Google auto-upgrades Search campaigns to AI Max from September

By Dominic Ashworth · 2026-08-09

Google forces the hand of every Search advertiser

Search campaigns running automatically created assets or campaign-level broad match settings will be moved onto AI Max in September, whether account holders asked for it or not, and Dynamic Search Ads follow on a longer clock. Google confirmed on 15 April 2026 that it would automatically upgrade eligible Search campaigns to AI Max from 1 September, with those conversions expected to finish before the end of the month. An update to the announcement dated 11 June 2026 pushed the Dynamic Search Ads leg of the migration back to February 2027; campaigns using automatically created assets or campaign-level broad match still move in September.^[1] The real question is whether your settings will still reflect what you actually want to buy once the upgrade lands.

What AI Max actually is

AI Max for Search campaigns bundles three capabilities into a single system: search term matching, which finds queries beyond your explicit keywords; text customisation, which generates ad copy in real time; and final URL expansion, which routes traffic to the most relevant landing page Google's systems can find.^[1] The suite has been available in beta and is now leaving that phase entirely.

The announcement, published under the byline of Brandon Ervin, Director of Product Management at Google Ads, frames the move as a generational shift: AI Max is out of beta, and the automatic upgrade is presented as a smarter way to scale performance in what Google calls the new era of Search.^[1] Google is treating Dynamic Search Ads, automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match as legacy technology, not parallel options.

Which campaigns change, and what switches on

Not every campaign is treated identically. Campaigns already using automatically created assets will have both search term matching and text customisation activated by default.^[1] Google's systems will write and serve ad copy based on your landing pages and existing assets, without waiting for sign-off on each variation.

Campaigns running on campaign-level broad match settings get a narrower change: search term matching switches on by default, but text customisation does not.^[1] The practical effect is still material. Broader query matching means budget can shift toward search terms you never explicitly targeted, and that shift begins the moment the upgrade completes.

Google's own support documentation advises advertisers to review and modify their AI Max search term matching and asset optimisation settings via the campaign Settings menu immediately after the upgrade, to make sure they still align with business goals.^[2] That guidance reads as an implicit acknowledgement that the defaults may not suit every account.

No opt-out process has been disclosed

Google has not published a formal opt-out pathway for advertisers who would prefer to stay on existing setups. The only said recourse is that post-upgrade settings review. Menachem Ani, founder of digital advertising agency JXT Group, was among the first to flag the upgrade notice, and his advice to advertisers was to get ahead of the migration rather than wait for it.^[3]

Getting ahead of it means auditing now, not on 2 September. The key questions are whether existing keyword lists are tight enough to contain broadened query matching, whether landing pages are in a state you would be comfortable with Google selecting automatically, and whether ad copy guidelines allow for AI-generated text variations. Each of those tolerances differs between a large ecommerce account and a local service business with a narrow service area.

What the upgrade means for budgets

Search term matching is the feature most likely to move money. By design, it expands the pool of queries your ads can serve on, which can surface genuine incremental demand but can also attract spend on queries that sit outside your intended customer base. Without a negative keyword list that reflects your actual exclusions, the post-upgrade period may show a spike in impressions and clicks that does not convert at historical rates.

Text customisation carries its own implications. Google generates variations from your existing assets and landing page content, so the quality of what it produces depends on the quality of what already exists in your account and on your site. Advertisers who have let their asset libraries go stale, or whose landing pages carry outdated offers or prices, face a specific risk: AI-generated copy that is technically accurate to the page but commercially problematic.

Final URL expansion is the third lever. Google's support material confirms it is part of the AI Max bundle, routing users to the landing page its systems judge most relevant rather than the URL specified at the ad level.^[2] For advertisers running conversion tracking across multiple landing pages, this may shift the distribution of traffic in ways that affect attribution reporting.

A timeline advertisers can plan around

The upgrade window opens 1 September 2026 and Google expects eligible campaigns to be converted before October, with the separate Dynamic Search Ads migration now scheduled for February 2027.^[1] That leaves the better part of four months from Google's April announcement to prepare. Ani's advice to get ahead of it is the right frame: use the remaining time to tighten negatives, audit assets and decide which AI Max controls you want to constrain before the default settings are written into your account.

Google also confirmed the AI Max system includes controls for brand and location exclusions, which can limit where the expanded matching actually reaches.^[1] Setting those exclusions before the upgrade, rather than after it, is meaningfully easier than cleaning up unwanted spend retroactively.

Dominic Ashworth

Dominic Ashworth writes about marketing, media and brands. He is fascinated by how attention is won and lost, and by the mastheads and campaigns that manage to hold it.