Google has revealed that its AI-powered search feature, AI Overviews, now serves more than 2 billion monthly users across over 200 countries and territories, marking one of the most significant evolutions in search in recent years.
The company’s Vice President of Global Ads, Dan Taylor, disclosed this during a virtual media roundtable, highlighting how artificial intelligence is reshaping how users discover information, products, and brands.
A shift from keywords to conversations
According to Taylor, search behaviour is rapidly evolving. Users are moving away from short keyword queries toward more conversational and multimodal searches—driven by AI capabilities.
Google says this shift is part of an “expansionary moment” for Search, with over 5 trillion searches conducted annually.
Rise of visual and AI-driven discovery
Visual search is also surging. Google Lens now processes more than 25 billion searches monthly, with about 20% showing commercial intent—a strong signal of monetisation potential.
AI Overviews, which generate summaries directly in search results, are also improving user engagement. Google says users who click through from these summaries tend to spend more time on websites, indicating higher-quality traffic.
“AI Overviews now has over 2 billion monthly users… and is one of the most successful launches in Search in the past decade,” Taylor said.
Ads and AI: A new ecosystem
Google has begun integrating advertisements directly into AI Overviews—placing them above, below, and within generated responses.
At the core of this transformation is Gemini, the company’s flagship AI system. Google describes it as a “performance multiplier” that enhances both user experience and advertising outcomes.
The integration has already delivered measurable results:
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40% reduction in irrelevant ads
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3x increase in AI-generated ad creatives in 2025
Tools like Google Ads Studio are driving this growth, enabling advanced image and video generation for marketers.
Nigeria emerges as a key AI growth market
Google’s data also highlights strong AI adoption in Nigeria:
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93% use AI to understand complex topics
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91% rely on AI for work-related tasks
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80% explore new business opportunities using AI
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80% express excitement about AI’s future
These figures place Nigeria well above global averages in both usage and optimism.
Expanding access to AI tools
As part of efforts to democratise AI, Google has expanded access to its latest image-generation tools in Nigeria. Powered by its new model, Nano Banana 2, users can now create high-quality visuals directly within Search and Google Lens by simply describing what they want.
The rollout is aimed at empowering students, entrepreneurs, creators, and businesses to leverage AI more effectively.
Bottom line
Google’s latest milestone reinforces a clear trend: search is no longer just about finding links—it’s becoming an AI-driven, interactive experience that blends text, visuals, and commerce in real time.
