Debbie Weinstein’s remarks at OMR Germany

Editor’s note: Today, Debbie Weinstein spoke at OMR (Online Marketing Rockstars) Festival in Hamburg, one of Europe's biggest events for online marketing and digital business. During her keynote, she discussed how AI is supercharging Search and the shopping experience for people globally. You can read excerpts from her remarks below.

I grew up in a small town just outside of Boston, Massachusetts in the northeast of the United States. As kids, my brother and I were curious about everything. I loved to read and to get information on every topic I could find. I remember as an eight year old spending hours on end researching topics for reports on different types of cats, on the solar system, on the absolute way to make the best chocolate chip cookies. For my family, insatiable curiosity has always been a core value — and access to reliable information has been key to feeding it.

So when I made the move from marketing to leadership roles at Google over a decade ago, it felt a bit like coming home. The audacity of our mission to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful felt so personal to me.

Throughout my working life, I’ve seen a number of major platform shifts. First, to the Internet. The exhilaration of connecting to the “information superhighway” for the first time. And then the platform shift to mobile. Having the power of a computer, in the palm of your hand.

But those platform shifts pale in comparison to the shift underway with AI — the most profound, and exciting, transformation of our lifetimes. AI has the potential to deliver huge economic and societal benefits. And, Google’s AI is already doing this — accelerating scientific discovery, helping solve complex problems, and transforming businesses.

Whether through tools like AlphaFold — the world’s first AI model to receive a Nobel Prize — enabling millions of scientists around the world to accelerate drug discovery by literally billions of years.

Or FireSat, a first-of-its-kind satellite which uses AI to provide near real-time insights on wildfires across the globe.

Or NotebookLM, named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions for 2024 — which becomes an instant expert in your documents: helping you to read, take notes and organize your ideas.

Everyday we’re innovating to tackle some of the world’s most intractable problems. And - yet - Search is still our greatest moonshot.

AI is supercharging Search and shopping

We often say Search reflects people's boundless curiosity. Every year, we see over 5 trillion searches on Google. And, every day, 15% of those searches are brand new; they’ve literally never been asked before. Isn’t that amazing?

After more than 25 years of Search, people are still finding so many new questions to ask. We’ve built a knowledge base of billions of facts — providing people with trusted information in the blink of an eye.

And today, AI is supercharging Search and reshaping consumer behaviour, providing help in ways that are ever more relevant, without compromising on quality. Fundamentally, AI is enabling people to ask questions in entirely new ways — and enabling us to provide answers in entirely new ways, too.

When it comes to asking questions, AI is enabling people to ask more questions - and to ask in the ways that come most naturally to them. For example: Google Lens. Powered by the latest computer vision technology and AI, Lens lets you search for what you see.

Let me share an example. I’ve always loved to cook. And recently, I’ve been trying to perfect this one recipe — a lentil soup that my mum makes. Hers is smooth, creamy and delicious — but mine kept turning out grainy. I was missing one key ingredient: the perfect blender.

Flash forward a few weeks: I was at a friend’s house and she served the most delicious butternut squash soup, blended to perfection. I took out my phone, opened Lens and took a picture of the blender in her kitchen. A few clicks later... Here it is on my counter! And now my lentil soup is perfect too.

Lens queries are one of the fastest growing types of Search, with more than 25 billion queries per month, up from 20 billion in October. And one in four of visual search queries done using Lens has commercial intent.

Gemini Live is taking things even further

“Going live” with Gemini, users can now share their screen or their camera with Gemini as they browse the web or the world around them — and Gemini will act as a personal stylist, interior designer, or chef’s assistant. I recently used it to help me find the perfect wine to pair with a meal I was making. But it can also offer comparisons between products, give you style advice and provide instant feedback on your choices.

Circle to Search is the new way to search

This was created in response to the demand we saw from Lens. Circle to Search is a new way to search, without switching apps, on over 250 million Android devices. With a simple gesture, I can circle, highlight, scribble or tap it on my screen to get more information right where I am.

We see Circle to Search resonating, in particular, with audiences aged 18-24 – who are often the first to push expectations about what should be possible, and to adapt to new technology. And people keep coming back for more: usage increased by nearly 40% this quarter alone.

And just as AI is unlocking new ways for people to ask questions in Search, it's enabling new ways for us to answer them, too.

