When you see a dirt path next to a paved one – you’re looking at the path of least resistance. You’ve heard of it. It says that animals, people, and even well-designed machines, will naturally choose the path of least resistance or ‘effort’.

When it comes to search, users are preferring apps such as ChatGPT to get their answers. It’s easy. Not necessarily correct, or the best information, but easy.

Search engines which have dominated the game for decades are adapting to this shift. Google is rolling AI and Search together, applying Large Language Models in their search engine hoping to retain their search audience.

How do marketers who use paid search ads adapt? As AI starts to play a bigger role in Google Search, more changes will need to be made by advertisers to ensure the ads are tailored to this new hybrid audience.

Recap: How SEM Works

First, let’s recap what search ads are. Paid Search, also known as SEM, are the paid ads that show in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

It can connect your brand with potential clients at the exact moment they are looking for your product or service.

Although it is mostly for driving website visits, it can also help increase awareness of a brand.

The paid search ads can appear across the top, as well as sometimes below the organic search results. How many ads show is up to the search engine.

Search Engine Results Page: Before VS After AI Overviews

When the AI Overview shows in the search results page, this is what the user’s journey can now look like.

On desktop and mobile, the AI Overview can appear at the top of the page and include relevant links and information.

The AI Overview doesn’t always appear and is usually related to more conversational or educational searches. For example, “swimming lessons Vancouver” didn’t show the overview, only ads.

How Does AI Overview Affect Google Search Ads?

The benefit of search ads used to be ‘pay to be at the top’, and users will go with the first option they see, because it’s easiest. Now that AI Overviews show

s up first, the space that advertisers pay for is less visible and more costly.

A study by the Pew Research Centre in March of 2025 showed that if a results page has an AI Overview, clicks on paid ads fall by almost half. In true ‘least resistance’ fashion, users rely on that AI summary and don’t go farther.

Search ads have long been a pillar of marketing strategies, getting traffic to a website. AI Overviews have made the path to information easier for users, resulting in ‘zero-click searches’, and has made the path to search ad objectives harder for marketers.

While there have been limited studies into how AI Overview has affected ads, some small sample studies out of the US indicate, falling Top of Page Rate, falling Click-Through-Rate, and increased Cost-Per-Click.

• Reduced Visibility: The AI Overview shows at the top of the search results page, pushing both the ads and organic results further down the page.
• Reduced CTR: Because the ads can be less visible, this can reduce click engagement.
• Increased Competition: As mentioned, Google only shows so many ads per page. With the AI Overview taking over more real estate, this allows for even less ads and more competition.
• Increased Costs: As the ads have to work harder to show, with more competition, this can lead to an increase in bid costs.

What Can We Do for Paid Ads, Right Now

We know how Large Language Models (AI Overviews) work right now. We know their strengths in answering broad questions. There are opportunities to focus paid search ads where those models have blind spots.

• Focus on high-intent, local searches, product specifics, and comparison-based keywords. For example, searches that show the person is in-market for a product or service, like “Calgary summer camps for kids” or “Samsung galaxy flip 7”.
  • Avoid awareness-focused, conversational keywords
  • Avoid keywords that use full sentences
• Reduce words in phrases that are educational, research-heavy, or question-related. For example, “DIY”, or “What”, or “How”, or “Best” (like “What is the best age for summer camp” or “How to fix a leaky faucet”).
  • Avoid keyword phrases that ask questions
  • Reduce number of words
  • And add in negative keywords

• Reduce ad groups and heavily segmented campaigns. Monitor performance and simplify towards what is working for keywords.

• Monitor performance closely:
  • If there’s a sudden dip in impression share, this can be linked to the ads being pushed down or out by AI Overviews.
  • Review search behaviour and answer popular questions in the ad copy.
  • Check performance at the device level. Mobile AI Overviews have a bigger impact than desktop.

• Focus on other digital ad placements for reach and awareness.
  • Remember that paid search ads are only one part of a strategic media placement mix. Focus your search keywords on specific user needs, and use other paid media placements that are aligned with awareness to round out your marketing strategy.

 

Advertising in Google’s AI offerings is not fully available in Canada yet, and so no significant changes are recommended, other than the optimizations listed above. Creative updates and performance monitoring will continue to happen, with a focus towards being conscious of the changes to the search landscape.

The good news is, the team of Mediologists are continuously working to be current with the SEM and AI dynamics.

Let us be your ‘path of least resistance’ to relevant information and watch this space for more updates as they unfold.

By: Nichelle Schulz and Gillian Lemishka