Google to retailers: Use AI to win the longer holiday season

U.S. impulse buys slipped from 30% to 26% last year, per a Google-commissioned Ipsos study. Shoppers are now spreading their holiday spending from October through January, stretching what used to be a sprint into a three-month season – and Google’s AI Max updates are giving retailers new ways to keep up.

Why we care. The old “Black Friday push” is no longer enough. Consumers are spreading purchases across months, doing more research, and watching their budgets closely. That creates both risk and opportunity: retailers need to show up earlier in the journey, stay visible longer, and use smarter tools to reach shoppers at the right moment if they want to capture demand before competitors do.

What Google is advising:

• Connect at discovery:
  • With 5 trillion searches a year and over 60% of queries now broad and conversational (according to Google), shoppers are looking for inspiration, not just products.
  • Google says its AI-powered Search Overviews and AI Mode can help retailers place ads where discovery happens.
  • The company is rolling out AI Max for Search campaigns (in global beta) to make tapping into these opportunities a one-click process.

• Turn YouTube viewers into buyers:
  • Google notes that shopping is increasingly happening on YouTube as customers bounce between sites, apps, and stores.
  • Its Demand Gen product now optimizes for omnichannel sales and can surface local offers for nearby shoppers.

• Google also highlights its Creator partnerships hub and shoppable YouTube Masthead as tools to drive conversions.

• Fuel performance with smarter AI tools:
  • Google says new Merchant Center insights will surface demand shifts, while Product Studio and Asset Studio expand creative options with generative AI, including Imagen 4.

• Retailers can now set total campaign budgets across Search, Performance Max, Shopping, YouTube, and Demand Gen for 3–90 days, with Google AI automatically adjusting spend to peak demand.

• Convert customers into loyalists:
  • Google has introduced new loyalty offerings that let advertisers showcase member-only pricing, shipping perks, and set retention goals in Shopping campaigns.
  • The company points to Sephora as an early success story.

Bottom line. Google’s message to retailers is clear: With shoppers buying more carefully over a longer season, using its AI-driven discovery, creative, and loyalty tools can help to maximize performance.

However, while AI Max and other Google AI tools offer powerful ways to optimize campaigns, advertisers should avoid relying solely on automation, as they are very new tools and will inevitably be prone to errors.

AI can improve efficiency and targeting, but without careful monitoring, testing, and brand-safe oversight, campaigns risk misaligned messaging, overspending, or missed opportunities to connect authentically with customers. Always pair AI-driven recommendations with human judgment.