What you need to know
- Amid Alphabet’s earnings call this week, Google Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler said ads for Gemini could be considered.
- First of all, the company is said to be looking at an ad format for AI mode and if it works well, it looks like they could target the Gemini app.
- There were reports in late 2025 that Google was thinking about doing just this, but another executive quickly shot it down at the time.
There are times when it seems like there are ads everywhere, and that may continue as Google looks for a new company for its AI.
Alphabet, Google’s parent company, had its first quarter 2026 earnings call this week and BusinessWire informs that the advertisements of Gemini They are back on the table. Putting this in perspective, Philipp Schindler, Google’s chief commercial officer, commented on the ads, saying: “But let’s also be clear: ads have always been an important part of scaling products to reach billions of people.” Schindler adds: “And if done right, ads can be really valuable and useful business information…”
Android Central’s opinion
Hearing that Google “believes” in this ad format and would probably include it in the Gemini app if all goes well, it seems like they have their sights set on me. Could these ads be useful? Absolutely. But do we really need more ads thrown in our faces? Just because ChatGPT has them, Gemini doesn’t need them too.
There still appears to be some work going on behind the scenes, as “at the appropriate time we will share plans as we have said, but we are not rushing anything here,” according to Schindler’s statement. This is where our focus is right now. According to Schindler during the earnings call, Google will focus its outlook on AI-mode ads first.
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This would fit well with the ads already present in AI Overviews, as BusinessWire notes; However, Schindler claims there is a “belief” behind the ad format Google has planned for AI Mode. It is also this belief that would bring this same ad format to the Gemini app if all goes well.
Ads and income
Here we enter an interesting narrative, since it is not the first time we hear about the possibility of advertisements appearing in the Gemini application. This began in December, when word spread on social media that Google was “holding calls with advertisers” in preparation for bringing ads to the Gemini app in 2026. There was very little information about how users would see the ads arrive and whether they would be just for the web app or mobile as well.
Android Central’s opinion
Do we really need ads on Gemini? Really; Us? If they are in the form they are in the AI overviews… maybebut it’s still exaggerated. I see ads everywhere. My Gmail, YouTube, AI digests, random websites I’ve visited because search history exists. Sure, that’s fine, relevance is fine. Put that aside. At the end of the day, if I want to search for a product, I will search for a product.
What became clear was a statement shortly after from Google Ads product liaison Ginny Marvin. They said: “In short, there are no ads in the Gemini app and there are no current plans to change that.” Ads in AI overviews were reportedly the only place Google focused to remain “useful,” not frowned upon. However, given Philipp Schindler’s recent comments this week, that could change.
Alphabet earnings call went smoothly earlier this week as the company posted strong growth in the first quarter. The company posted $109.9 billion in revenue and added that it was also up 22% year-over-year. AI received a gold star—well, Gemini did—as it was the main culprit behind the accelerated growth of Search, Cloud, and subscriptions. Alphabet also said it was doubling down on AI in the future.
