Every few years, a new technology is supposed to “kill” Google Ads. Social media was going to do it. Then ad blockers. Now it is AI search — AI Overviews answering at the top of the page, AI Mode turning search into a chat. The fear is simple: if the AI answers the question, why click an ad?
It is a fair worry. This opinion piece from ZenWeb — a Google Partner that runs Google Ads for 500+ Malaysian businesses — answers it with real account data, not headlines. The results page is changing fast, but buyer intent is not, and Google has every reason to keep ads in front of it. First, a quick video on where paid search is heading.
Source video: What AI Means for the Future of Google Ads, on YouTube.
Quick Answer: “AI search” is three things stacked on the same results page: AI Overviews (a summary above the links), AI Mode (a full chat version of search), and Gemini quietly running the ad auction. None of them removes ads — Google is building new paid formats directly into all three.
When people say AI is changing search, they usually mean the AI Overview box that now sits above the blue links, answering the question before you scroll. The bigger shift is AI Mode — a conversational version of Search where you ask follow-up questions like you would with ChatGPT. Both run on Gemini, Google’s AI model.
Here is the part the doomsayers skip. Google makes almost all its money from ads, so it will not build a search experience with no room for them. It has said plainly it is “reinventing what an ad is” for the AI era — reshaping ads, not removing them. If you have heard AI spells the end of paid search, that is one of several Google Ads myths that waste Malaysian SME budgets. Our guide to Google AI Mode breaks down the new surface.
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Quick Answer: AI Overviews appear most on informational “how” and “what” searches. They show far less on commercial and transactional searches — the “best plumber near me” or “book aircon service” queries where Google Ads earns its keep. The AI eats the top of the funnel, not the bottom.
Not every search gets an AI Overview, and the pattern matters. Informational searches — where someone wants to learn, not buy — trigger one most often. When a search shows buying intent, Overviews become rarer: Google knows an ad or shopping result serves the user better than a paragraph.
Based on ZenWeb’s tracking of Malaysian SME keyword sets across 2026, the split by search type looks like this. Bottom-funnel queries — the ones that fill your enquiry form — are least disturbed.
| Search type | Share showing an AI Overview | Approx % |
|---|---|---|
| Informational (“how”, “what”, “guide”) | 68% | |
| Commercial (“best”, “vs”, “review”) | 34% | |
| Transactional / local (“near me”, “price”, “book”) | 12% |
Source: ZenWeb SERP monitoring across Malaysian SME keyword sets, 2026. Figures are approximate and vary by industry.
The lesson is not that AI Overviews are harmless — they reshape the top of the funnel. But most of a Malaysian SME’s budget sits at the bottom, on searches that look much as they did in 2023. For more on click behaviour, see whether AI Overviews are really cutting website clicks.
Quick Answer: Google Ads never sold you a spot in a list of links. It sells access to a person at the moment they want to buy. AI search does not remove that moment — a customer still needs to choose a clinic, a contractor or a supplier. As long as buying intent exists, there is something to advertise against.
Here is the shift that settles most of the AI panic. When a Malaysian homeowner searches “aircon service Petaling Jaya” or “invisalign price KL”, they are not looking for reading material — they want to act. Google Ads puts your business in front of them at that second. The AI does not stop them wanting a service; it changes the wrapper around the answer.
Intent has always been the real product, which is why someone searching your brand name or a tight local term is worth far more than a curious browser. Two things make intent pay off, and neither depends on the old ten-blue-links layout:
Whether the answer arrives as a blue link, a map pack, a shopping card or a line inside an AI Overview, the person behind the search still has a wallet and a decision to make. That is what you pay to reach.
Quick Answer: Across ZenWeb-managed Search campaigns, click-through rate has dipped and cost per click has crept up as AI Overviews spread. But cost per lead has held steady, even improved slightly — because the clicks that remain are more likely to be real buyers, not researchers who now get their answer from the AI.
As AI Overviews rolled out from 2024 to 2026, the same pattern repeated across Malaysian SME accounts: fewer clicks, each a touch pricier, but a lead cost that refused to blow up. The AI filters out the tyre-kickers — people who only wanted information stop clicking, while buyers still do.
| Year | Avg CTR | Avg CPC (RM) | Avg CPL (RM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 5.2% | 4.10 | 62 |
| 2025 | 4.6% | 4.35 | 60 |
| 2026 | 4.1% | 4.60 | 58 |
Source: Based on ZenWeb’s client sample of 500+ Malaysian SME accounts (2024–2026). Blended across industries; your numbers will vary.
CTR clearly fell — but cost per lead, the metric that pays your bills, stayed under control. That only holds if you measure leads properly. Accounts still optimising to clicks get a nasty surprise; accounts with clean Google Ads conversion values and honest Malaysian CPC and CPL benchmarks see the truth.
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Quick Answer: Paid holds up better. AI Overviews push organic links further down the page, so free traffic takes the bigger hit — especially on informational searches. Paid ads keep a reserved, clearly labelled slot, and on buying searches they barely move. This is why paid and organic work best together, not as either-or.
