for headline text, image selection and even moving image variants - AI-generated, but can be trained on a brand-specific basis.

One example was a food retail campaign in which the creative team turned a simple product shot of a sandwich into an animated short video with close-ups, text overlays and sound - all from one tool. Within minutes, a finished YouTube short was created, optimized for mobile reach and conversion.

The relevance for SMEs was particularly emphasized: those who previously had to rely on agencies or productions to create moving images can now create visual assets with significantly less effort and budget - tailored to the platform, target group and campaign objective.

But despite all the efficiency, the crucial question remains: where is the originality, the surprise? AI can standardize, scale and learn from the past - but can it also think in new ways? Brands that want to differentiate themselves are faced with the task of finding a new balance between automation and expressiveness. The tools promise creative democratization - but the creative claim remains a question of briefing. And the attitude.

An ecosystem with a suction effect - and headwinds

What Google presents is not just an arsenal of tools - it is a closed cosmos. The deep integration of Search, YouTube, Analytics and Creatives forms a strong ecosystem that uses first-party data and binds advertising customers in the long term. At the same time, navigation within this system is becoming increasingly challenging.

But there is also trouble brewing for Google away from the stage in Dublin: While the company is asserting itself with innovative strength against the new AI competition, it is facing two momentous antitrust proceedings in the USA. We are talking about possible conditions such as the unbundling of the Chrome browser or the license release of the search index - both fundamental pillars in the advertising ecosystem. It is still unclear whether and when these measures will take effect. For the coming months - perhaps years - little is likely to change in terms of Google's operational dominance. However, the processes will tie up resources, potentially slow down developments and increase competitive pressure, particularly from AI-first companies such as Open AI or Perplexity.

Creator Economy: MrBeast, Mateo Price and the new media age

One of the most striking highlights of this year's GML was delivered by Mateo Price, Chief Strategy Officer of MrBeast, in conversation with Aarthi Scott (Google). As a representative of one of the world's most influential creator companies, Price explained how content creators have long since become independent media companies - agile, data-driven and culturally influential.

Using MrBeast as an example, he showed how strategically content is produced today: from thumbnail optimization to minute-by-minute video performance. Price emphasized that creators not only generate reach with YouTube, but also help shape global culture - for example through viral formats such as Hot Ones or memes that lead to Hollywood projects within weeks.

What's Next?

Perhaps this is the most honest question that marketing can ask at the moment - and also the most exciting. Google Marketing Live 2025 has shown that there are no easy answers, but there are many new ways forward. AI is changing tools, touchpoints and timings - but at its core, it remains a business for the curious. For those who are prepared to reorient themselves, ask questions and constantly rethink answers. Google has shown how to leave your comfort zone before others do. We don't know what will come next. But we do know that standing still is not an option.

In the sights of the latest AI generation is advertisers' need for maximum efficiency in campaign development, which has become increasingly complex over the years. To this end, Google has developed a new natural language conversation feature in Google Ads to speed up campaign creation and simplify search ads. The starting point is a landing page, which the Google AI summarizes at the push of a button. It then generates relevant and effective keywords, headlines, descriptions, images and other elements for the campaign. The suggestions can be reviewed and easily edited before use.

Already last year Google started to introduce automatically created assets (ACA) for search ads that use content from landing pages and existing ads to generate headlines and descriptions. As Google writes in the blog post, ACA will now be equipped with generative AI to more effectively create and customize search ads based on the context of a search query.

For example, in a search for "skin care for dry, sensitive skin," the AI can use content from the landing page and from existing ads to create a new headline that is even more relevant to the search query, such as "Soothe your dry, sensitive skin." In this way, the relevance of the ads should be improved.

More creativity in Performance Max

Performance Max is one of the best examples of how AI-powered campaigns can drive growth, Google further writes. Advertisers using Performance Max would average over 18 percent more conversions at a similar cost per action (CPA). The inclusion of generative AI in Performance Max is expected to further simplify the creation of user-friendly assets. All that is required is to specify the web page from which the Google AI will pull the text and elements that are likely to be most appropriate for the campaign. The AI will also suggest new images created specifically for the campaign. This feature will also be available through the new conversation feature in Google Ads.

Generative AI offers new opportunities for ads

Already on the Google I/O 2023 were numerous new generative AI functions for search announced. The aim is to make search smarter and more intuitive, while reliably guiding users to the best content on the web, including content from advertising companies.

This new Search Generative Experience (SGE) can be found in Search Labs, where ongoing experiments can be accessed. In the coming months, experiments will be conducted with search and shopping ads that are integrated directly into the AI-driven Snapshot and Conversation modes, according to the blog post. There's also talk of experimenting with new SBU-native formats that use generative AI to create presumably relevant ads tailored to each step in the search process.

For example, if someone searches for "outdoor activities in Maui" and narrows the search to "activities for kids" and "surfing," a fully personalized ad might appear for a travel brand that offers surf lessons for kids.