Google denies plans to introduce ads on Gemini in 2026

Google has rejected reports that it plans to introduce advertising within Gemini next year. Dan Taylor, Vice President of Global Ads at Google, said the claims were inaccurate and based on anonymous sources. He added that there are no ads in the Gemini app and no current plans to include them.

The clarification follows an AdWeek report suggesting that Google was working with two advertising clients to test potential ad placements inside the AI chatbot.

The report surfaced at a time when Gemini has seen a 30% increase in global monthly active users, largely driven by its new AI image generation model known as Nano Banana. Its growth has also sparked competitive responses across the industry. Earlier reports indicated that Gemini’s rise prompted OpenAI to accelerate development on a new large language model internally referred to as Garlic.

Despite Gemini’s momentum, ChatGPT continues to lead the market with about half of all global mobile downloads and more than half of global monthly active users.

Although Google says Gemini will remain ad-free for now, the company has been experimenting with advertising in other AI products. It recently began testing ad formats within Google Search’s AI Mode.