Google rolls out generative AI tools for product images in the U.S.

Google has released a range of new generative AI product imagery tools for advertisers in the U.S.

Merchants can leverage these capabilities to create product imagery simply by using text prompts, completely free of charge in Product Studio.

Why we care. These tools have the potential to save advertisers significant time through instant product image creation and recreation, and they may also cut costs by reducing the necessity of hiring professional picture editors. However, the quality of Product Studio’s AI-generated images is still unverified, and copyright issues related to AI-generated content should be considered.

Capabilities. Advertisers can leverage these new features for various purposes, from basic tasks like altering the background color behind product images or creating a solid background, to more advanced jobs such as customizing product placement within specific scenes. The tools can also be used to enhance low-quality images without the need for a reshoot.

Availability. The new tools have already started being rolled out to all Merchant Center Next users in the U.S, as well as users of the Google and YouTube apps on Shopify.

Metadata AI label. The AI-generated images won’t have a clear tag or watermark to inform users that they were manipulated, however, Google states that this information will be stored in the image’s metadata.

What Google is saying: Matt Madrigal, Vice President, GM, Merchant Shopping, said in a statement:

• “In e-commerce, eye-catching images are a business’s digital window displays — and merchants with the right mix of imagery online can get better results. In fact, while many product offers on Google have just one image, we see an increase in both impressions (+76%) and clicks (+32%) for product offers that include more than one image.”
• “It’s not always easy to get a range of high-quality images, though. Businesses tell us creating lifestyle images gets expensive and time-consuming.”
• “Our new Product Studio, designed with Google’s Ai Principles top of mind, brings the benefits of generative AI to businesses of all sizes, helping them easily create unique and tailored product imagery for free and get more value from the images they already have.”

Deep dive. Read Google’s original Product Studio tools announcement for more information.