AI Overviews take Search a step further

This is one of the biggest improvements made to Search in the last twenty years, designed to help users get started and dive deeper. AI Overviews allows us to answer questions that were too complicated to be on a single page before; providing an AI-generated, conversational summary that pulls together the key information and shows you where to look to find more.

We recently launched AI Overviews right here in Germany and with our latest expansion, AI Overviews now reaches 1.5 billion users every month, in over 100 countries. And people love it! People who use AI Overviews search more; visit a greater diversity of websites and – most importantly – they are more satisfied with the results.

Which is why users asked for AI responses to even more of their searches. So in April, we launched AI Mode as an experiment in the US, allowing people to ask even more detailed or nuanced questions. With AI Mode, you can truly ask Search anything: from complex explanations about tech to help with really specific tasks, like comparing insurance options for a new pet.

AI is supercharging our work with advertisers

While AI is supercharging Search, it’s also supercharging how we work with all of you – in the marketing community.

We’re all navigating a world that’s increasingly complex. Consumers are engaging with an average of over 130 mobile touchpoints — and making nearly 35,000 decisions - every single day.

People are seamlessly and simultaneously streaming, scrolling, shopping and searching. With no two purchase journeys ever the same. If you’re a marketer today, then the only thing that’s predictable is that your customers are predictably unpredictable.

Those 130 touch points, per consumer, every day, are impossible for any marketer to navigate. But the good news is that the same AI that powers Search, can power your ad campaigns too.

Whether it’s finding the most helpful ad for the most relevant user, or supporting the creation and production of content in a matter of hours, rather than weeks, or making measurement and optimization possible in real time, marketing is one of the most proven ROI use cases for AI we’ve ever seen.

Audi is using AI to stay ahead

Audi increased their use of AI in advertising to stay ahead of growing competition. They wanted to drive growth by finding new customers; and doing it profitably. They started by implementing broad match to adapt to the new ways consumers search.

They used generic search terms such as “electric cars”, and let the algorithm find over a million additional relevant searches. Then they implemented a value-based bidding strategy to get the most value from those connections, shifting their overall focus from pure volume, to profitability.

After all, someone looking at an online review is not as far down the funnel as someone booking a test drive. Using the combination of broad match and value-based bidding, they reduced customer acquisition cost by 60% and nearly doubled their search ROI.

And they’re not alone. In fact, marketers who have deeply integrated AI tools report 60% faster revenue growth than their peer set and are adapting to consumer trends twice as fast.

Discovery starts, and decisions are made, on Search

How exactly is Search making that difference?

Because Google is where discovery starts, and decisions are made. When it comes to discovery, users come to Search with an open mind.

In fact, over 80% of Google Search ad spend on web search comes from users actively searching for information and exploring options. While 63% of consumers are open to purchasing from brands they’ve never heard of before.

And then let’s talk about that ultimate moment of decision making.

Google is the one shopping resource that consumers say they’d have the hardest time making shopping decisions without.

Others may say that Gen Z or other audiences are increasingly discovering and deciding about purchases through social media. But research shows that the incidence of social-inspired spontaneous purchases is low. Most people plan or research their online purchases. Even when they are inspired by social media, consumers tend to use even more platforms to evaluate their purchases first. And Google is the number one touchpoint that consumers say lets them make smart, informed decisions. It stands to reason; You want to see what others are saying; compare the price and get a proper understanding of your options before you purchase.

In Germany, 79% of Gen Z uses Google for their shopping, including discovering, browsing, researching and purchasing. While globally, 70% of social media users use Google Search to inform and evaluate products discovered on their feeds. Simply put, Google Search is where your customers come to decide between you and your competitor. And if you’re not there — they’ll go to your competitor.

Throughout my eleven years at Google, I’ve seen two things: The first is the boundless nature of human curiosity. And the second is that those who embrace the big shifts, are those who are winning.

At Google, we’re creating a future of Search that is more helpful and more relevant than ever before. Helping consumers express their curiosity in the ways that come most naturally to them. The best marketers today are getting on board, keeping up with human curiosity, and with the opportunities AI can deliver.

The question is, “Are you with them?”.

How might you embrace your own curiosity to discover what AI can help you achieve? What new and demanding questions do you have that AI can help you find answers to?

Because for us it’s not just about helping you run better ads: it’s about helping you run a better business.