The Most Significant Change to Google’s Ecosystem Since Performance Max

Heads up this is a meaty one, but it’s worth it…

Google’s release of Gemini 3 marks a fundamental upgrade to the entire Google stack. This isn’t a routine model refresh. It’s a structural shift affecting Search, paid media, content strategy, product discovery, and the mechanics of how users interact with Google’s ecosystem.

Based on Google’s official announcements, developer documentation, and wide-ranging commentary from The Verge, Business Insider, TechRadar Pro, Dataslayer, EVO Agency, TKG, and others, here’s what’s actually changed – and what advertisers need to do next.

1. What Gemini 3 Actually Is

Google’s official announcement describes Gemini 3 as their most capable multimodal AI model, able to reason across text, image, video, audio and code. It builds on the Gemini 1.5 Ultra architecture but adds enhanced long-context reasoning, more persistent memory, and improved tool-use.

Key confirmed highlights:

1. Extended Context (Up to 2m Tokens)

This enables the model to “read” and reason across:

• Entire product catalogues 
• Performance marketing datasets 
• Multi-chapter documentation 
• Long-format creative, research or code 

This is explicitly referenced in Google’s own technical breakdown…

2. Improved Memory and Retrieval

Gemini 3 is designed to operate more like an ongoing assistant, retaining context across longer interactions. This matches DeepMind’s positioning of the model as suitable for agent-like applications.

3. Deep Integration Across Google

This is confirmed across Google’s blogs and product update pages. Gemini 3 is now embedded in:

• Search (AI Overviews / SGE) 
• The Gemini app on Android 
• Gmail, Docs, Sheets 
• Gemini API for developers 
• Performance Max creative generation 

This means Gemini 3 is no longer “an AI product”; it is the underlying logic powering large parts of Google’s ecosystem.

2. How Search Behaviour Is Changing

Google’s AI Overviews (powered by Gemini 3) materially change how users interact with Search. While some projections floating in the industry are speculative, multiple sources (Dataslayer, TKG, Business Insider, The Verge, Google’s own UX commentary) confirm a few important points.

AI Overviews Reduce Click-Through on Certain Queries

The trend is clear:

• Users receive summarised answers at the top of the SERP 
• Fewer users scroll to traditional organic listings 
• Informational queries are the most affected 

While the exact drop varies depending on the dataset, 20–40% lower engagement with lower-ranking links is consistent with leaked internal UX analyses and third-party behaviour studies.

The Type of Content Most at Risk

The following formats are now easily summarised and therefore less likely to win clicks:

• Basic definitions (“What is X?”) 
• Commodity “best X for Y” listicles 
• Short FAQs 
• Broad comparison pages 

This isn’t hypothetical: Gemini 3 demonstrably generates these instantly, and Google has stated its intention to surface AI-generated answers where helpful.

The New SEO Competitiveness Model

To remain visible, content must provide value that AI cannot summarise away:

• Real testing and reviews 
• First-party data 
• Experts with named authority 
• Proprietary tools (configurators, calculators, quizzes) 
• Interactive elements 

This aligns with the direction of EEAT, Google’s PR statements, and behaviour seen in SGE markets.

3. The Impact on Google Ads and Paid Media

This is an area where the industry narrative can get exaggerated, so here’s the balanced, accurate version supported by EVO Agency, Dataslayer, and Google’s advertiser documentation.

Performance Max and Gemini 3

Google has explicitly confirmed Gemini 3 contributes to:

• Generating video and image assets 
• Drafting copy variants 
• Creating audience-tailored ad versions 

The scale at which brands adopt this will vary. It is not automatic that hundreds of variants will be created daily unless a brand chooses to lean heavily on automation – but the potential is there.

Implications for Advertisers

Faster creative testing: True. PMax can now create and test creative variations at a scale previously unattainable without motion graphics teams.

Reduced creative fatigue: Plausible and directionally accurate. Google is positioning Gemini as capable of refreshing creative based on audience behaviour, though the exact sophistication will vary by vertical.

Lower creative barrier for smaller brands: Confirmed. Automated asset creation is explicitly part of PMax’s toolset now.

The More Contested Claim: Ad Visibility Shrinkage

It’s accurate that AI Overviews appear above ads in many cases. It’s not accurate to say this happens in all cases, nor that it universally reduces ad visibility.

What we can say confidently:

• Mobile real estate is tighter 
• AI Overviews sometimes appear above ads 
• Advertisers in certain verticals will see competition intensify 
• CPC increases are already being observed in affected categories 

This is consistent with real-world auction behaviour and agency reporting.

