Google is introducing AI-driven commerce features to help retailers increase holiday sales, including new performance insights in Merchant Center, Business Agent beta for YouTube ads, improved checkout processes, and enhancements to product feed optimization with conversational attributes and loyalty data.
Original title: Boost your holiday sales with these agentic commerce updates
Google is expanding AI Mode ads to 10 new countries including Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Singapore, with plans for further expansion in Q4 2026. Ads will be clearly labeled as "Sponsored" and Google reports high user comfort and relevance with these ads in AI Mode searches.
Google's Ads Decoded podcast explores how AI Overviews and AI Mode are changing search behavior and what this means for advertisers. The episode features insights from Google's search data science team on evolving user search habits and long-form query trends that impact ad strategy.
Display & Video 360 API v5 is now available in public beta. The update introduces YouTube video and channel exclusion targeting management, Digital Out of Home support, refactored audience targeting for Demand Gen and YouTube, and removes Customer Match audience management in favor of Data Manager API.
Google has released new bidding and budgeting tools for holiday campaigns, including demand-led budgeting and promotion mode features. Google Ads executives share insights on these tools and strategies in the latest Ads Decoded podcast episode to help advertisers optimize their holiday ad performance.
Starting December 4, 2026, Google will enable image extraction by default for newly created Performance Max campaigns across all interfaces (API, UI, Editor). This change applies at the campaign level regardless of account-level Dynamic Image Extensions settings. Image extraction allows Google AI to scan landing pages and extract high-resolution images to enhance ads.
Google is expanding its Financial Services Verification program to the U.S. and Canada in early 2027, requiring financial advertisers to prove they are authorized by regulators before running ads. This measure aims to prevent scams and brand impersonation in financial advertising. The program already protects approximately 2 billion internet users across 42 countries.
Google's Universal Cart is now available in the U.S. on Search and the Gemini app. It allows users to organize items from multiple retailers in one cart, track price drops, find promo codes, and complete purchases via Google Pay or transfer to merchant sites.
Google has released v26 of the Google Ads API with new features including streamlined EU political advertising declarations. Users must upgrade their client libraries and code to access the new capabilities. Updated libraries and code examples are available, with a live walkthrough event scheduled on Discord and YouTube.
Google is introducing AI-driven commerce features to help retailers increase holiday sales, including new performance insights in Merchant Center, Business Agent beta for YouTube ads, improved checkout processes, and enhancements to product feed optimization with conversational attributes and loyalty data.
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