Google has added a "How this ad was made" section to its My Ad Center panel, accessible globally via the three-dot menu or info icon on ads across Search, YouTube, and Discover. The panel indicates whether an ad was created or edited using AI.
There are two disclosure mechanisms, depending on how the ad was made. If the advertiser used Google’s own generative AI tools, Asset Generation in PMax, the disclosure is added automatically. If the ad was created using a third-party AI tool, the advertiser now has a manual control to flag it. In some markets, based on local regulatory requirements, a visible label may also appear directly on the ad itself, either automatically or triggered by the advertiser using this control.
What’s Changing: At A Glance
"How this ad was made" panel
Added to My Ad Center. Accessible via the three-dot menu on Search, YouTube, and Discover ads globally.
Automatic disclosure for Google AI tools
Ads created with Google’s own generative AI features are labelled without any action required from the advertiser.
Manual control for third-party AI
Advertisers who used external AI tools to generate or alter ad creative can now flag this via a new in-platform control.
On-ad labels in some markets
Depending on local requirements, a visible label may appear directly on the ad, automatically or when the manual control is used.
The Context Google Didn’t Lead With
Google frames this as a transparency initiative. That is partly true. But the timing is not coincidental. The EU AI Act and related digital advertising regulations are tightening disclosure requirements for AI-generated commercial content across multiple markets. Google is building the compliance infrastructure into the platform before mandates make it unavoidable.
Google also notes that it already embeds SynthID, its imperceptible digital watermark, into outputs from its own generative AI tools. The "How this ad was made" panel is the user-facing layer on top of that existing technical infrastructure. And its 2023 election ad policy, which required disclosure of synthetic or digitally altered content, established the precedent. This is that precedent being extended to commercial advertising.
Google is not doing this because it wants to. It’s doing this because the regulatory environment is making it unavoidable, and building it into the platform now gives them control over how it’s implemented.
What This Means for PMax and AI Max Advertisers
If you are running Performance Max campaigns and using Google’s asset generation tools, AI-generated headlines, descriptions, and images will now be automatically disclosed in the My Ad Centre panel. You do not need to do anything. But you should know it is happening.
The more significant shift is for advertisers using AI tools outside of Google’s ecosystem, third-party creative generation platforms, AI image tools, or automation layers, to produce ad content that is then uploaded to Google Ads. Those advertisers now have a control to disclose this. In markets with active AI disclosure regulations, failing to use it is no longer just a policy risk. It is a compliance risk.
For eCommerce brands running PMax:
If you are using Google’s AI asset generation, your ads are already being labelled at the panel level. Review what you are generating and consider whether the assets Google is producing on your behalf represent your brand accurately before the label draws attention to them.
The Question This Raises About Creative Quality
AI disclosure labels do not distinguish between good AI-generated creative and bad AI-generated creative. A well-briefed asset produced with human oversight gets the same label as low-quality auto-generated filler. The label tells users that an AI was involved. It says nothing about whether the output was any good.
That matters for brand advertisers. If disclosure labels begin to carry a negative signal with consumers, and there is no data yet on whether they will, the quality of what is being labelled becomes more important, not less. Running AI-generated assets without adequate human review is already a performance risk. It is now a brand transparency risk too.
360 OM Verdict
Useful
The manual disclosure control is worth using if you’re running third-party AI creative. In regulated markets, this is moving from best practice to a compliance requirement. Get ahead of it now rather than retroactively.
Caution
PMax advertisers using Google’s asset generation should audit what is being produced. Automatic disclosure means your AI-generated assets are now visible to anyone who clicks the three-dot menu. Weak or off-brand creative is harder to ignore when it’s labelled.
Caution
On-ad labels vary by market. Google has not published a definitive list of which markets will show labels directly on the ad. If you run international campaigns, assume your disclosure approach will need to accommodate visible labels in at least some of those markets.
Honest
This is compliance infrastructure, not consumer protection. Google is building the disclosure layer it needs to satisfy regulators. Whether it meaningfully changes how users engage with AI-generated ads remains to be seen. Watch the data before assuming disclosure affects performance.
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