Google’s AI comeback: How I/O 2025 rewrites Aussie marketing rules
In Marketing We Trust CEO Paul Hewett deep dives into what’s coming from Google and why it matter for marketers, as showcased in its annual I/O developer conference this week. One takeaway: expect higher search volumes, reduced referral volumes, and higher quality referral traffic.
Let’s be frank: for a while there, it felt like Google was playing catch-up in the great AI race. But after the sheer volume and ambition on display at Google I/O 2025, it’s clear they’re not just back in the game, they’re playing with a vengeance. Now, if you’ve followed my previous, sometimes pointed, commentary on Google’s recent performance, particularly around Search, this upbeat take might surprise you. But as someone who lives and breathes this stuff, I haven’t seen an I/O this packed with genuinely transformative potential for marketers and advertisers in a long time. There’s a renewed optimism in the air, and for Australian businesses wondering what’s next, the message is clear: the AI future of search and advertising isn’t just coming, it’s here, and it’s looking incredibly dynamic.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai at I/O
The AI arms race: Google’s resounding answer at I/O
The past eighteen months have been a whirlwind, with AI advancements coming thick and fast, largely dominated by an OpenAI-shaped narrative. Google, despite its foundational contributions to AI, sometimes appeared to be on the back foot, reacting rather than leading. I/O 2025, however, felt like a strategic reset. Powered by its significantly enhanced Gemini 2.5 series of models, particularly the versatile Gemini 2.5 Pro with its massive context window and the nimble Gemini 2.5 Flash, Google showcased a cohesive vision for an AI-infused ecosystem that leverages its immense scale and existing user base. This isn’t just about chatbot capabilities – it’s about fundamentally reimagining core products.
Search reimagined: More Google engagement, less site traffic?
Let’s address the elephant in the room: Google Search and the impact of AI Overviews (AIO). For many marketers, including numerous Australian teams I’ve spoken with, the rollout of AIO has been a source of considerable anxiety. We’ve seen unpredictable traffic shifts, with some businesses experiencing notable drops in leads from previously reliable mid-funnel informational content now seemingly answered directly by AI.
These concerns are valid. The initial AIO experience, while sometimes helpful for users, often felt like a black box for marketers, disrupting established SEO strategies. However, the announcements at I/O, particularly the full vision for “AI Mode” (rolling out in the US this week), suggest a move towards a more coherent and potentially user-beneficial direction. I firmly believe that overall user engagement with Google Search itself is poised to increase dramatically. Features like AI Mode, Deep Search for complex topics, and more conversational interactions are designed to make Search an even more indispensable and integrated part of a user’s daily digital life. People will likely search more, and for longer, as the experience becomes richer and more capable.
AI Overview of AI Overview
But here’s the critical paradox for us as marketers: while users might be spending more time engaged within Google’s AI-driven search environment, I don’t foresee a scenario where this automatically translates into a straightforward increase in traffic to our websites. As Google’s AI (Gemini) becomes more adept at ingesting vast amounts of information and orchestrating personalised, comprehensive responses directly on the results page, the need for users to click through to individual web pages for many queries will inevitably diminish. This is likely to remain a significant pain point. The balance between Google providing direct answers and ensuring a healthy ecosystem for content creators and businesses needs careful calibration. Based on the proactive testing and iterations we’ve seen from Google in recent months, it’s my view that they are acutely aware of this challenge and are actively exploring methods to restore and maintain this critical balance.
This leads to a crucial strategic question for all of us: are we entering an era where peak search traffic volumes to websites for certain types of queries, as we knew them perhaps as recently as 2023, might now be a historical benchmark rather than a future target? It’s a question that demands honest consideration as we plan our future strategies.
I’m in a good position: my agency operates globally and has clients in the US and other “priority rollout markets” and I get to see firsthand how these dynamics are unfolding. That gives me early real-world data and insights, which are incredibly valuable for preparing for what’s coming. The shift towards AI Mode, with its emphasis on deeper, multi-turn conversations, suggests that while click volumes may change, the quality and intent of the traffic that does arrive on your site could be significantly higher.
