Google I/O 2026: What It Means for UK Marketers

Unsurprisingly, there’s been a lot of noise coming off the back of Google’s I/O keynote, which aired last night for those of us based in the UK. Here’s my tuppence worth, with a focus on what actually matters for businesses.

Gemini’s scale is hard to ignore

Sundar Pichai opened with some staggering numbers: Gemini now processes 3.2 quadrillion tokens per month, up from 480 trillion a year ago and 9.7 trillion the year before that. AI Overviews have 2.5 billion monthly users. AI Mode has over a billion. The Gemini app has 900 million monthly active users. Much of the search industry has been laser-focused on ChatGPT for AI search (and rightly so, given its dominance up to now) but Gemini is clearly in the race and these numbers demand attention.

The search box is changing

The biggest news for SEOs: Google is launching an AI-powered Intelligent Search Box that dynamically expands to accommodate queries of any length and detail. Autocomplete as we know it is being replaced with AI-powered suggestions, and users will be able to attach images, files, videos and Chrome tabs to their search. Crucially, this is rolling out in the UK immediately.

This lands right on the theme of my brightonSEO talk in May – consumers are shifting from keywords to conversations, and Google is now actively nudging them there. Watch how this changes behaviour in Keyword Planner over time; it’s going to be fascinating. For now, the best response is to understand your audience deeply enough to anticipate how they’re using AI tools and how they’ll prompt.

Also rolling out fully: the switch to AI Mode after an initial AIO result, with context carried through. I hated this as a user (but I’m bad with change!) but I think marketers will hate it too, because we can expect clicks to websites to decline further as a result.

Search is becoming agentic

We’ve long believed that agentic AI is the next frontier and Google are truly bringing it to the masses with the confirmation that agents are coming to search. First: an information agent that monitors the web 24/7 and alerts you when something relevant changes (think a much smarter Google Alerts). After that, they’ll launch a booking agent that’s capable of finding a late-night karaoke venue that serves food and presenting a link to book. Both are US-first this summer, but as with all things Google, we’ll eventually see it in the UK too.

The interesting thing about agents arriving within search specifically is that it lowers the barrier significantly. Most consumers find tools like OpenClaw pretty advanced, so embedding this capability inside a familiar interface makes it far less daunting. There are also significant implications for marketers in terms of sites being accessible and usable by agents.

Shopping is getting smarter

Google is launching Universal Cart, which is an intelligent shopping cart that works across multiple stores, finds the best deals, flags price history and stock levels, and checks compatibility between products. Preferred payment methods and loyalty details can be factored in, with instant checkout via Google Wallet. US-first, with Nike, Sephora, Target, Ulta Beauty, Walmart, Wayfair, Fenty and Steve Madden among the launch partners.

The UCP-powered checkout experience, which lets users buy directly from product listings within AI Mode and Gemini, is also expanding, with the UK in the pipeline. The foundation for all of this is Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol. If e-commerce is part of your business, getting your product feeds right in Google Merchant Centre is where to start.

Personal Intelligence is coming to the UK

Already live in the US, Personal Intelligence connects Google services like Photos, Gmail and Calendar to Search, allowing AI Mode to surface relevant personal context in results. Rolling out across nearly 200 countries now.

This cements one of Google’s biggest structural advantages: it knows an enormous amount about its users. OpenAI only has what a user shares directly with ChatGPT. The personalisation Google can apply will be on a different level, whether that feels like a great experience or a slightly unsettling one probably depends on the individual.

YouTube is becoming a chatbot

Google announced Ask YouTube, which is a new feature that enables users to navigate YouTube’s vast library with more in-depth, longer-tail queries, powered by Gemini. Rather than scrolling through results, users can describe exactly what they’re looking for in natural language, and Ask YouTube will surface the most relevant content. It’ll also load videos at the relevant point, rather than starting from the beginning.

The implications for optimisation are clear. We’ve long suspected that an effective tactic for visibility within LLMs and AI search is to focus on ‘why’ as well as ‘what’, and this seems to back that thinking up. Content that clearly states who it’s for, what it’s covering and why it’s useful ought to perform better as AI systems get better at matching intent to content. If you’re investing in YouTube as a channel, that’s where attention should go.

Generative UI in search is coming too

If you’re a regular Claude user, you might be familiar with Artifacts – and now Google is bringing something similar to search, enabling users to build simple apps and tools directly from the search box. The demo showed a weekend planner built in real time from a single prompt. Fascinating, but probably slower to see mass adoption, and limited value for businesses trying to drive traffic.

Google launches its answer to OpenClaw

Finally, Google announced Gemini Spark – a personal AI agent that takes action on your behalf, similar to OpenClaw but running in the cloud rather than on a local device, meaning it works around the clock. US-only for now (Google AI Ultra subscribers), but one to watch. Our Creative AI Technologist, Jim Ralley, has been doing some brilliant things with OpenClaw already, so I’m curious to hear his take when Spark arrives over here.

Some of these changes are incremental. Others are genuinely significant shifts in how people will find information, make decisions and spend money online. The intelligent search box, agentic capabilities and Universal Cart in particular feel like moments we’ll look back on as turning points, not just for search, but for digital marketing more broadly.

It’s an exciting time, but also a complex one. Knowing which changes to act on now, which to watch, and which to wait out is half the battle, so if you want to talk through what any of this means for your business, get in touch or explore more of our Insights.