Reported by Simon Daniel Yusuph l Journalist at Weng Global
Google has introduced new artificial intelligence tools across its advertising and analytics platforms as businesses prepare for the upcoming holiday shopping season, offering advertisers new ways to analyse campaign performance, identify opportunities and manage digital marketing activities.
The technology company announced the latest updates in August and September 2026, with several of the tools designed to help advertisers understand customer behaviour and make faster decisions using AI.
The developments come as Nigerian businesses prepare for the final quarter of the year, traditionally an important period for retailers and other consumer-facing companies, including the Black Friday shopping season.
Google Expands AI Across Advertising Platforms
Among the new tools is Ask Advisor, an AI-powered assistant that connects information across Google Ads, Google Analytics, Merchant Center and other Google marketing products.
Google said Ask Advisor is designed to provide personalised recommendations, analyse campaign information and help marketers move from identifying an issue to taking action.
The system is built with Google’s Gemini technology and is being rolled out initially in beta for English-language accounts, with additional features planned.
Google has also introduced AI-powered summaries on the Google Analytics homepage and new insight features in Google Ads.
The tools can highlight significant changes in traffic and sales patterns and provide businesses with information intended to help them understand what is happening across their campaigns.
New Reporting Tools Give Businesses More Campaign Data
Google’s latest advertising updates also include new visual reporting capabilities.
The company said advertisers can use simple text prompts to create visual reports from their campaign data, while automatically generated summaries explain important developments in the results.
Another feature allows businesses to compare campaign performance against anonymised averages from similar businesses.
Google said the benchmarking capability is intended to help advertisers identify areas where campaigns may have room for improvement.
For Nigerian businesses with limited marketing teams, tools that reduce the amount of manual data analysis required could potentially make campaign monitoring easier.
However, availability of individual features can vary by account, language and market, meaning Nigerian advertisers may not necessarily have access to every announced capability at the same time.
AI Max Brings Further Changes to Google Ads
Google is also expanding AI Max, its AI-powered system for Search campaigns.
On September 23, the company announced new AI Max reporting features designed to give advertisers a more unified view of how users interact with their Search advertising.
The new reporting interface is intended to show the search terms that triggered ads, the creative assets users saw and the landing pages they reached.
Google has also been transitioning some older Search advertising features towards AI Max.
The company said automatic upgrades for eligible campaigns using certain legacy settings would begin in September 2026, with the transition from Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max extended to begin in February 2027.
The changes form part of Google’s broader shift toward AI-assisted advertising, in which machine-learning systems increasingly help businesses identify audiences, match advertising to search intent and analyse campaign performance.
What This Means for Nigerian Businesses
For Nigerian companies competing for online customers, the growing role of AI in advertising could change how digital campaigns are planned and monitored.
Businesses selling products and services online can use advertising platforms to reach customers searching for specific products, researching purchases or comparing available options.
The importance of this becomes more pronounced during major shopping periods when businesses compete for consumer attention.
Google has been positioning its latest advertising products around this changing environment, including tools designed to help marketers understand customer journeys and make decisions based on campaign data.
Nigerian businesses, however, will still need accurate product information, appropriate targeting, effective websites and reliable conversion tracking to make meaningful use of AI-powered advertising.
AI tools can analyse information and automate parts of campaign management, but they do not remove the need for businesses to understand their customers and marketing objectives.
Google Also Expands AI Transparency in Advertising
Alongside its advertising automation tools, Google has introduced additional transparency measures for AI-generated or AI-edited advertisements.
In July, Google announced a new “How this ad was made” section in its My Ad Center, allowing users to see when generative AI was used to create or modify an advertisement.
Google said advertisers using its generative AI advertising tools would automatically receive a disclosure in the My Ad Center panel. The company also introduced a control for advertisers who use generative AI tools outside Google’s advertising products.
The move reflects the wider changes taking place in digital advertising as generative AI becomes more involved in producing advertising content.
The Growing Role of AI in Nigeria’s Digital Economy
Google’s latest developments come as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly relevant to Nigerian consumers and businesses.
Earlier in 2026, Google West Africa director Olumide Balogun said Nigerian consumers were increasingly using smartphones and AI-powered tools to discover products and businesses.
He also highlighted the growing importance of video and changing online search behaviour among Nigerian consumers.
For businesses, this means the traditional approach of relying only on conventional search advertising and social media promotion is evolving.
AI-powered search, conversational interfaces, automated advertising and data-driven marketing are becoming part of the wider digital ecosystem.
Challenges Remain for Small Businesses
Despite the potential benefits, the adoption of AI advertising tools also presents challenges for smaller Nigerian businesses.
Companies need reliable internet access, accurate digital data, properly configured analytics systems and staff capable of interpreting the information generated by advertising platforms.
There are also questions around data management, privacy, advertising transparency and the extent to which businesses should rely on automated systems when making marketing decisions.
Google’s own product announcements indicate that some of its newest AI advertising features remain in beta or are being rolled out gradually, meaning availability and functionality can change over time.
What Happens Next
Google is expected to continue expanding AI capabilities across its advertising and analytics products as businesses increasingly use artificial intelligence to manage marketing campaigns.
For Nigerian advertisers preparing for Black Friday and the end-of-year shopping period, the immediate focus is likely to be on understanding which AI-powered features are available in their accounts and how those tools can be integrated with existing advertising strategies.
The company has indicated that additional features and broader availability will be introduced over time.
For Nigerian businesses, the development represents another stage in the shift towards AI-assisted digital marketing, where campaign creation, measurement, customer insights and optimisation are increasingly being supported by automated systems.
Weng Global – stories beyond borders
Sources:
- Google Ads
- Google Analytics
- BusinessDay Nigeria
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