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Investing.com -- Bank of America reiterated its Buy rating on Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) in a note Wednesday following the launch of AI Max, the company’s new suite of artificial intelligence-driven tools aimed at enhancing search advertising performance.
The firm also maintained its $200 price target on the stock, citing the potential of AI Max to accelerate ad monetization.
AI Max introduces “targeting and creative enhancements” designed to expand ad reach and relevance.
According to Google, the system “will learn from your current keywords, creative assets and URLs to help you show up on more relevant searches,” and will also “generate new text assets, like headlines and descriptions, based on your landing page, ads and keywords.”
BofA called the tool “an important, but still early, evolution in ad targeting beyond standard keyword bidding.”
Google highlighted early success with AI Max in a blog post, noting that L’Oréal “saw incremental performance... with a 2X higher conversion rate at a 31% lower cost-per-conversion.”
BofA analysts believe this suggests real-world impact for advertisers even in early stages.
As search habits evolve with generative AI tools like Gemini and AI Overviews, BofA expects search queries to become more conversational.
“We’re moving beyond simply matching to users’ queries... to predicting what they might need next,” Google said in its announcement.
BofA noted AI Max could support predictive ad placements within AI-driven experiences and may ultimately replace some traditional keyword bidding.
“We think the Street could be underestimating the magnitude and pace at which Gen-AI can drive growth in Search monetization,” the firm wrote.
With broader rollout expected by the fourth quarter and upcoming events like Google I/O and Google Marketing Live set to offer more detail, BofA remains “constructive on AI query monetization.”