Google Quietly Auto-Upgraded Your Search Campaigns to AI Max — Here's What to Check Before Q4

If you run Google Search campaigns and haven't logged in since late August, you may have a surprise waiting. On September 1, 2026, Google began automatically converting eligible Search campaigns to AI Max for Search — no manual opt-in required for a subset of advertisers. Separately, Google pushed back the deadline for migrating Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) to AI Max, moving it from September 2026 to February 2027, after advertiser pushback about disrupting accounts right before Q4.

Here's what actually changed, what the early data says, and what to check in your own account this week.

Who got auto-upgraded, and who didn't

The September 1 change affects two specific setups:

• Campaigns using automatically created assets (Google-generated headlines and descriptions) — these now also get search term matching and text customization turned on by default.
• Campaigns using the campaign-level broad match setting — these get search term matching only.

Dynamic Search Ads were not part of this rollout. Google's original plan auto-upgraded DSA to AI Max starting in September too, but after feedback from advertisers who didn't want major account changes landing mid-Q4, Google's Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin announced the DSA transition date moved to February 2027. If you're running DSA, you have more runway — but Google is still recommending you upgrade manually before then rather than wait for the automatic switch, since the manual tools reportedly offer more control.

One more default worth knowing: AI Max is now on by default for new Search campaigns, not just a toggle you opt into. You can still turn it off when you build a new campaign, but you have to notice it's there first.

What AI Max actually changes under the hood

The part that trips people up is the difference between what automatically created assets used to do and what they do now.

Before this change, automatically created assets only affected creative generation — Google would write extra headlines and descriptions, but your keywords still controlled which searches triggered your ads. Now, search term matching determines query eligibility directly, using your keywords, creative assets, and landing pages as signals rather than relying on literal keyword match. On top of that, text customization can rewrite your ad copy on the fly, and Final URL Expansion can send clicks to a different page on your site than the one you set — if it decides another page matches the query better.

For a broad-match campaign with no automatically created assets, search term matching kicks in but text customization and URL expansion don't apply by default. If you'd already opted into automated headline writing, you inherited automated query expansion too, unless you'd switched it off at the ad group level.

A few practical snags we've seen reported: pinned assets in responsive search ads are still respected for broad-match campaigns (so compliance-required copy stays put), but static tracking templates without a proper lpurl tag can misfire once URL expansion is active, in some cases producing 404s. If you rely on click tracking through a third-party tool, this is worth testing before, not after.

What the performance data actually shows

Google's own messaging has shifted. The company revised its claimed average conversion uplift from AI Max down from 14% to 7% — still a gain, but a smaller one than first advertised, and advertisers should treat it as an account-level average, not a guarantee.

Independent testing tells a more mixed story. A widely cited 2025 test found 99% of AI Max impressions produced zero conversions for that advertiser's account. A separate analysis of 250+ retail campaigns found ROAS running roughly 35% lower than traditional match types, and another measurement put Search Partner Network placements at 37% lower ROAS specifically. None of this means AI Max is bad everywhere — results vary a lot by account structure, budget, and vertical — but it does mean "it's automated so it's fine" isn't a safe assumption for Q4.

The other recurring complaint: because search term matching leans on inferred intent rather than literal query text, reporting gets murkier. You'll see less visibility into the exact queries triggering your ads, which makes it harder to catch irrelevant matches or budget leaks early.

Five things to check in your account this week

1. Find out if you were auto-upgraded. Check whether your Search campaigns use automatically created assets or campaign-level broad match — those are the ones affected as of September 1.
2. Review Final URL Expansion and set exclusions. If it's active, decide whether you want it on, and set URL exclusions at the campaign level if there are pages you never want serving ads. Some advertisers have reported exclusions not holding reliably, so spot-check it rather than trusting it blindly.
3. Audit your tracking templates. Make sure your lpurl tags are set up correctly before URL expansion sends traffic somewhere your tracking doesn't expect.
4. Pin anything that must not change. If specific compliance language, pricing, or disclaimers need to stay fixed in your ad copy, pin those assets rather than letting automation touch them.
5. If you're on DSA, don't wait until February. Start testing AI Max's manual upgrade tools now, while you still have the option to roll back and adjust before the real deadline hits.

The bottom line

This is a case where "set it and forget it" is the wrong instinct, at least for now. AI Max isn't inherently bad — plenty of advertisers will see the conversion lift Google is promising — but the auto-upgrade means some of you are running a different campaign type than you think you are, with less granular control than before. If you manage campaigns across Google and Meta at the same time, this is exactly the kind of platform-level shift that's easy to miss until your numbers move and you're not sure why. Worth a 15-minute account check before your Q4 budgets ramp up.