One reason we stay bullish on Google Ads is what AI Overviews do to free traffic. When an Overview fills the top of the screen, the organic links slide down — often below the fold. Ads keep a paid slot that Google guarantees. In short, the AI competes with your free listing more than your paid one.
Here is how the change breaks down by intent across our managed campaigns, comparing the drop in organic click-through against paid.
| Search intent | Organic CTR change | Paid CTR change | Paid conv. rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Informational | −38% | −11% | 1.8% |
| Commercial research | −16% | −6% | 3.6% |
| Transactional / local | −5% | −2% | 6.2% |
Source: Aggregated from ZenWeb-managed campaigns, Malaysia, 2024–2026. Relative changes; figures vary by industry and competition.
Read the transactional row: organic barely moves, paid barely moves, and conversion rate is highest — the money row for most SMEs. It is the same story told by our wider data on AI Overviews and click-through rates: free traffic feels the squeeze first, a strong argument for keeping paid on the searches that matter.
Quick Answer: Google is not defending old ad formats — it is inventing new ones for AI Mode. Conversational Discovery ads, Highlighted Answers, AI-powered Shopping ads and a chat-based Business Agent for Leads all place your business inside the AI answer itself. Ads are moving into the conversation, not out of it.
The clearest sign paid search survives is that Google keeps building more of it. In 2026 it introduced AI-era ad formats, all labelled “Sponsored”, for AI Mode. Google reports that 75% of people make faster, more confident decisions using AI Mode — an audience it fully intends to monetise.
Four formats matter most:
These sit alongside formats that already thrive on AI-driven placement, like Demand Gen campaigns and the move away from older options such as call-only ads. The direction is consistent: fewer manual levers, more AI-built creative placed at the moment of decision.
Quick Answer: Budgets are not leaving Google — they are moving inside it. The share going to classic keyword Search is shrinking, while Performance Max, Demand Gen and new AI-native formats grow. By 2027 we expect most Malaysian SME Google spend to run through AI-assisted campaign types rather than manual Search alone.
Follow the money and the story gets clearer. Across the accounts we manage, spend has migrated from manual Search into AI-assisted campaign types. Classic Search is not disappearing, but it is giving up share to formats that let Google’s AI find buyers across Search, Maps, YouTube and Gmail at once. The projection below extends the trend to 2027.
| Campaign type | 2024 | 2026 | 2027 (proj.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic keyword Search | 64% | 52% | 44% |
| Performance Max | 26% | 33% | 36% |
| Demand Gen | 8% | 11% | 12% |
| AI-native Search (AI Max, AI Mode formats) | 2% | 4% | 8% |
Illustrative projection based on ZenWeb client budget trends, 2024–2026, extended to 2027. Not a guarantee of future mix.
The practical read: the businesses that thrive in 2027 will not quit Google. They will let their budget follow buyers into AI-ready formats, while keeping tight control of bid adjustments and seasonality planning so the AI serves their goals.
Quick Answer: Do not rebuild from scratch. Fix your conversion tracking, lay an AI-ready foundation, feed Google clean first-party data, defend your bottom-funnel keywords, and judge everything on leads rather than clicks. Five steps, in this order, prepare almost any Malaysian SME account for AI search.
Preparing for AI search is less dramatic than it sounds — the fundamentals that keep an account healthy today are what let Google’s AI perform tomorrow. Work through these in order:
It is the difference between an account that panics at every Google update and one that quietly compounds — the mindset behind future-proofing your marketing as a business owner.
Quick Answer: Google Ads will still work in 2027 — but it will look different. Expect fewer manual keyword levers, more AI-built formats, ads woven into AI Mode, and success judged on leads and profit. Businesses that adapt will do well; those waiting for the “old Google” to come back will fall behind.
So, what does the future of Google Ads look like in an AI search world? It still works — with one condition. The platform that rewards clean data, clear goals and bottom-funnel focus will keep delivering leads for Malaysian SMEs. The version built on manual keyword tinkering and vanity clicks is what fades. That is not AI killing Google Ads; it is Google Ads growing up.
The real risk for 2027 is not the technology — it is inaction: cutting budget out of fear, ignoring conversion tracking, or waiting for the 2020 results page to return. It will not. The winners will treat AI search as a bigger, smarter auction for the same thing they always bought — a customer at the moment of decision. Manage your Google Ads with that in mind and the AI era becomes an advantage.
Yes. Google Ads still connects your business to people at the moment they want to buy, and Google is building new ad formats inside AI Overviews and AI Mode. Accounts that measure leads and use AI-ready campaign types should keep performing well.
No. AI Overviews mainly reduce free organic clicks on informational searches. Paid ads keep a reserved slot, and buying searches — where SMEs spend most of their budget — show Overviews far less often. Ads are moving into the AI answers, not disappearing.
Usually not. Reallocate budget toward AI-ready formats like Performance Max and AI Max while defending high-intent keywords. Cutting spend out of fear mainly hands those buying searches to competitors who stay in the auction.
Start with clean conversion tracking, build a Performance Max and AI Max foundation, feed Google your first-party data, protect your brand and bottom-funnel keywords, and judge results on cost per lead. A Google Partner like ZenWeb can set this up before 2027.
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