Google announces AI innovations to drive growth in businesses
By Eberechi Obinagwam
Google has announced series of new artificial intelligence AI powered innovations to help Nigeria Businesses grow their online presence and drive tangible growth.
The announcement was made at Google Marketing Live (GML) 2025, an annual event that showcases its latest product advancements in advertising and commerce.
According to google, these advancements highlight how AI is transforming advertising and digital commerce, providing tools designed to help businesses connect with their customers more effectively.
Olumide Balogun, Director West Africa , Google said in Sub-Saharan Africa, the digital landscape is experiencing explosive growth, making digital presence and AI adoption no longer an option, but a necessity for businesses to thrive and connect with their customers effectively.
“These GML announcements reinforce our commitment to equipping Nigeria’s vibrant business community with cutting-edge AI tools to unlock new opportunities and achieve their growth ambitions.”
Ads in AI Overviews and New AI Mode Ads AI Overviews, one of the key which innovations introduced, provide AI-generated summaries at the top of Google Search results, and have proven to be one of the most successful launches in Search in the past decade. Google sees more than 5 trillion searches annually. In major markets like the U.S. and India, AI Overviews are driving over a 10% increase in Google usage for the types of queries that show them. People who interact with AI Overviews search more often and are happier with the results, with the volume of commercial queries also increasing. This presents significant opportunities for advertisers as people turn to Search to discover new brands and products.
The report said, initially, Search and Shopping ads in AI Overviews will be expanding to desktop in the U.S. starting on May 21, 2025. Later in 2025, ads in AI Overviews will expand in English to select countries on mobile and desktop, including Canada, Australia, Philippines, South Africa, Pakistan, Nigeria, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Kenya, and Indonesia. This expansion, along with tests for ads within AI Mode – a more conversational AI search experience for complex questions – is intended to offer businesses more opportunities for consumer connection. Where relevant, ads may appear below and integrated into AI Mode responses. This is particularly relevant in regions where AI adoption is growing, such as Nigeria, where 70% of the online population has used generative AI in the past year, significantly above the global average.
