Google introduces a feature that flags when ads are served using artificial intelligence. The tag will indicate that the ad was created or edited with generative tools, TechCrunch reported on this.
The disclosure appears in the “My Ad Center” panel, which can be accessed through the three-dot menu or the info icon on the ads. It includes ads on Google Search, YouTube and Google Discover and is available worldwide.
That panel now allows users to block or report ads and find out why an ad was shown. It now adds an option labeled “how this ad was made” that reveals any AI connections.
The logic is simple. AI makes it cheap to create fancy product images, which can confuse shoppers into thinking they’re looking at a real photo rather than a synthetic one.
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Until now, Google only required AI disclosure in election ads. Extending it to commercial advertising is a meaningful extension of the policy.
Honor system seizure
The scope of the feature depends a lot on how the ad is set up. Disclosure is automatically triggered when advertisers use Google’s own generative AI advertising tools.
When an ad is produced elsewhere, the advertiser must actively mention that AI is involved. Google says it won’t run its own check to verify the claim, so the label relies on advertisers being honest.
This gap is important because the incentive to remain silent is real. An advertiser hoping a synthetic scene will pass for an original photo has little reason to volunteer otherwise, and isn’t looking over Google’s shoulder.
Regulators are forcing the issue
The timing is not coincidental. Google’s move underpins tougher rules as the EU AI Act’s transparency obligations on AI-generated content kick in from August.
The industry is already resisting with a mandatory version retailers are lobbying to free up AI-powered ads of those EU regulations. The voluntary, self-proclaimed label is a lighter touch than Brussels thinks and The broader fight over the AI ​​Act.
Google is not consistent in its products either. It will be on YouTube Automatically tag AI videos regardless of whether creators have disclosed them or nota tougher stance than the honesty of the advertiser he trusted here.
Transparency, up to a point
This feature is a step towards a market that is still drowning in synthetic media where Google is some AI content has been branded as spam. Giving users space to question how advertising is done is better than staying silent.
Whether it changes behavior is another question, where in an ecosystem Deceptive ads are already a profitable problem. A label only helps if the most hideable people choose to apply it.
For now, Google has prepared the statement and provided the link to advertisers. The honest ones will convert it, and the rest is the reason such a label is needed.
