AI in Disguise – Quasi-Experimental Analysis of a Large-Scale Deployment of AI-Generated Display Ads – MSI

Working Paper

AI in Disguise – Quasi-Experimental Analysis of a Large-Scale Deployment of AI-Generated Display Ads

Yannick Exner, Jochen Hartmann, Oded Netzer, Shunyuan Zhang and Ziqian Ding

Dec 30, 2025

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Compares “sibling” human and AI-generated ads to explore how visual features shape whether consumers perceive ads as AI-generated and how this perception influences advertising effectiveness at scale.

Topics

advertising Consumer Behavior & Insights Technology and AI

research recap

Sibling Rivalry: How Consumers Respond to Human and AI-Generated Ads

GenAI can produce the specific image features that make ads undistinguishable from “sibling” human-made ads—which they outperform on measures like click-through rates. Advertisers can use a “looks-like-AI” metric to predict and mitigate artificiality penalties before deployment. Platforms can accelerate adoption by targeting performance-oriented advertisers most receptive to genAI technologies.

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