Voice assistants have been around for over a decade. And the advertising industry has been waiting for them to monetize that entire time.
The wait continues—but changes are finally coming.
The Three Major Platforms
Amazon Alexa: Most aggressive on ads. CEO Andy Jassy publicly said in July 2025 that Alexa+ will have advertising integrated into multi-turn conversations.
Google Assistant: Being replaced by Gemini. Ads existed in web search results within Assistant, but true conversational ads remain absent.
Apple Siri: No ads. Apple explicitly denies using Siri data for advertising. Settled a $95 million lawsuit in January 2025 reaffirming this position.
Three platforms, three very different approaches.
Amazon Alexa: Leading the Charge
Amazon is furthest along. Here's what's happening:
- Echo Show devices already display product ads and banner ads between content. Recent updates have made these more aggressive—users report full-screen ads appearing between photos and alongside basic functions like alarms.
- Audio ads play during Amazon Music's free tier on Alexa devices.
- "Customers Ask Alexa" lets brands answer product questions directly. Ask about carpet cleaning, and a cleaning product manufacturer might provide the response.
- Alexa+, Amazon's generative AI upgrade, explicitly plans conversational ads. Jassy described it on an earnings call: "As people are engaging in more multi-turn conversations, [there will be] opportunities to have advertising play a role to help people find discovery."
Translation: You ask Alexa+ for recommendations, and sponsored options get woven into the conversation. Amazon's motivation is clear. They already generate $47+ billion annually from advertising. Voice is just another surface to monetize.
Google Assistant: The Transition
Google Assistant is being phased out. Gemini is replacing it on mobile devices (delayed to 2026, was supposed to be 2025).
Google has shown some ads in Assistant—specifically in web search results that appear within the Assistant interface. But pure conversational voice ads? Not really.
The interesting dynamic: Google is keeping Gemini (the standalone chatbot) ad-free for now while monetizing AI Overviews in Search. They're being cautious about where ads appear in conversational contexts.
Voice data from Google Assistant does influence ad targeting elsewhere, though. Research from Northeastern University found that Google uses Assistant interactions to infer demographics and interests, which then inform ads across Google's ecosystem.
Apple Siri: The Privacy Play
Apple's position is categorical: "Apple has never used Siri data to build marketing profiles, never made it available for advertising, and never sold it to anyone for any purpose."
This isn't just PR. Apple's business model doesn't depend on advertising. They sell hardware and services. Siri is a feature that helps sell iPhones, not a monetization channel.
The $95 million settlement in January 2025 addressed claims that Siri recordings were shared with third-party contractors—not that they were used for ads. Apple admitted contractors listened to recordings for quality purposes but denied any advertising use.
For advertisers, this means Siri remains a dead end. You can't buy placement, and Apple isn't building toward it.
Why Voice Ads Are Hard
Voice advertising has a fundamental problem: it's intrusive.
When you see a banner ad, you can ignore it. When a voice assistant reads you a sponsored message, you can't not hear it.
This is why the industry has moved slowly. Platforms know that aggressive voice ads will drive users away. Other challenges:
- •No visual confirmation: Users can't see the brand, verify claims, or compare options easily.
- •Attribution difficulty: How do you track a conversion from "Alexa told me about this product" to an actual purchase?
- •Context sensitivity: Voice often happens in private moments—morning routines, cooking dinner, bedtime. Ads feel more invasive.
- •Single-result format: Voice typically returns one answer, not a page of results. That makes ad placement binary—either you're the sponsored result or you're not.
What This Means for PPC Managers
Short-term: Voice assistant advertising remains limited. You can experiment with Alexa Skills and "Customers Ask Alexa" if you're on Amazon, but there's no Google Ads equivalent.
Medium-term: Watch Amazon closely. Alexa+ conversational ads could be the test case that shapes the industry. If users accept it, others will follow.
Long-term: Voice will eventually matter, but probably not as a standalone channel. It'll integrate with existing ad platforms—your Amazon Ads or Google Ads account will include voice placements alongside display and search.
The Targeting Angle
Even if voice assistants don't show you ads directly, your voice queries influence targeting:
- •Amazon: Uses Alexa interactions to inform interest categories for Amazon Ads
- •Google: Infers demographics and preferences from Assistant usage, applies to ad targeting
- •Apple: Claims no targeting use whatsoever
This matters for audience targeting. If your customers are asking Alexa about your product category, Amazon knows that—and you can potentially reach them through Amazon Ads.
The Bottom Line
Voice assistant advertising is real but limited:
- •Alexa: Active experimentation, CEO-confirmed plans for conversational ads
- •Google Assistant: Being replaced by Gemini, minimal direct ads
- •Siri: No ads, not on the roadmap
Don't build your 2025 strategy around voice ads. But don't ignore them either.
Amazon's Alexa+ experiment will tell us a lot about whether users accept ads in conversational AI. If they do, expect Google and others to accelerate their plans. If there's a backlash, the industry might take another decade to figure this out.
