Google Ads: an advertising revolution that has been on the marketing board for 25 years

Google Ads today blow out the candles of your 25th birthday. Numerous milestones remain behind this online advertising platform that has shaped the standards of the advertiser industry, the way brands and agencies work, and user experiences. From the appearance of text ads in the Search Engine to the rise of programmatic advertising, through the jump to more recent formats such as mobile phones, video or connected television. The way Google Ads works has gone evolving over the last two decades as technology has.

Dan Taylor, Vice President of Global Adshighlighted a good part of this trajectory in a meeting with the media. But, in addition, his nearly twenty years of experience at Google allow him to have a complete picture of the changes in the landscape, as well as knowing how to perfectly explain what changes have occurred with artificial intelligenceas well as the opportunities that this presents for companies.

How has advertising evolved in the last 25 years on Google Ads?

In the last quarter of a century, several services have been implemented in Google Ads that are very relevant for advertisers. Dating back to the early 2000s, the release of Google AdWords It allowed companies to position their ads in front of customers based on keywords. Thus began a new era of relevance and real-time measurement for brands. Additionally, the pay-per-click model revolutionized digital advertising by making advertisers only pay based on actual user interaction and interest.

In 2005, Google introduced the quality score and ad ranking in searches. “This led to a better user experience, more relevant ads and, of course, better results for advertisers,” explains Taylor. These principles continue to guide the company’s compass today.

The transition from the computer to the mobile phone also represented a great change, based on the new tastes of consumers and the possibilities of smart phones. “Although Google’s first mobile ads were introduced in 2008, they were not an immediate success,” he admits; We had to wait a couple of years for them to really work and for brands to trust it.

The arrival of AI: an innovation with multiple applications

“While AI may seem new, this technology has been fundamental to our advertising products for more than a decade, with predictive and analytical AI supporting intelligent media buying, inventory selection, measurement and creative delivery,” says Dan Taylor. For example, Back in 2015, Google Ads was already using AI for universal app campaigns.

This foundation has been the foundation for later innovations such as Performance Max (2021), DemandGen (2023) y AI Max for Search (2025). “We use AI to help advertisers move at the speed of the consumer and focus on results,” highlights the vice president. AI enables the transformation not only of how Internet users move around the web and find information, but also how they discover products.

In that line, AI Overviews responds to consumer questions and needs. «Our AI generated snapshots with links to drill down, and we have received very positive feedback from users. Besides, When users click on links in AI summaries, these clicks are of higher qualitywhich means that users are more likely to spend more time on the websites they have accessed,” explains Taylor.

Regarding the AI Mode recently launched, it is located halfway between a chatbot and a traditional search engine and gives rise to asking longer questions and reasoning from the data. “We have seen that average queries are between two and three times longer than traditional search queries,” he says.

In this format, links have been incorporated, which translates into a double opportunity for brands. First, because new opportunities arise for companies to be discovered and second, because by having more complex queries, “we can better understand the why of the search, not just the what,” in Taylor’s words.

The revolution in Google searches

«People no longer need to search with keywords. They can search in the way that feels most natural to them, such as with longer and more complex queries or questions,” says Taylor. Even the visual search is being installed as an extended option among users: “Only Google Lens It records more than 25 billion searches per month, and one in five has a commercial intention. It is one of the fastest growing types of search queries, with a 70% increase year after year,” he points out.

As highlighted in his conference, from the platform they observe that people are looking for moreboth general inquiries and for the purpose of finding out more about products and services.

What role does SEO play in Google?

Google released the latest updated guide for publishers and websites on how SEO currently works in May. However, there has been a notable change in direction, and it is no longer the priority: «We believe that the fundamental principles are Make sure you create content for people, not bots or crawlers«. The current orientation is towards positioning within AI search experiences, which can also provide a monetary return for advertisers.

What opportunities does AI offer companies?

When advertisers wonder how they can Leverage artificial intelligence to boost your brandshe advice from dan taylor It redirects them to their own everyday behaviors when searching for products on Google, social networks or platforms. There is four main opportunities for advertisers: video, AI-powered campaigns, creativity and agentic features. AI revolutionizes all links in the marketing chain.

The use of AI for brands

“He video “It has become the main way in which people research, discover products, learn about brands and build trust,” announces Taylor, in a year in which one of Google’s star products, YouTube, has celebrated its 20th anniversary. According to a survey conducted by Ipsos, YouTube has the trust of more users in their purchasing process than the main social media platforms, which is an opportunity for brands to interact with audiences, especially younger ones.

“Now, Our AI-powered campaigns make it easy for advertisers to appear in those moments that can’t be planned. “The technology learns from the data that marketers provide, such as landing pages, creative assets, objectives and campaign performance, to adapt ads based on what people really want and find these new opportunities,” he highlights.

AI can also contribute in terms of creativityhelping to produce engaging content at scale. «In recent years, we have put our cutting-edge generative AI tools such as Imagine and Veo«Taylor emphasizes. “In fact, more than two million advertisers now use Google’s AI-based asset generation tools to create and serve ads,” he adds.

As for the agentic capabilitiesare, for the platform, the next application with AI that will help companies “achieve better results with less effort.” These tools learn from advertiser and customer input, such as data sets, landing pages, and real-time results to optimize campaigns or even suggest the creation of new ones. There are already some of these options active in Google Ads and also in Google Analytics.

Throughout its 25 years, Google Ads has transformed digital advertising. Today, the platform celebrates its legacy of innovation and looks to the future driving a smarter, more creative and consumer-focused ecosystem.