The Maze: THG Commerce, the ecommerce technology arm of THG Ingenuity, has added Criteo's paid product recommendations to its AI Shopping Assistant. Retailers using the service can show labelled ads beside unpaid recommendations inside a shopping conversation. Announced on October 9, the integration turns a shopper's description of a need into an advertising opportunity. It runs on Google Cloud's AI infrastructure, but it does not open ads across consumer Gemini. THG's impressive early performance comparisons come with an inconvenient blank: no disclosed test method.
Source: THG Ingenuity. Official assistant illustration showing laptop recommendations with prices and stock; it does not show the new sponsored labels.
The ad now sits inside the advice. A shopper describes an occasion, goal or problem; the assistant extracts keywords and product filters, then recommends relevant items. Criteo Sponsored Products adds paid recommendations to that same response, with an explicit label. THG says keyword matching, meaning-based matching and strict relevance thresholds apply before an eligible ad appears. The change is the placement: brand-funded visibility can now accompany a conversational answer, rather than waiting for a conventional search-results page. The announcement gives no numerical relevance threshold or named retailer rollout list.
Compatibility still requires a retailer to set up the service. THG describes the assistant as a standalone subscription available through Google Cloud Marketplace, independent of the retailer's underlying storefront. Its implementation instructions require a THG-provisioned key for each storefront and catalogue configuration. A small website snippet opens the assistant's chat panel. That is a route for adopting retailers, not automatic access for every Criteo advertiser or every commerce platform user. Country availability and the full onboarding terms for sponsored placements remain unspecified. Existing support docs also say the assistant directs shoppers to product pages; they add items themselves.
Retailers gain inventory; brands gain another bill. Retail media means advertising sold inside a retailer's shopping experience. Criteo's standard Sponsored Products product charges advertisers when shoppers click, and available placements depend on what each retailer offers. THG extends that familiar commercial model into a new conversation surface, while describing retailer control of the experience. The disclosed integration does not specify ad prices, the revenue split or how many retailers have enabled it. For operators in other markets, the useful mechanism is portable: advice on their own storefront can become ad inventory. Access still needs local verification.
Five times the clicks is a claim, not an uplift calculation. THG says sponsored products in the assistant achieved a click-through rate more than five times an average and a conversion rate more than twice an average. Neither absolute rates nor the sample size, testing period, control group or precise comparator is disclosed. A comparison cannot show whether the ads caused extra purchases. Shoppers asking detailed questions may already be closer to buying. Retailers evaluating the integration need to separate additional orders from sales that would have happened anyway, and compare ad income with any loss in shopper trust.
Why it matters: A shopping assistant can influence which products make a shortlist. Selling space inside its answers therefore moves advertising closer to the purchase decision. The immediate opportunity is another source of retailer revenue and another place for brands to compete. The operating test is harder: do relevant, clearly labelled paid suggestions add profitable orders without weakening the advice? THG has disclosed a way to monetise the conversation. It has not disclosed enough evidence to prove the resulting profit.
Sources: RTIH · THG announcement · THG setup docs · Criteo product FAQ · THG support.
Images: 1 THG Ingenuity via THG Ingenuity · Cover AI-generated
