Google is pushing to run search, ads, and shopping as AI-operated systems rather than AI-assisted tools, a shift Forrester ties to Google Marketing Live last month. Forrester’s survey of 775 adults in the U.S., U.K., and Canada found most unaware of the changes and broadly wary of AI, with 60% expecting no change in their Google use and about half expecting better results. On ads, Google is embedding “ads that answer” into conversational search and pitching itself as an AI orchestration layer, though Forrester warns marketers would cede transparency, targeting control, and independence to Google’s models. Its agentic-commerce push through Universal Cart and the Universal Commerce Protocol lets shoppers buy inside AI Mode, Gemini, and YouTube ads, with Forrester noting merchants must structure product data for AI discovery or go unseen.
