Google Says Gemini AI Won’t Include Ads Anytime Soon

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been in hot water lately over “app suggestions” that users felt were too much like advertisements.

As online speculation began to swirl that it was only a matter of time before ChatGPT’s other major competitors would follow suit, Google stepped in to quash discussion of its Gemini AI incorporating ads.

Google said relatively little about the matter, its comment coming only in the form of a short, two-sentence statement, but it gives a hint into Google’s state of mind right now regarding the AI race and where it may head in the future.

the fine print

“This story is based on uninformed, anonymous sources who are making inaccurate claims,” posted Dan Taylor, vice president of Global Ads at Google, on X.com on Monday, December 8, 2025. “There are no ads in the Gemini app, and there are no current plans to change that.”

The keywords that barely escaped notice by X users and media alike were “current plans.” In fairness to Taylor, he surely doesn’t want to box himself or Google into a situation where five years down the road somebody tries to make him eat those words. Plans change.

Google is also in a race to catch up with ChatGPT, both in monthly user growth and in household recognition. Gemini is a household name, sure, but it isn’t the preeminent shorthand for generative AI in the way that ChatGPT remains three years after its debut to the public, on the order of Netflix, Kleenex, Coke, and Uber.

I doubt they want to do anything to piss off would-be users or slow down their adoption of Gemini, as Google tries to entice people away from other AIs. If anything, I’d be rubbing my hands with glee at OpenAI’s ad-related missteps if I were Google right now.

But would that aversion to incorporating advertising last forever? I doubt it. Again, “current plans.” Google is an ad company as much as it’s anything else. After all, they have an entire division called Global Sales.

Do I think advertisements on Gemini are imminent? No. Google would have to eat a ton of crow if they were beginning to pop up so soon after Taylor’s statement. And besides, Gemini is racing its little heart out to catch up with and surpass ChatGPT.

But someday? I’d eat a hat (a chocolate one, with little sprinkles) if Google never, ever introduced advertisements in some capacity to Gemini. After “current plans” go by the wayside.