One of the new ad formats Google announced today will allow brands to link short videos they made (or those they hired creators to film) to their ads on Google’s search engine. Text summaries of the AI-generated clips will follow. “I have three Gen Zers at home and watching them shop is very video-based,” Madrigal said.
Google also launched a tool that allows companies to create entirely new AI-generated product images based on photos from previous marketing campaigns and images that represent their brand identity. For example, a home goods brand could upload an image of one of its candles and an image of a beach, and ask Google to “put the candle on a beach that looks like this, under some palm trees.”
Shannon Smyth, founder of a perfume and body care company called A Girl’s Gotta Spa!, said she started using Google’s AI imaging tools last year when the company began rolling them out as part of software called Product Studio. . Initially only Google permitted merchants to change the backgrounds of existing product photos and make small adjustments, such as increasing the resolution.
“It coincided with the struggle to keep up to date on our social channels with professional-looking photography and, as finances became more difficult, I decided to give it a try,” says Smyth. She uses it to generate images to use on social media, in an email newsletter, and in her Amazon store. (Google contacted Smyth with WIRED to talk about his experiences with its AI products.)
Smyth said Google’s AI tools save time and have gotten better as he continues to use them. “I admit, at first I was frustrated if I generated images without shadows or reflections, or if I had an unidentifiable object in the photo,” he explained. “I found that as I give feedback on each image, those problems begin to resolve.”
Google is trying to help advertisers create attractive images without having to spend so much time and budget on graphic designers, photographers, set designers and models. That may not be good news for those workers, and if product images aren’t accurate, buyers could be disappointed. But Google hopes that AI images will make ads more attractive and attract more clicks, which will increase its revenue.
However, the company and its competitors may also simply be helping retailers avoid paying for expensive software like Photoshop or spending as much on creative services. It’s unclear how many customers will necessarily feel compelled to advertise more. Smyth said his company doesn’t buy ads on Google, despite how much he appreciates Product Studio.
AI-generated advertising is increasingly becoming a fixture on the internet. Earlier this month, Meta began to give Advertisers on Facebook and Instagram the ability to generate new versions of existing product photos using AI, after previously offering only AI generated funds. Meta and Google also allow advertisers to generate marketing copy for their ads.
Amazon announced a similar beta image generation tool last fall that can also create backdrops for product photography. Instead of advertising a garden hose on a plain white background, it allows brands to create, for example, a backyard scene with a garden and trees, without the need for real soil.
The looming question is whether consumers will find AI-generated ads unpleasant, if they notice them in the first place. Some fashion brands have faced backlash from their customers after they announced they were experimenting with artificial intelligence, including levis and the dressmaker selkie. But for many smaller e-commerce businesses, the potential benefits of using AI may outweigh the risks.
“Let’s face it, small businesses are crumbling like a house of cards. “We can barely hold on,” Smyth said. “It has helped me to be visually in the minds of clients and potential clients. “I’m pretty sure my aesthetic would have tanked or abandoned many social channels without it as an option.”
