Google's Gemini AI Could Soon Include Ads — Sundar Pichai Hints At Future Monetization Beyond Subscriptions

On Tuesday, Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai hinted at potential future monetization strategies for Gemini AI, including the introduction of ads.

What Happened: During the company's fourth-quarter earnings call, analyst Ken Gawrelski asked about the long-term monetization strategy for Gemini, particularly whether ads would be integrated into the platform.

In response, Pichai confirmed that while the company is currently focused on free and premium subscription tiers, advertising will likely play a role in the future.

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“We do have very good ideas for native ad concepts, but you will see us lead with the user experience,” Pichai stated, adding, “But I do think we’re always committed to making the products work and reach billions of users at scale. And advertising has been a great aspect of that strategy.”

Comparing Gemini's potential ad model to YouTube's approach, he suggested that Google will offer users choices over time. “Just like you’ve seen with YouTube, we’ll give people options over time,” Pichai added.

For now, however, Google remains focused on driving adoption through subscriptions, he said.

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Why It Matters: During the earnings call, Pichai also highlighted Google’s extensive user base, stating that seven of the company’s products and platforms, each with over two billion users, are now integrating Gemini.

He also underscored Google’s leadership in AI, noting that its generative media models and Gemini consistently rank at the top of industry leaderboards and benchmarks. In fact, more than 4.4 million developers are currently using Gemini models— double the number from six months ago.

Alphabet reported fourth-quarter revenue of $96.5 billion, a 12% year-over-year increase. However, it fell short of the Street consensus estimate of $96.6 billion, according to Benzinga Pro.

Price Action: As of early Wednesday, Alphabet's Class A shares were down 7.35% in pre-market trading, while Class C shares had fallen 7.08%. On Tuesday, Class A shares closed 2.56% higher at $206.38, while Class C shares rose 2.50% to $207.71.

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Read Next:

• Sundar Pichai Downplays DeepSeek Threat — Google’s Gemini Still Leads In Cost, Performance, And Latency

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

Photo courtesy: Google