17 Key Updates from Google I/O & Marketing Live 2025

Google I/O is the search giant’s annual developer conference, where the company announces new products and tech updates.

I’ve been doing this for a long time and many of the Google I/O announcements this year will shake up online marketing in ways I’ve never seen before.

Search is fundamentally changing.

I’d go through all of these announcements if you don’t want to be left behind.

Key Takeaways

• AI Overviews are here to stay and expanding
• Ads are coming to AI overviews
• AI Mode has launched along with Deep Search
• AI Agents will change our funnels
• Gemini forecasting is coming to Google Ads
• Google continues to prioritize first-party data over cookies
• Search will become multimodal
• Performance Max ad campaigns get more powerful
• Imagen 4 and Veo 3 will change campaign production
• AI Mode is being built with shopping in mind
• Ecommerce inventory data is now essential
• Use Google Ads Smart Bidding to hit ROAS targets across more intent levels
• YouTube Shorts product tagging gets a UI overhaul for better conversions
• Google launches new AI Ultra Subscription
• Gemini integrates across the Google ecosystem
• Multiple updates coming to the Google Play Store
• Storytelling and shopping will Blend even more

1. AI Overviews Are Here to Stay and Expanding

Google’s AI Overviews are one of its biggest new products, reaching over 1.5 billion users every month and bringing generative AI to a huge audience (Google’s). This feature, which was initially launched in the United States before releasing in over 100 other countries, will now be available in more than 200 countries worldwide.

In addition, Gemini models (Google’s AI) will start pulling data from Google’s connected apps to deliver more personalized experiences for its users.

Why this matters: AI Overviews (or AIOs) aren’t going anywhere, so start getting used to seeing them at the top of all of your search queries.

While AIOs can lead to fewer search clicks, this doesn’t mean the end of SEO and organic traffic for your business. Instead, people who click through results from the AIO or by scrolling down to view more search results tend to be higher value traffic, people who will be more engaged with what you have to say.

So no, SEO is not dead, but it is evolving. Our team is already jumping in and discovering the best practices for LLMO (large language model optimization), GEO (generative engine optimization), and AEO (answer engine optimization. While each LLM is important to monitor, AI Mode is likely to be the largest and most important.

2. Ads Are Coming to AI Overviews

Ads are going to start appearing in Google’s AI overviews.

These ads are meant to be non-intrusive additions to the overview section, appearing as contextually relevant to the search query. For example, you might see travel or shopping ads related to your search.

Why this matters: These ad placements are going to be extremely valuable since AIOs appear at the top of search results.

It’s another ad slot with high visibility.

But there will be plenty of challenges as we figure out the best way to optimize ads in AIOs and track them.

3. AI Mode Has Launched Along With Deep Search

AI Mode is a new, experimental feature that lets Google users chat directly with a Gemini 2.5-powered AI bot right in the search interface.

Deep Search is an advanced feature available within AI Mode that helps users compile research from search results, rather than just providing a list of search results. 

Google provides an example of how Deep Search can be used in a recent blog post. Say you’re looking for summer camps for your two elementary school-aged children. Simply ask AI Mode to help you find fun and affordable summer camp options, click Deep Search, and wait as the AI conducts a search, then compiles key details about each nearby camp into a single, easily readable report.

All of the work has been done for you within seconds, rather than you having to spend hours poring over each individual camp’s website.

Why this matters: As more users take advantage of available AI tools, they’re becoming more and more accustomed to speaking with AI in a conversational manner.

What does this mean for marketers?

As SEOs, we have to think more about how people speak instead of keywords. Optimizing content for long-form, sentence-based queries is going to be the new norm.

It’s also important to understand that this form of searching may mean that fewer users will click through to your website. However, if you’re able to think like a search engine user and anticipate the questions that they might continue to ask the AI, you’re increasing the chances that your content is referenced and linked to. And that the user will come directly to your website.

The one bit of good news is that the people that do end up on your site will be much more valuable than a typical search visitor.

There is one major downside to AI Mode: no referrer data. It’s impossible to know how many clicks you’re getting. And we still don’t have any way to filter data in Google Search Console (GSC). Many of us are flying blind.

4. AI Agents Will Change Our Funnels

AI Agents are programs that are able to autonomously perform different tasks. Google just announced its own agentic capabilities that will let AI Mode assist with tasks like purchasing tickets, making restaurant reservations, or apartment hunting.

