Google brings AI updates to Search and YouTube in Southeast Asia – Marketing Tech News
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At the Google Marketing Live event in Singapore, Google announced new updates to its AI tools across Search and YouTube. The updates are intended to help marketers keep up with changes in how people find and interact with content online, particularly as more users turn to voice, video, and visual search instead of typing.
Search is no longer just about typing words into a box. More users now ask questions using photos, voice, or a mix of formats. Google says tools like Lens, Circle to Search, and AI Overviews are helping people search in new ways, with Lens alone handling more than 100 billion visual searches this year—about one in five showing commercial intent. Younger users, especially Gen Z, are also using Circle to Search to start more than 10% of their searches.
Google says it now supports over a billion shopping-related searches a day worldwide. In Southeast Asia, Gen Z users are driving more activity on Search than any other age group. This shift opens up new ad opportunities, especially for businesses looking to meet users earlier in their decision process.
YouTube remains the most-watched video platform in Southeast Asia and continues to see high usage across generations. Independent surveys suggest users in countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines trust YouTube creators more than those on other platforms.
That trust appears to translate into stronger business results. Google shared figures showing YouTube ads deliver more return on investment than traditional TV in Southeast Asia—4.1 times higher in Indonesia, 2.3 times in Thailand, and 2.9 times in Vietnam. YouTube also outperformed other social platforms in ROI comparisons.
Google outlined several upcoming tools that aim to simplify campaign management and improve performance using AI. These include new ways to generate ads, find audiences, and fine-tune campaigns without needing as much manual input.
As marketing teams face tighter budgets and increasingly complex customer behaviour, the new tools are designed to cut down on manual work. Google says the goal is to move marketers away from reacting to trends and toward anticipating them—with AI taking care of more routine tasks so teams can focus on strategy.
(Photo by sarah b)
See also: Video marketing hooks: Why human creativity still beats AI
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