At Google Marketing Live Southeast Asia (GML SEA) held in Singapore, Google introduced a new generation of AI-powered tools for Search and YouTube, designed to help marketers navigate the region’s fast-evolving digital landscape. The updates span creative development, ad performance, brand discovery, and campaign automation, reflecting Google’s strategy to bring advanced AI capabilities directly into the hands of businesses.
The new tools include AI Max for Search, Asset Studio, Ads in AI Overviews, AI Mode, the YouTube Creator Partnerships Hub, and agentic capabilities within Google Ads and Analytics. These products aim to help marketers move from simply responding to customer behaviour to anticipating and influencing it.
Search and YouTube continue to lead in Southeast Asia
With over 5 trillion searches globally each year, Google Search has evolved beyond text input to include voice, images, and video. Features like Google Lens, Circle to Search, AI Overviews, and AI Mode now help users discover information in more interactive ways. According to Google, Lens has grown by 65% year-on-year globally, with over 100 billion visual searches so far in 2025—one in five of which show commercial intent. Circle to Search is also gaining traction among younger audiences, who now initiate more than 10% of their searches through the feature.
Google also supports over a billion shopping journeys daily worldwide, with Gen Z emerging as the most active user group in Search. This trend is opening up new opportunities for brands to connect with customers across various stages of their decision-making journey.
In Southeast Asia, YouTube remains the top video platform, reaching more daily users than any other platform. The service is especially popular with Gen Z viewers and maintains high levels of trust. Research by Kantar and MTM shows that in countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines, users trust YouTube creators more than influencers on other platforms. From a performance standpoint, YouTube delivers higher return on investment than both linear TV and competing social platforms. For instance, YouTube achieved 4.1 times the ROI of TV in Indonesia and outperformed TikTok and Meta with ROI figures of 1.5 times in Indonesia, 1.6 times in Thailand, and 1.2 times in Vietnam.
New products aim to enhance performance and reduce manual work
The event showcased several AI-driven product updates aimed at making digital marketing more predictive and less labour-intensive. Sapna Chadha, Vice President of Google Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier, said, “As consumer journeys become more complex—and resources more limited—we’re equipping marketers with our most advanced models yet: more intelligent, more agentic, and more personalised. That means faster creative, wider reach, sharper insights, and better results.”
Among the key updates was Ads in AI Overviews. Already used by over 1.5 billion people globally, this feature integrates sponsored results into AI-generated summaries in Search. Google will expand this offering to users in the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia later this year, with English support on both desktop and mobile.
Another major tool is Asset Studio, a centralised workspace in Google Ads that uses generative AI models such as Imagen and Veo to create variations of image and video ads. This enables more efficient production of high-performing creative assets.
AI Max for Search uses Google’s Gemini models to generate tailored headlines and ad content by analysing a brand’s website and existing ads. This removes the need for extensive keyword lists and adapts to how users search—whether by typing, speaking, or uploading a photo. Shopee reported strong results after a five-week trial in Singapore and Malaysia, including a 100% increase in conversions and a 49% improvement in ROI.
AI Mode builds on Google’s most advanced search capabilities, supporting deeper queries and follow-up questions. It is currently being tested with relevant ads in the US, and may provide further visibility for brands in future rollouts.
The YouTube Creator Partnerships Hub is now live in Singapore and Indonesia. This feature helps marketers find YouTube creators based on keywords, categories, or trends, with insights into audience demographics and engagement. Once a match is found, advertisers can turn creator content into ads and track performance—all within the same platform.
Lastly, Google is integrating agentic AI into Ads and Analytics. This technology acts like a built-in assistant that learns from user data and campaign performance. It can suggest keywords, make creative changes, and generate insights in real time, reducing manual tasks and freeing up time for strategic work.
