With new competition entering the ad auctions every year, advertisers are constantly looking for ways to make their ads stand out. One effective strategy is using eye-catching visuals. In the past, this required proper camera equipment, lighting, the latest photo editing software, models, props, and more. Now, advertisers can achieve all this with the click of a button in Google Ads using its new generative AI tools, saving advertisers time and money.
With AI, advertisers can now create custom images with or without any starting reference. These tools allow you to personalize a wide variety of images quickly and easily, tailoring them to your target audience. You can refresh your visuals more frequently to reduce creative fatigue and conduct more A/B testing. This new tool is found inside your Performance Max or Demand Gen campaigns under the image section, in the Asset Library, and in Google Merchant Center Next.
Simply click on “Generate Images,” and once inside the tool, you can provide Google with a description of the type of image you want. For example, I generated a simple red handheld fan with a white and blue polka dot background. After I hit enter, Google provided me with several options within seconds. You can continue adjusting your image description as many times as needed until you achieve the perfect result. Once saved to your Asset Library, you can use the image in your image extensions, responsive display ads, or to create videos.
Another feature of Google’s AI image generator is the ability to edit your existing photos, which works exceptionally well using images with a plain background from a shopping feed. To demonstrate, I saved one of the images generated in my initial example. Now, I can replace the background, add new objects, or even adjust certain colors of the image.
While the above image might be suitable for image extensions, what if you need more lifestyle-oriented imagery? With the editing tool, you can easily remove the original background and have Google place the product in a completely different setting, like the middle of a party.
You also have the option to add new objects to any photo. For instance, you can make the first image look more like a tabletop setup by adding additional items.
While this powerful tool allows you to create almost any image you can imagine, Google has content restrictions in place. For example, you cannot create images of children, and businesses in sensitive verticals, like politics, are restricted from using this tool.
This feature is currently being gradually rolled out to advertisers and is available in several locations:
- Directly in Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns
- Coming soon to App and Display campaigns
- Asset Library (+New Image > Image > Generate and edit with AI [beta])
- Google Merchant Center Next (Go to Products and look for the Product Studio tab at the top)
Being able to quickly refresh current images or create new ones from scratch with just a few clicks offers a significant advantage to advertisers. As Google’s AI tools continue to advance, they will remain a valuable asset, saving advertisers both time and money. If the tool isn’t available in your account yet, keep checking—it should be accessible soon!
