Google’s new AI ad tool—key restrictions marketers should know

Advertisers may have noticed tight policies within Google’s latest generative AI ad product, announced last week, which has controls that restrict assets that depict people and brands’ logos. The rules are another example of how Google, and the rest of the industry, are keeping machines from veering into problem areas for brands as they adopt AI. Last week, Google introduced the first generative AI image tool inside the ad product called Demand Gen. The product demo showed how AI spins up an ad in seconds, and it could create pets, plants, products and picturesque landscapes, but not people. A dive into Google’s rules shows that it is purposely avoiding AI-generated humans. The rules are likely meant to keep AI on a tight leash for now, as brands are still figuring out how to incorporate generative AI into their ads and want to be careful not to create assets that could offend people, according to advertising leaders who have tested Google’s Demand Gen. Google did not make anyone available to discuss the AI restrictions but did point to the blog post announcing the generative AI ad creation tools. A spokesperson also confirmed that “advertisers will not be able to generate people or faces as part of this update.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs There also are rules that limit the AI’s ability to create brand logos, which would seem like a major drawback for an advertiser. Google’s spokesperson said there are ways for advertisers to upload images of their own logos and assets, and brands can then ask AI to create similar images. Last year, Google announced Demand Gen as its second major AI-powered ad product, after Performance Max. Demand Gen was designed for brands to get in front of consumers in YouTube, Gmail and Discover, but not search. Samsung, Toyota and Mondelēz have all tried Demand Gen. The ad product targets campaigns across 3 billion Google users, using AI to make decisions about placement and to reformat ads for different mediums. Google's image-generation tool in Demand Gen is similar to one it already launched in Performance Max. Many brands are still considering how to incorporate generative AI into their campaigns, and in some cases they are hesitant to completely automate the process. For example, Unilever announced Dove would never use AI-generated models in its marketing, which was another sign of the growing unease around AI replacing humans. In February, Google’s Gemini, its chatbot with image-generating capabilities, was criticized for creating inaccurate depictions of people that revealed bias in the large language model behind the AI. Also read: 5 brands with controls on AI in their marketing Even with setbacks, though, there is a strong drive to evolve AI, with updates such as Google’s Demand Gen generative AI product. Also, last week, Meta released its next-generation large language model called Llama. Mondelēz is among the brands testing many of the AI products from the major platforms, according to Jennifer Mennes, VP and global head of digital marketing and partnerships at Mondelēz. For instance, Oreo, one of Mondelēz’s top brands, has used Google’s Demand Gen in five markets but has not yet tried the generative AI component. “We’re in a very, I would say, innovative, emerging tech environment where we want to take the opportunity to test them all, play with them all and see which tools in the marketplace, both Google and non-Google, work the best for our business and our needs,” Mennes said. “Responsibly, as well, because we have to ensure the responsible utilization of generative AI still falls within our principles.” Mondelēz is taking its time to understand the nuances of how generative AI will work in platforms such as Google, and it wants to take care to preserve data security and its trademarks, Mennes said. That is one of the reasons Google put restrictions on how generative AI works with brands’ logos, so it doesn’t misuse them. “We’re also very careful on that ourselves, of how we’re training [AI models],” Mennes said. “We don't want to train external LLMs with our trademarks, because we are very conscious that these tools will clone them pretty well, but they're not exact. And we also want to make sure that we own the trademark in the future, because a lot of this law hasn't been established yet.” Oreo has used Demand Gen campaigns to drive website traffic with a call-to-action for consumers to click over. Demand Gen is a way for major brands to become more DTC-focused in their campaigns, which is a new tact for many consumer-package goods and food brands. “It has been deemed successful in all markets,” Mennes said. “So what it has illustrated, it has brought our [cost per thousand impressions] down. It has helped us drive more traffic to our websites.”

Google’s new AI ad tool—key restrictions marketers should know

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