Digital
Ad to the Future Google revs up AI to rewrite the rules of marketing
MUMBAI: Who needs a crystal ball when your ads can now predict, create and convert, all thanks to AI? At its annual Google Marketing Live event, Google rolled out a wave of AI-powered advertising tools designed to flip the marketing playbook from reactive to proactive. From smarter bidding and creative generation to shoppable TV and AI-driven search ads, the tech giant is giving Indian marketers a suite of tools to anticipate consumer behaviour, not just respond to it.
“The purchase journey isn’t a straight line anymore, it’s a maze of swipes, scrolls and searches,” said Google India MD for digital first businesses Roma Datta Chobey. “Our new launches help brands cut through the chaos, scale creativity, and reach the right people at the right time with precision and impact.”
Here’s what’s turning heads:
Smarter Shopping, Streamlined Selling
● Shoppable CTV lets users buy products right from their smart TVs using QR codes or “send to phone” options.
● Youtube Masthead is now shoppable on mobile, giving brands high-visibility, click-to-cart impact.
● Ads in AI Overviews will soon roll out in India, inserting Search and Shopping ads directly within AI-generated search summaries.
AI-Powered Creativity with “Generated for You”
● Set to launch in Product Studio later this year, this tool will generate images and videos based on product catalogues, trends, and brand identity no design skills required.
Performance Max Retention Only Mode
● In beta in India, this lets brands focus solely on re-engaging existing users. Swiggy tested it and saw a two-thirds reduction in cost for bringing users back to the app.
AI Max for Search
● Now live in India, it’s a one-click booster that learns from your site and existing keywords to serve smarter, more relevant ads. Cashify reported a 15 per cent conversion bump in early trials.
Smart Bidding, Smarter Insights
● A major bidding update now helps brands uncover less obvious conversion paths, with testers reporting an 18 per cent increase in new query categories that convert.
Meridian Gets an Upgrade
● Google’s open-source Marketing Mix Model (MMM) will now include a dynamic scenario planner and more frequent access to key reach/frequency data via API.
AI Agents in Ads & Analytics
● New “agentic” AI tools will soon help with campaign setup, keyword strategy, and performance reporting inside Google Ads and Analytics, using conversational prompts and visuals.
For early adopters like Swiggy, the tools have already shown impact across the funnel from creative acceleration to better cost efficiency and growth in new user cohorts.
As marketers juggle non-linear journeys across screens, platforms and attention spans, Google’s AI arsenal aims to give them not just tools, but an edge where insights spark action, and creativity scales without compromise.
In the race for attention, Google isn’t just offering ads. It’s offering answers.
Digital
Ethical AI must benefit society, not dominate it, says WFEB chief Sanjay Pradhan at IAA event
At Mumbai event, ethics expert urges businesses and governments to shape AI responsibly
MUMBAI: Artificial intelligence may be racing ahead at lightning speed, but its direction must still be guided by human conscience. That was the central message delivered by Sanjay Pradhan, president of the World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB), during the latest edition of IAA Conversations held in Mumbai.
The session was organised by the International Advertising Association (IAA) and the Artificial Intelligence Association of India (AIAI) in association with The Free Press Journal at the Free Press House on 7 March. Addressing a packed audience, Pradhan called for stronger ethical leadership to ensure AI remains a tool that benefits humanity rather than one that governs it.
“Artificial intelligence has rapidly become one of the most powerful technologies humanity has created,” Pradhan said. “It is unlocking breakthroughs in medicine, science and creativity at a pace unimaginable just a few years ago.”
But he warned that the same technology carries serious risks. AI, he noted, can amplify disinformation faster than facts can travel, compromise privacy, deepen discrimination and disrupt millions of livelihoods. Referencing concerns raised by AI pioneers such as Geoffrey Hinton, often called the godfather of AI, Pradhan stressed that the real challenge is not whether AI will shape the world, but whether humans will shape it with ethics and wisdom.
Structuring his talk around four guiding questions, why, what, how and who, Pradhan introduced the audience to WFEB’s emerging AI Ethics Partnership, a global platform aimed at advancing responsible artificial intelligence. He outlined four priority concerns that demand urgent attention: disinformation, bias and discrimination, data privacy and job security.
To make the idea of ethical AI easier to grasp, Pradhan offered a simple metaphor. Ethical AI, he said, is like a three layered cake. The outer layer represents the visible value ethical AI creates for businesses and society. The middle layer is organisational culture that moves ethics from written codes to everyday practice. The innermost layer, however, is the most crucial, the conscience of individual leaders.
Drawing from Indian philosophical thought through WFEB co-founder Ravi Shankar, Pradhan noted that while artificial intelligence can reproduce stored knowledge, true intelligence is boundless and rooted in conscience, creativity and compassion. Practices such as breathwork and meditation, he suggested, can help leaders develop the calm clarity needed for ethical decision making.
The event also featured a discussion with Maninder Adityaraj Singh, chief of staff and head of innovation at Rediffusion Brand Solutions Pvt Ltd, and Yash Johri, lawyer, Supreme Court of India.
Opening the session, IAA India chapter president Abhishek Karnani, highlighted the need for industries to understand and engage with AI responsibly.
“AI has to be befriended and understood,” added Rediffusion managing director and AIAI national convenor Sandeep Goyal. “Its ethical use will determine whether it becomes a friend or a foe.”
As AI continues to reshape industries and societies, Pradhan ended with a simple but powerful call to action. Businesses, governments and individuals must work together to ensure that the algorithms shaping the future reflect human values rather than just cold logic.
