Google's New Strategy Leaks! AI Chatbot Is Now Advertising Land

JAKARTA - Google is reportedly testing ad insertion in third-party AI chatbot chat interfaces, which has the potential to change the way users interact with this technology. According to a Bloomberg report, the Mountain View tech giant has offered this service to AI developers through its popular advertising platform, Google AdSense.

Since the beginning, advertising has become Google's main source of revenue. The company has even been so aggressive in dominating the digital advertising sector that it has recently been hit by an antitrust lawsuit in the United States. Now, it seems that Google is trying to integrate its two main business lines "advertising and artificial intelligence (AI)" to create a new monetization model.

According to a Bloomberg report, Google has been testing ad insertion in chatbot AI chats since the beginning of this year. The ads appear directly in chat windows, like ads on websites or apps, and are displayed through AdSense integration.

Several AI-based search startups such as iAsk and Liner are said to have worked together in the early stages of this trial. Although still limited, this initiative paved the way for wider launches in the future. However, so far only certain third-party AI chatbots have been able to access this ad feature, depending on the integration they do with Google's advertising system.

A Google spokesperson told Bloomberg, "AdSense for Search is available to websites that want to display relevant ads in their conversation AI experience." This confirms that Google wants to provide monetization options for chatbot developers by leveraging targeted advertising power.

AI technology development is very expensive and often indirectly generates profits. Even big companies such as OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, are said to not expect profits until at least 2029. Therefore, for many companies, the search for sustainable monetization is a big challenge.

However, unlike OpenAI, Google has a wider business scope. The company can take advantage of its advantages in the digital advertising industry to quickly generate revenue from AI technology. Ad insertion in third-party chatbots could be a smart first step in the strategy "similar to the ad models Google has applied over the years on websites and apps.

In addition, Google has also integrated AI into its many products and services. Some of the most advanced AI features are only available for paid users, which is an additional attraction to encourage more subscriptions.

It should be noted that this is not the first time Google has inserted an ad in an AI-based experience. Late last year, Google started displaying ads within AI Overviews summary of auto-answers that appear at the top of search results for several queries. This indicates that Google is indeed actively looking for ways to unify AI technology with its core advertising business.

With the increasing popularity of AI chatbots, Google's steps to participate in monetizing this trend feel logical and strategic. In the future, users may have to get used to seeing advertisements in the middle of their conversations with AI, just like when exploring the web or using free apps.

Whether this will interfere with user experience or actually open up new opportunities for developers and ad industry players, only time can answer them.