The Web’s content flood: Is quality drowning or evolving?
There’s a lot of hand-wringing about the internet being flooded with AI-generated content. Recent analyses and industry discussions highlight a dramatic surge in web content produced by large language models, with some even suggesting the majority of new material online could soon be AI-generated. While this deluge is undeniable, my take is slightly different from the prevailing doom-and-gloom about an inevitable drop in quality.
Paul Hewett
Frankly, a significant portion of pre-LLM web content was, to put it mildly, average at best; often thin, rehashed, or poorly executed. While LLMs are now contributing to the sheer volume, I believe they are also forcing a greater degree of thought into content creation for those who use them strategically. The real challenge isn’t just that AI can produce content, but rather the escalating issues of volume, duplication, and the difficulty in discerning genuine E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Google’s AI advancements, particularly features like Deep Search which aim for authoritative synthesis, feel like an attempt to wield AI to cut through this noise, hopefully rewarding genuinely insightful and reliable information, whether human-authored or AI-assisted but exceptionally well-curated.
New ad tech tools: What Aussie marketers need to watch.
Beyond the organic search evolution, I/O 2025 brought important news for advertisers. “AI Max for Search Campaigns” is a significant development, now commencing its global rollout. Think of it as an AI co-pilot for your traditional search campaigns, leveraging Google’s AI for more sophisticated search term matching (moving beyond rigid keyword lists), dynamic ad text customisation, and intelligent URL expansion based on your creative assets. Early results, including an Australian beta example with MyConnect, suggest promising uplifts in conversion volumes and efficiency. It’s a clear signal that AI will increasingly manage the tactical execution, allowing marketers to focus more on strategic inputs and high-quality creative.
Promotion for Google AI Max
Google is also clearly signalling its intent to integrate ads more natively within these new AI search experiences, with tests already underway for ads within AI Overviews and plans to explore them in AI Mode. For advertisers, this means new inventory and new ways to reach users at critical moments of their AI-guided journeys.
On a related note, while Google is empowering users with features that tap into their broader Google ecosystem for personalisation, some of which, like certain upcoming AI integrations in Chrome, are bound to raise an eyebrow or two with regulators and provide more ammunition for the DOJ – the company is also pushing on-device AI for some functions to enhance privacy. It’s a complex balancing act, and one we’ll be watching closely, but the implications for data-driven advertising are profound. (That regulatory tightrope, however, is a big topic for another day!)
Australian marketing reality: Phased rollouts and local intel
As is often the case, many of the flashiest AI Mode features showcased at I/O are debuting in the US first. While AI Overviews are global, and AI Max for Search is rolling out worldwide, Australian marketers will need a degree of patience for the full suite of advanced conversational search tools.
This is why the upcoming Google Marketing Live Australia events are so crucial. I’ll be attending the Bootcamp in early June and the main event on June 19th, and these sessions are where we expect to get much-needed clarity on local timelines, Australia-specific case studies, and any regional nuances in how these AI tools will be deployed and governed. I’ll be sure to share key takeaways for our market from a practical, marketing-focused perspective.
Charting a course in Search 2.0
Google I/O 2025 wasn’t just an update, it was a statement. Google is back, leveraging its immense AI capabilities and vast user base to redefine the search and advertising landscape. For Australian marketers, this isn’t a time for panic, but for proactive engagement and strategic adaptation.
The shift towards conversational, AI-mediated search (what many are calling Search 2.0) is undeniable. It brings challenges, certainly – particularly for traditional SEO approaches focused on high-volume informational queries. But it also presents incredible opportunities: to connect with audiences through more intelligent and nuanced interactions, to leverage AI for more effective and efficient advertising, and to deliver genuinely more helpful experiences for users.
The road ahead is dynamic, and the learning curve will be steep. But for those of us in marketing and advertising who thrive on innovation and are ready to adapt our strategies, the future Google painted at I/O 2025 is, from where I stand, looking decidedly optimistic.
Paul Hewett is CEO at In Marketing We Trust.
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