Google finally wants to help Nigerian businesses stop wasting ad money — just before Black Friday

• Google has launched new AI-powered advertising tools to help Nigerian businesses better understand and improve their Google Ads performance.

• A new reporting dashboard combines customer searches, ads viewed and landing pages into a single screen.

• AI Brief now allows advertisers to control campaigns using plain-language instructions, making campaign management easier.

• Google urged businesses to prepare early for Black Friday, saying every naira spent on advertising should deliver better results.

If you've ever spent money on Google Ads and wondered where your budget disappeared to, Google says it has something that could make life a little easier.

The tech giant has unveiled a fresh set of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools designed to help Nigerian businesses better understand how their online adverts perform and make smarter decisions before spending more money.

The announcement was made on Friday in Lagos by Google's Director for East and West Africa, Olumide Balogun, who said the new features are built into AI Max for Search, Google's AI-powered advertising platform.

According to him, one of the biggest updates is a new reporting dashboard that brings together customer searches, the adverts they clicked and the webpage they eventually visited—all in one place.

Previously, advertisers had to jump across different sections of their Google Ads account to find this information.

"We are excited to give Nigerian businesses a clearer view of what their advertising delivers.

"Every naira matters, especially in the weeks before Black Friday.

"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," Balogun said.

The company revealed that the reporting feature was first showcased during DMEXCO 2026 in Cologne, Germany, and will begin rolling out globally, including Nigeria, later this year.

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Google is also expanding AI Brief, a Gemini-powered tool that lets businesses give simple written instructions about how they want their advertising campaigns to run.

Instead of dealing with complicated settings, advertisers can simply type instructions in everyday language.

For example, a business owner can tell the system not to display prices, focus on certain search terms or promote special offers only to selected groups of customers.

Before an advert goes live, businesses can also preview sample ads and search results, then make changes if needed.

For now, AI Brief is entering an expanded closed beta and now supports seven more languages: Japanese, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French and Italian.

Google also announced another major update that could increase visibility for businesses.

Advertisements can now appear both above and below AI Overviews in more than 200 countries, including Nigeria.

AI Overviews are Google's AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of many search results, meaning businesses now have more opportunities to get their ads seen even as search continues to evolve.

With Nigeria's Black Friday shopping season fast approaching, Balogun encouraged businesses not to wait until the last minute before setting up their campaigns.

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

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Speaking at DMEXCO, Google's Vice-President of Global Ads, Dan Taylor, said AI is changing how people search online.

Instead of typing short keywords, more people are now using longer questions, voice searches and even images to find products and services.

According to Taylor, searches made through Google's AI Mode are now three times longer than traditional searches, while one in every six searches happens through voice or images.

He added that AI Max, which launched in 2025, has already been adopted by about 500,000 advertisers worldwide.

Google says businesses using the platform recorded 27 per cent more conversions, including sales and enquiries, while maintaining similar advertising costs.

However, Taylor clarified that those figures represent global performance data presented at DMEXCO 2026 and are not specific to Nigeria.