Google announced a new ad unit for AI Mode for shopping ads which promotes retailers. Google also launched Veo 3 support in Google Ads Asset Studio. Plus Vidhya Srinivasan, VP/GM of Ads & Commerce at Google, published her annual letter to the industry on the Google blog.
New AI Mode Ad
Vidhya wrote, "Now, we’re testing a new ad format to showcase retailers that offer those products, clearly marked as sponsored. This new format helps shoppers easily find convenient buying options, and offers retailers the opportunity to show up in these key moments of consideration. We are testing similar formats in categories beyond retail, like travel, to help people find relevant products and services."
Here is a screenshot of this:
And a GIF:
🚨🛒 𝗡𝗘𝗪: Soon, we’re rolling out a new shopping ad format in AI Mode.
— Google Ads (@GoogleAds) February 11, 2026
This ad format is a new opportunity for retailers to fit naturally into the conversation, and show up in key moments of discovery.
AI Mode provides a more helpful shopping experience when users can easily… pic.twitter.com/54hijIE4tG
Veo 3 in Google Asset Studio
The other new mention in this letter is that Veo 3 support is in Google Ads Asset Studio. "This is helping advertisers produce studio-quality work in minutes, effectively making AI a real-time creative partner for businesses. Adoption is accelerating, proving that generative media is now a scalable reality: In 2025, we saw a 3x increase in Gemini-generated assets created by advertisers, and in Q4 alone, Gemini was used to generate nearly 70 million creative assets in AI Max and Performance Max," she wrote.
Here is a GIF of that in action:
Plus, the UCP commerce agentic stuff is now rolling out. Google wrote, "In fact, UCP-powered checkout is rolling out now, letting US shoppers buy items from Etsy and Wayfair, right in AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app (with Shopify, Target, and Walmart coming soon)."
And it's live in Gemini too. Just saw it there as well. Again, big news for ecommerce (and for Google). pic.twitter.com/GbHfATHeI4
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) February 11, 2026
You can read the full letter that talks about YouTube ads, reinventing ads in AI Mode and other AI experiences, the agentic commerce features where Google also added in Etsy and Wayfair, and more.
Read more in my 3rd annual letter on what to expect from Google in digital advertising & commerce. https://t.co/AdI95NREIG
— Vidhya Srinivasan (@VidsSrinivasan) February 11, 2026
Forum discussion at X.
