Search giant Google is planning to reorganise a large part of its 30,000-strong ad sales unit as a result of the company’s recent advances in artificial intelligence, according to a report by The Information. Notably, Google laid off around 12,000 employees earlier this year, making it the biggest job cut in the company’s history.
According to the report, many of the jobs in the ad sales unit are being made redundant because Google has introduced new AI-based tools that can automatically suggest and create new ads that perform well for customers and require little attention from employees.
Notably, Google had launched its AI-powered campaign planner, Performance Max, in 2021, but the company decided to add generative AI-based capabilities to the ad tool at the Google I/O event earlier this year, making it easier to “create custom assets and scale them in a few clicks”.
The Information’s report notes that a growing number of advertisers have now adopted Performance Max, which has eliminated the need for employees who specialise in selling ads for a particular Google service, such as YouTube, Search, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps.
The news of the restructuring of the ad sales unit was announced internally by Google’s president of the Americas and Global Partners, Sean Downey, in a meeting last week. However, the executive did not say whether the reorganisation would lead to another round of job cuts, reports The Information.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai opens up on firing 12,000 people:
An employee asked Sundar Pichai during the meeting, “It has been almost 1 year since we made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce. What impact did this decision have on our growth, P&L, and morale?”
The Google CEO responded by saying that there has been a big impact on the morale of the employees, terming it as one of the “most difficult decisions for the company”. He said, “At Google, we really haven’t had a moment quite like that in 25 years.”
Sundar Pichai termed the decision “difficult but necessary”. The Alphabet CEO said that if the company hadn’t cut those jobs last year, it would have been “a worse decision down the line.”
“It would have been a major overhang on the company. I think it would have made it very difficult in a year like this with such a big shift in the world to create the capacity to invest in areas,” the Google CEO said
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Published: 24 Dec 2023, 08:21 AM IST
Eugen Boglaru is an AI aficionado covering the fascinating and rapidly advancing field of Artificial Intelligence. From machine learning breakthroughs to ethical considerations, Eugen provides readers with a deep dive into the world of AI, demystifying complex concepts and exploring the transformative impact of intelligent technologies.