Why this matters: AI agents are going to fundamentally change our conversion funnels. AI concierge flows, “Buy it for me” buttons, and the ability to make purchases or reservations for users are coming. The way people shop and work with businesses is going to change.

This means ecommerce businesses (as well as other types of businesses that can benefit from these AI concierge services) are going to have to optimize their website for Agents, not just people.

This means ensuring their schema markup is dialed in, your website is connected to Google Merchant Center, and that all of your product information is completely accurate and up to date.

This update could also change the way that these businesses track conversions. You’ll need infrastructure in place to track how AI agents interact with your funnels.

5. Gemini Forecasting is Coming to Google Ads

Google’s new AI-powered forecasting tools are being embedded into Google Ads. It will catch trends that your team doesn’t see yet. Spend will get more efficient, conversions will improve, and the teams that take advantage of this will have a first mover advantage.

Why this matters: The first teams that take advantage of the new AI-forecasting in Google Ads will instantly get an advantage over their competitors. Don’t wait on this one, be ready to move immediately.

This will also completely change how agencies and consultants work with their clients. Old school briefs, pitches, and planning will go away. Instead, we’ll have a much more dynamic relationship as Google Ads identifies opportunities and teams execute.

6. Google Continues to Prioritize First-Party Data Over Cookies

Google is continuing to move away from cookie-based tracking and is focusing on their first-party data. This is the data that they collect directly from users. Every year, Google’s becoming more of a closed system.

During the I/O conference, Google reiterated its prioritization of first-party data collection from its products like Search, Gmail, Chrome, and Shopping.

Why this matters: Many brands rely on third-party cookies which might not be reliable long-term. Ensuring your CRM, site tagging, and consent models are set up and properly integrated with your website and other tools will make sure you have an edge in your Google Advertising audience building.

7. Search Will Become Multimodal

Multimodality refers to the use of multiple modes of communication (like image and text) to express meaning. 

And Google is working on integrating all these different mediums into a single interface. Text, image, and audio searching are going to become integrated.

Like the new “Search Live” feature coming this summer, where a user can record live with their phone and get real-time interaction from the search engine.

Why this matters: Multimodality introduces different methods of searching. Users no longer have to settle for just typing in a simple query like “how to regrout a shower” or “what little brown birds are in my area?” 

Instead, they’ll be able to pull out their phone, record what they’re looking at, and ask the AI simple questions like “how do I do this?” or “what is this?”

It’s another sign that we’ll have to stop thinking in keywords and start thinking in all the ways that our customers communicate and search.

8. Performance Max Ad Campaigns Get More Powerful

Performance Max is a type of Google Ads campaign that lets you reach audiences across all of Google’s products, like Search, Display, YouTube, Maps, and more, all from one single campaign. 

Google quietly announced several enhancements to this type of campaign, like dynamic asset creation with Gemini, better creative rotation logic, and improved budget pacing.

Why this matters: We expect two major impacts from these changes. First, these campaigns will get more responsive and reliable, which will be especially helpful for businesses that have tight budgets. Second, a larger portion of the campaign optimization will become hands off. Good guardrails will still be critical though, along with top-tier creative.

9. Imagen 4 and Veo 3 Will Change Campaign Production

Google introduced Imagen 4, the latest version of its photorealistic image generation tool, and Veo 3, the new version of its high-fidelity video generation tool. With these new creative tools, marketers can easily input text prompts and get high-quality visual output.

Why this matters: I’m already seeing what’s coming out of the new image and video models. The quality is striking. Google’s new versions make them a major player in the space now.

It’ll be cheaper and easier for marketers to quickly create assets for minor campaigns, while waiting for their professional designers and videographers to develop content for larger campaigns. Creative isn’t going away. Neither are the real professionals. But how we produce campaigns will shift a lot in the next few years.

10. AI Mode Is Being Built With Shopping in Mind

Google’s AI Mode is also releasing a batch of features that focus on the buyer’s journey:

• A Shopping Graph that makes it easy to look up and browse new products.
• Almost real-time data on all products within its database.
• Integrating price tracking to help users buy at a discount.
• An AI agent that purchases the product for you.
• Trying on clothes virtually.

 to help users with their shopping. This will include new features like virtual try-on by uploading a photo of yourself, the ability to treat the AI as a virtual shopping assistant, and making purchases through the search engine’s AI chatbot.

