Google to Label AI-Made Ads Across Search, YouTube and Discover

Google began a global rollout on July 9 of a new ad transparency mechanism. The "How this ad was made" panel, available in My Ad Center, will show users whether an ad they're viewing on Search, YouTube or Discover was created or modified using artificial intelligence.

Until now, mandatory labeling applied only to political ads, introduced in 2023 in response to concerns about election-related disinformation. The new policy extends that mechanism across Google's entire advertising ecosystem, covering millions of advertisers using Search, YouTube and Discover.

How the labeling works

The mechanism differs depending on where the ad comes from. If an advertiser used Google's own generative ad tools, the system automatically attaches the AI-use disclosure to the My Ad Center panel. But if the ad was made with an external tool, such as Canva, Adobe Firefly, or a Midjourney-style generator, the advertiser has to flag that fact themselves in the campaign settings.

Google explicitly notes that it does not independently verify these advertiser declarations. That means the system relies largely on advertisers' good faith rather than on automatic detection of machine-generated content, which raises questions about how effective the whole mechanism will be at catching dishonest advertisers.

We want to help people better understand the ads they see, while giving advertisers simple tools to navigate evolving industry standards - Keerat Sharma, Vice President and General Manager of Ads Privacy and Safety at Google

Why this matters now

A growing share of ads feature product photos and scenes that are AI-generated or AI-retouched, often realistic enough that consumers don't realize they're looking at a synthetic image. Google argues the new panel is meant to prevent misleading buyers, particularly with product ads, where the difference between a real photo and a generated one can influence purchasing decisions.

The company isn't banning AI-made ads, as long as they're truthful about the product itself and labeled under the new policy. The real problem remains false or misleading content, whether it was made with AI or through traditional methods.

What it means for Polish advertisers

For companies and marketing agencies operating in Poland, the change means that any Google Ads campaign using generative design tools will now need to account for the new disclosure requirement. That applies both to large brands using Google's built-in tools and to smaller businesses that design ad creatives in Canva or similar apps before publishing them on Search, YouTube or Discover.

The change coincides with EU AI transparency rules that, starting August 2, will require chatbots to inform users they're talking to a machine. Together, these two mechanisms, one initiated by Google itself and the other stemming from EU law, form an increasingly dense web of transparency requirements around AI-generated content that companies operating in the European market will have to navigate.

Sources: TechCrunch (techcrunch.com), Google Blog (blog.google), Search Engine Land (searchengineland.com)