Several posts this week describe ads appearing inside AI search answers. Google's Multiturn ads seem to be live in AI Mode follow-up answers, according to Search Engine Roundtable, and Google said the ads will be clearly labeled as "Sponsored." The rollout follows Alphabet's third quarter, in which paid click growth slowed to 8% while cost per click rose 4%. Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler cited "lower monetization" in AI Mode. Search Engine Roundtable also reports that Bing is placing search and shopping ads atop AI Mode results, citing observed examples and no announcement from Microsoft. For search budgets, this means more AI inventory with very little published performance data.
OpenAI is changing how ChatGPT ads are bought. It is replacing Max Bid and Max CPC caps with average Target CPA and Target CPC, Search Engine Journal reports. Legacy API values will act as averages from November 18, and the caps end on January 1, 2027. Separately, VP of Monetization Benji Shomair said OpenAI ranks advertisers third, behind user trust and user value. The FTC alleges that Amazon added hidden ad surcharges of up to 250% during major sales events. Digiday says the case adds weight to concerns about advertisers' ability to verify automated decisions and fees, though the case concerns Sponsored Products and not Amazon's new AI tools. Amazon disputes the allegations.
Shopping agents kept advancing, and so did caution about them. Meta plans a UK launch of its Muse shopping agent within weeks, Retail Gazette reports, which adds to the retailer agent access story. Walmart says Sparky can now turn a photo of a handwritten list into a cart. Among 70 bankers surveyed by the Dallas Fed, 11.4% said their institution restricts customers' AI agents. Spain's AEPD issued advisory guidance that consumers keep a confirmation step before agents pay or sign. The Paypers reports that Clink has added support for Mastercard Agent Pay, and it already supported Visa Intelligent Commerce. We track this in our story on how AI agents pay.
Adobe forecasts UK retail traffic from AI platforms will rise 214% this Christmas, while Signicat found only 8% of consumers would let AI make high-value purchases for them. Graphite says its data, based on Similarweb estimates, suggest AI accounts for less than 1% of website traffic on average. Consultant Glenn Gabe found that one French site's daily clicks fell from about 750 to 400 after AI Overviews launched, though two of his five sites held steady. Separately, Google added 4 write tools to its Google Ads MCP server, enabled by default, even though its guide still calls the server read-only.
By December 3, Google must give publishers impressions, clicks and click-through rate for its AI features shown in the U.K., according to a Competition and Markets Authority summary reported by Search Engine Journal. Digital Influence found no source that says whether opting out of those features removes product listings shown inside AI Overviews or AI Mode.