New Google Ads update brings better AI generated visuals

Google has introduced updates to its Performance Max campaigns, incorporating improved AI-driven image generation and new asset recommendations to optimise advertising performance.

The key update involves advancements in AI-generated images, particularly for human characters. The company first launched AI image generation for Performance Max assets last year, and the latest improvements aim to produce more realistic depictions, especially in advertisements featuring people.

“With the help of Imagen 3, we’re now rolling out the ability to use text prompts to generate images that contain adult people and faces across Performance Max, Demand Gen, Display, and Apps campaigns,” Google said in a statement.

The company emphasised that the process has undergone extensive user research to ensure quality and effectiveness. The company also confirmed that AI-generated images of prominent figures, such as politicians and celebrities, as well as children and other sensitive subjects, will be restricted. All AI-generated visuals will carry SynthID watermarks to indicate their synthetic nature.

In addition to image generation, the company is introducing new asset-audience recommendations designed to enhance ad performance. The system will suggest themes and elements that resonate most with advertisers’ target audiences, providing guidance on how to improve creative effectiveness.

Another enhancement includes Performance Max campaign experiments that assess the impact of different creative assets. The company has introduced a beta test allowing retailers with product feed campaigns to compare the effect of adding various assets, including AI-generated text, images, and videos, against campaigns without additional assets.

The updates aim to refine ad performance by leveraging the company's extensive advertising data to generate and recommend content optimised for audience engagement. These features are rolling out within Google Ads Manager, with the asset recommendations available through Google account teams.