AI in Action: Our Key Takeaways from Google Marketing Live 2025

Advertising is evolving faster than ever. One thing is crystal clear: AI isn’t just a glimpse into the future anymore. It’s here. It’s powerful. And it’s already reshaping how we connect people with products and services in ways we couldn’t have imagined even a year ago.

At Digital Pie, we’ve always embraced innovation, but what we’ve seen this year isn’t just more of the same. It’s a true transformation. AI is now fully integrated across Google Ads, Search, YouTube, and Merchant Centre, and it’s changing the game for performance, creativity, and efficiency.

1. AI-Driven Discovery Is the New Normal

With over 5 trillion searches happening on Google annually, it’s unsurprising that Search continues to be a massive opportunity for marketers. But what’s exciting is how people’s search is changing, and Google’s new AI Overviews and AI Mode are leading the way.

For our U.S.-based clients, this means visibility in entirely new ad formats. Ads are now being placed directly within AI Overviews on desktop and AI Mode on mobile, allowing businesses to appear not just when people are searching but also while actively exploring and making decisions.

While this feature hasn’t yet launched in New Zealand, we’re closely monitoring the rollout and plan to implement it across select client accounts as soon as it becomes available. The potential for improved engagement, visibility, and results is significant.

2. Creative Is No Longer a Bottleneck

Google’s new creative tools, powered by Veo (video generation) and Imagen (image generation), are nothing short of revolutionary. As someone who oversees dozens of campaigns every month, I can’t tell you how often limited assets or production bottlenecks delay great ideas.

Now, Google is integrating these models directly into Google Ads and Merchant Centre, allowing us to bring our clients’ visions to life instantly. We’ll be able to test more creative variations faster and localise ads at scale, a significant win for e-commerce and service-based businesses alike.

3. AI Max and Smart Bidding Exploration: The Next Wave of Search Performance

We’ve always been early adopters of Smart Bidding at Digital Pie, but the launch of Smart Bidding Exploration marks a significant step forward. It’s built to find those less obvious, often overlooked search terms that still carry high intent, the kind of goldmine we previously had to unearth manually.

Combine that with AI Max for Search, and you’ve got a powerful duo that identifies untapped demand and adjusts in real time to user behaviour. We’re excited to experiment with this across clients where Search is still a top revenue channel.

4. Agentic AI Support Will Be a Game-Changer for SMBs

One of the biggest takeaways from this year’s announcements was the focus on agentic capabilities, giving marketers a kind of “AI teammate” that works behind the scenes. It’s proactive, adaptive, and capable of making smart recommendations on campaign structure, budget, and creativity, all without overwhelming busy business owners or in-house teams.

This kind of support can level the playing field for many of our small- to medium-sized clients.

Final Thoughts

At Digital Pie, we believe in turning innovation into impact, and this year’s Google Marketing Live was full of tools and insights that will help us do precisely that. AI is no longer optional. It’s not a buzzword. It’s a necessity. And Google is clearly paving the way for a future where advertising is smarter, faster, and more intuitive than ever.

If you’re ready to explore how these AI-powered tools can help grow your business, partner with Digital Pie and let our team guide you in turning cutting-edge tools into real business results.

Let’s make the future work for you.
Anel, Director & Head of Advertising, Digital Pie