Google Introduces Global Panel to Disclose AI-Made Ads

Google is starting to flag ads created with artificial intelligence. The company announced on July 9, 2026 the rollout of a new transparency panel that will show users whether an ad they see in Search, YouTube or Discover was generated or modified using generative AI.

Until now, Google required AI disclosure only for ads tied to elections. The new mechanism extends that rule to every ad category, from product photos to full video creative, and covers all markets where Google serves ads.

How the new label works

The "How this ad was made" panel operates within the existing My Ad Center tool, where users already manage their ad preferences. Clicking the info icon next to any ad will bring up a section showing whether that particular creative was made or altered using generative AI.

The mechanism distinguishes between two scenarios. When an advertiser uses Google's own generative tools to build the creative, the label appears automatically with no extra steps required. When the ad was produced with a third-party tool, such as Midjourney or Sora, it's up to the advertiser to flag that fact in the campaign panel.

A gap Google itself acknowledges

Google admits it does not independently verify the declarations of advertisers who use third-party AI tools. The system relies partly on customer honesty, though Google notes its policies prohibit misleading ads. That means an ad not labeled as AI-made doesn't necessarily mean AI played no role in producing it.

In practice, local regulations reinforce the oversight. Where a country's law requires explicit labeling of synthetic content, the tag will appear directly on the ad itself, not just in the settings panel, either automatically or once the advertiser enables the relevant option.

Context: SynthID and regulatory pressure

The move fits into Google's broader strategy for marking synthetic content. The company has for some time embedded invisible SynthID signals into material produced by its generative models, allowing the origin of an image or video to be verified later. The new ad panel extends that transparency philosophy to the relationship with end consumers, who don't have access to the technical tools needed to detect SynthID.

Pressure to label AI content is also mounting from regulators. In the European Union, Article 50 of the AI Act, whose enforcement begins on August 2, 2026, requires clear, machine-readable labeling of AI-generated content reaching EU audiences, under threat of fines of up to 15 million euros or 3 percent of a company's global revenue.

What it means for Polish businesses

For Polish advertisers using Google Ads, this means they need to consciously report when generative AI was used to produce creative, particularly for product photos generated automatically by e-commerce tools. Marketing agencies will need to add this step to their standard campaign approval process to avoid falling foul of Google's policies and, from August onward, the EU AI Act's requirements.

Online stores that rely heavily on generative tools to create product photos and promotional banners should note that the label in My Ad Center will be visible to every user who clicks on the ad, which could affect brand perception, especially in categories sensitive to authenticity, such as fashion or beauty.

Sources: Google will now disclose which ads are made with AI (techcrunch.com), Google introduces new AI labels for Ads (blog.google), Google expands AI ad disclosures across Search, YouTube, Discover (searchengineland.com)