Ad Campaigns
Google adds new search features for ICC World Cup T20 in India
NEW DELHI: Google has launched two two new experimental features in Search with the ICC World Twenty20 in full swing to make keeping up with all the cricket news easier — fresh content directly from cricket players, personalities and commentators, and a new live sports commentary panel.
Some of the subjects being dealt with are Captain Cool MS Dhoni’s latest match reflections or what Virat Kohli’s been up to on and off the pitch. During the ICC World T20, people will now be able to hear from their favourite cricketers more easily. For example when searching for Ravindra Jadeja, there will be posts, match photos, or videos directly from him in addition to the news articles, tweets and links you’re used to seeing in Google Search.
Google is also making it easier for webbers to find commentary from a wide range of players, commentators and experts from Search. When one searches for cricket and ICC World Twenty20 related queries like “T20” or team names during and after matches, one can see real-time commentary on the match from a range of cricket stars will be available.
These commentary panels have been launched in time for the highly anticipated Indian matches and will be available for the ICC T20 games.
These new Search features are experimental and will run only during the ICC World T20 2016. They follow on from the launch of score updates and match schedules in Search last week.
NATIONAL: Amazon Ads has laid out a sharply tech-led vision for the advertising industry in 2026, arguing that artificial intelligence, streaming TV and creator partnerships will combine to turn brand building into a more precise, performance-driven business.
At the heart of the shift, the company says, is the fusion of AI with Amazon’s vast trove of shopping, browsing and streaming signals, allowing advertisers to move beyond blunt reach metrics to campaigns designed around real customer behaviour.
“The future of advertising is not about reaching more people, but the right people with messages that resonate,” said Amazon Ads India head and vice president Girish Prabhu. “By combining AI with deep customer insights, we help brands move from broadcasting campaigns to having meaningful conversations wherever audiences spend their time.”
One of the biggest changes, according to Amazon Ads, will be the collapse of the wall between media planning and creative development. Retail media, powered by first-party data, is increasingly shaping everything from brand discovery to final purchase, pushing marketers to design campaigns around audience insight rather than internal instinct.
AI is also moving from a support tool to a creative engine. Agentic AI, which automates and accelerates production, is expected to make high-quality creative accessible even to small businesses, compressing weeks of work into hours and giving challengers the ability to compete with larger brands on speed and scale.
Behind the scenes, AI-driven analytics will take on a bigger role in campaign optimisation, identifying patterns, spotting opportunities and recommending actions that would previously have required teams of analysts.
Streaming TV is another big battleground. With India’s video streaming audience now above 600 million and connected TV users at 129.2 million in 2025, advertisers are set to treat streaming not just as a branding channel but as a performance engine, measured increasingly by sales, sign-ups and bookings rather than just reach.
Finally, Amazon Ads sees creators and contextual advertising reshaping how brands tell stories. Creators will act less like influencers and more like long-term partners, while scene-aware ads on streaming platforms will allow brands to insert hyper-relevant offers into the flow of what viewers are watching.
Taken together, Amazon Ads argues, these shifts mark a move towards advertising that is both more human and more measurable, where AI handles the complexity, and creativity does the persuading.
