Google has unveiled new artificial intelligence-powered advertising tools designed to help Nigerian businesses better understand customer behaviour, track online advertising performance and manage digital campaigns more effectively.

 

The Google Director for East and West Africa, Olumide Balogun, disclosed this on Friday in Lagos, saying the new features were being introduced under the company’s AI Max for Search platform.

 

According to Balogun, the updates include a new Google Ads reporting feature and an expanded AI Brief, a Gemini-powered tool that enables advertisers to provide campaign instructions using natural language.

 

He said the new reporting feature would give Nigerian businesses a clearer view of how customers interact with their search advertisements by bringing key information into a single view.

 

The feature will show what a customer searched for, the advertisement displayed to the customer and the webpage the customer subsequently visited.

 

Balogun explained that the information was previously available across different sections of advertisers’ Google Ads accounts, making it more difficult for businesses to obtain a consolidated view of campaign performance.

 

“With the new report, business owners will see on one screen the question a customer asked, the ad she saw, and the page she landed on.

 

“This makes it far easier to decide where their budget works best,” he said.

 

Balogun said the reporting feature, unveiled at DMEXCO 2026 in Cologne, Germany, would be rolled out globally, including Nigeria, later in the year.

 

He also said the expansion of AI Brief would give businesses greater control over the messages contained in their digital advertisements.

 

According to him, advertisers would be able to use everyday language to instruct the system on what their advertisements should or should not communicate, prioritise particular searches or highlight specific offers to selected categories of customers.

 

He added that businesses would be able to preview sample advertisements and searches before campaigns go live and adjust their instructions where necessary.

 

Google is currently expanding AI Brief through a closed beta programme, with support for seven additional languages, including Japanese, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French and Italian.

 

The technology company also announced that advertisements could now appear above and below AI Overviews in more than 200 countries, including Nigeria.

 

Balogun urged Nigerian businesses preparing for Black Friday and the festive shopping season to begin planning their digital campaigns early.

 

“With Black Friday on November 27 and the festive season close behind, now is the time for businesses to set up their peak-season campaigns,” he said.

 

Google Vice-President of Global Ads, Dan Taylor, said changing consumer search habits were also influencing how businesses reached potential customers online.

 

Taylor said consumers were increasingly using longer and more detailed questions, voice commands and images when searching for products and services.

 

He said searches conducted through Google’s AI Mode were three times longer than traditional searches, while one in six searches was conducted through voice or images.

 

Taylor added that AI Max, introduced in 2025, had been adopted by about 500,000 advertisers globally.

 

According to him, advertisers using the platform recorded 27 per cent more conversions, including sales and enquiries, at a similar cost.

 

He, however, clarified that the performance figures were global data presented at DMEXCO 2026 and were not specific to the Nigerian market.

 

For Nigerian businesses, the new tools are expected to provide more detailed information for assessing digital advertising campaigns and making decisions on how advertising budgets are allocated, particularly as businesses prepare for the peak shopping period.