Why this matters: This changes the way that SEO works for ecommerce companies. Focus keywords for product names, categories, and types will still matter, but brands will also need to make a move towards conversational and long-tail keywords that users might use. We’ll be building for AI agents and shopping partners just as much as we do for people. Fashion companies will need to optimize heavily for the try-it-on features.

11. Ecommerce Inventory Data Is Now Essential

A key piece of all the AI Mode and AI agent announcements is Google’s product database (Shopping Graph). Google wants updated information on all your products, including stock levels. Having data on your products that’s updated basically in real-time will be critical to getting featured in AI Mode.

Why this matters: If your business struggles to keep up with stocking updates in your online store’s inventory management system, you’re going to need to overhaul your systems. The businesses who do so will succeed in Google’s new infrastructure.

12. Use Google Ads Smart Bidding To Hit ROAS Targets Across More Intent Levels

Smart Bidding in Google Ads uses AI to optimize bids for clicks or conversions. This gives advertisers more flexibility across keyword targeting and intent levels.

This will play a major role in keywords that target earlier stages of the funnel. It’s always been relatively easy to get a strong ROAS on high-intent terms towards the bottom of the funnel. Now we’ll have AI that can optimize across the long-tail and exploratory searches.

Why this matters: Google Ads performance will improve and it’ll be easier to allocate spend across for brand awareness and lead nurturing. Every demand generation team should be jumping into this immediately.

13. YouTube Shorts Product Tagging Gets a UI Overhaul For Better Conversions

YouTube Shorts have had product tagging for awhile. Now it’s getting a heavy upgrade that should make products much more visible and engaging. Google is already seeing up to 40% increase in product clicks.

Anyone running YouTube Shorts campaigns will want to get up to speed on the changes.

Why this matters: Jump on this feature right now. It won’t be super popular yet and anyone using it will see a huge boost in conversions. Eventually, users will get accustomed to it and click-throughs will come way down. Don’t wait.

14. Google Launches New AI Ultra Subscription

AI Ultra is a new subscription that grants users access to “the best of Google AI.” Subscribers will get:

• Early access to new AI models across all of Google’s AI products
• Higher usage limits as well as the highest levels of usage for each tool.
• YouTube Premium
• 30 TB of storage

This subscription is already available for $249.99/month.

Why this matters: Getting early access to tools like this can be a key part of staying ahead of the competition. With Google already set to be the dominant AI platform, the more we understand where their toolset is going, the easier time we’ll have building marketing strategies to get featured in their tools.

15. Gemini Integrates Across the Google Ecosystem

Google is expanding Gemini’s presence across all of its products including Search, Ads, YouTube, Shopping, Gmail, and Performance Max. 

This deep integration across the entire Google suite is a key moat between Google’s AI products and everyone else.

It’ll change how we work and how we buy.

Why this matters: First, being able to have Gemini instantly access some of our most personal data will make it extremely effective. Whether we’re creating new marketing campaigns or just trying to buy a new shirt, the level of personalization will be unmatched in Google’s ecosystem. Second, the buyer funnel will change because of this integration, so will campaign management. Online marketing will become omnichannel by default. Campaign design and management will focus on tapping into these deep integrations.

16. Multiple Updates Coming to the Google Play Store

The Google Play Store is going to see some major updates:

• AI-curated topic pages
• Podcast-style audio previews
• Subscription management tools

Why this matters: If you’re in the Google Play store, jump on all of these as they get rolled out. You now have new features to help with acquisition and retention. Like all the other feature announcements, the biggest rewards go to those that move fast to adopt everything.

17. Storytelling And Shopping Will Blend Even More

Google is testing TikTok-style video ads in the U.S that let users watch video content and shop for products at the exact same time. Products will be tagged within the video, making it easy for viewers to make a purchase while they watch a video ad or product tutorial.

The lines between storytelling and shopping have already gotten blurred, now they’re about to disappear. 

Why this matters: Consumers are leaning towards more interactive experiences, and this ad type speaks perfectly to that preference. Video ad teams will need to become amazing storytellers while also being great at sales. We won’t be able to separate these types of content going forward.