Strategic Recommendations (Accurate and Actionable)

• Protect high-intent, low-volume keywords 
• Strengthen Shopping and YouTube inventory 
• Monitor impression share and Top-of-Page rate 
• Test Gemini-driven creative at controlled volumes 

4. The Ecommerce and DTC Impact

4.1 Product Discovery

Gemini 3 increasingly provides product shortlists inside the SERP. This is directly observable today. Your product may not feature in these shortlists unless:

• Your Merchant Center feed is complete 
• Product data is structured and rich 
• Reviews and ratings are integrated 
• Imagery is high-quality and clear 

This is not speculation; it’s based on how AI Overviews currently behave.

4.2 On-Site Experience

Once users do click through, their expectations have risen. Gemini sets a baseline for:

• Instant summaries 
• Instant pros and cons 
• Instant comparisons 

To outperform Gemini’s overview, sites must offer:

• Interactive finders 
• 3D product renders 
• Fit tools 
• Rich UGC blocks 
• Trust signals and risk-reversal elements 

Again, this is consistent with observed behavioural changes in high-overview categories.

4.3 Content Strategy

Generic content loses. Experiential content wins. This is supported by nearly all organic performance analyses (Dataslayer, TKG, Geekflare AI).

Examples that win:

• Testing-based articles 
• Long-form comparisons with real data 
• Proprietary tools or scoring models 
• First-party customer insights 

5. AI Tooling Opportunities for Marketers

These are real and actionable today using the Gemini API. Marketers can build:

• Internal content generation engines 
• Dynamic email flows 
• Product-level personalisation tools 
• AI chat and buying assistants 
• UGC summarisation systems 

This is confirmed by Google’s developer guidance and already widely adopted by AI-forward ecommerce brands.

6. Tracking and Attribution in an AI-First Search Environment

Key Reality: Influence Without Clicks

This is not hypothetical. People are influenced by answers they never click into. Therefore:

• Last-click attribution becomes less representative 
• Assisted conversions matter more 
• Scroll depth, dwell time and engagement become essential signals 
• Impression share becomes a predictor of future cost volatility 

Dataslayer in particular has highlighted these shifts.

7. Competitive Advantage or Race to the Bottom?

Early Adopters Will Gain Efficiency

Brands that use Gemini for:

• asset creation 
• research 
• content generation 
• UX improvement 
• buying assistance 

…will out-test and out-iterate slower competitors.

But Creative Sameness Is a Real Risk

If everyone relies solely on Gemini for creative production, ads and content become homogenised.

This is acknowledged in The Verge and Business Insider’s coverage.

The Winning Strategy

The strongest play is:

• AI for scale 
• Brand for differentiation 

Use AI to do more, faster – but use your brand to stand out.

CMO-Level Recommended Actions

Area	Strategic Action
Content	Upgrade all informational pages; build tools, calculators, and research-backed content; add expert commentary
Ads	Use Gemini-driven creative tests in PMax; track impression share and top-of-page loss due to AI Overviews
Product Data	Enrich Merchant Center feeds; strengthen schema; use rich media and rating integrations
On-Site UX	Build interactive experiences; include UGC, influencer content, guarantees, and product aids
AI Stack	Invest in internal AI tools for content, CRO, segmentation and personalisation
Measurement	Move beyond last-click; track scroll depth, dwell, engagement, and assisted conversions

Accuracy Notes (Important)

To ensure you can act confidently, here’s what’s confirmed vs inferred:

Confirmed by Google:

• Gemini 3’s multimodal capability 
• Long context (up to 2m tokens) 
• Integration across Search, Workspace and Android 
• Gemini involvement in PMax creative generation 

Confirmed by observable behaviour:

• AI Overviews reduce clicks on certain query types 
• AI-generated product summaries are appearing globally 
• Creative automation in PMax is now more robust 
• CPCs are rising in certain verticals due to auction pressure 

Well-supported but still directional:

• 20–40% CTR reduction (based on internal UX studies reported in press) 
• Creative fatigue reduction through dynamic asset generation 
• Large-scale creative iteration opportunities 

Strategic extrapolations:

• Long-term content commoditisation 
• Increasing role of proprietary data and tools 
• Future competition shifts in SERP real estate 

All forward-looking claims in the article are consistent with current trajectories in SGE-active markets and industry consensus. This is an exciting time, the brands / people who move with it (in whichever weird and wonderful direction it may go) will undoubtedly be the ones who come out on top.

👉 Want to be better prepared next time we get a monster update?

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