Gemini Omni 1.2 Flash makes 15-second videos, a full ad spot

On Thursday, November 5, Google DeepMind rolled out Gemini Omni 1.2 Flash, the newest version of its video model. The big change is length: clips now run up to 15 seconds, up from 10 in Omni 1.1, and you can pick any length from 3 to 15 seconds in one-second steps. Five extra seconds sounds small until you remember an ad has to land the whole pitch before a thumb moves.

The price went the other way. Google says 1.2 Flash costs $0.07 per second of 720p video, 30% less than the last version. By our math, that's $1.05 for a full 15-second clip at 720p, before you upscale anything. Google's suggested workflow keeps it cheap: draft at 360p or 720p, fix details with follow-up edits instead of starting over, then upscale the keeper to 1080p or 4K.

Google Cloud's announcement says the model is now generally available there, which means it's ready for real business work, with Google's support behind it. It names the use cases outright: product videos, virtual try-ons and ads.

Consistency is the part marketers should care about most. You can guide the model with character, product or style images, motion clips up to 3 seconds, and audio cues. Google says faces, garments, packaging text and brand colors stay consistent across camera angles. If you've ever watched an AI spokesperson change faces halfway through a sentence, you understand the excitement.

Editing works like a conversation. Google's examples include swapping a product or background, changing the lighting or weather, and switching the aspect ratio, all on the same clip. That last one matters: a vertical version for Shorts and Reels and a horizontal one for YouTube can start from a single clip.

Google is also upfront about the weak spots. It says work is ongoing on fast sports action, rapid script changes and complex physics. So a calm product turning on a counter is a better bet than a linebacker catching your energy drink midair.

Google lists several ways in. Developers get it in the Gemini API through Google AI Studio, and businesses can build on it in Google Cloud. Everyone else can direct scenes in Flow. Google Vids makes 15-second clips at no additional cost with a Google account or Workspace subscription, and 15-second videos in the Gemini app are rolling out to Google AI Ultra subscribers.

For advertisers, Google says you can scale video campaigns in Google Ads, and it links straight to Asset Studio. Back in May, Google said Asset Studio would soon add video creation with Gemini Omni, as part of updates rolling out globally in English this summer. Google Cloud's post adds that making videos right in the Gemini chat is coming soon for business users, and that audio references are limited to allowlisted accounts for now.

The announcement doesn't spell this part out. In Google Ads' own specs, a standard non-skippable YouTube ad runs 7 to 15 seconds. Bumper ads top out at 6 seconds, and longer non-skippable ads, 16 to 30 seconds, run on Connected TV. So one 15-second generation can fill the longest standard non-skippable slot, and you can cut a 6-second bumper from the same footage.

QuickFrame AI, a customer that makes ads for TV and social, told Google Cloud that users can now make "a complete CTV ad in a single generation." That's a customer's claim in Google's own post, not an independent test, so treat it as something to check rather than a result to bank.

Every clip carries an invisible SynthID watermark. Google's SynthID page says anyone can check a video by uploading it to the Gemini app and asking whether Google AI made it, or by using the SynthID Detector portal, which Google is opening up to everyone.

So assume anyone can check whether a video is AI-made, and plan your creative around that. A stylized product spin or an animated explainer is fine. A realistic fake customer testimonial is not, watermark or no watermark.

Video used to be the expensive line in a small business's marketing plan. At about a dollar for 15 seconds of 720p footage, trying an idea costs almost nothing. Showing a weak idea to thousands of people still costs plenty. Make more drafts, run fewer of them, and let real customers tell you which one works.

Want help turning drafts into ads that sell? Talk to our founders below. See you in the next edition.