Google Ads AI Max: What the Switchover Means for Your Budget

If your Google Ads account had the campaign-level “broad match” setting or automatically created assets switched on, there’s a good chance it is now running Google Ads AI Max. Google has been moving those campaigns across automatically throughout September 2026, and its migration notice doesn’t mention any way to opt out of the move.

That matters because AI Max changes which searches trigger your ads, what those ads say and, if you let it, which page people land on. For a small business spending a few hundred or a few thousand pounds a month, those three things decide whether clicks turn into enquiries or just into invoices.

Here’s what changed, what to check this week, and how to decide whether AI Max earns its place in your account.

What Google Ads AI Max is, and what it replaces

AI Max for Search is a bundle of settings that sits on a standard Search campaign. Google’s help page lists three parts:

• Search term matching – shows your ads on searches that don’t closely resemble your keywords, using broad match plus signals from your ads and landing pages. Some matches are “keywordless”, meaning no keyword in your account triggered them.
• Text customisation – Google generates extra headline and description variations for your ads.
• Final URL expansion – Google sends the click to whichever page on your site it judges most relevant, rather than the URL you chose.

Google says advertisers who activate AI Max typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS, based on its own internal data for non-retail advertisers. That’s Google’s figure for an average account, not a forecast for yours. Whether it holds depends on your tracking, your budget and how tightly your market is defined.

What the September migration changed in your account

According to the Google Ads Developer Blog, new campaign-level broad match and legacy automatically created assets could no longer be created from 3 August 2026. Existing campaigns using them are being migrated “in place” between 1 and 30 September.

The settings each campaign lands with depend on where it came from:

• Campaigns using campaign-level broad match: search term matching on; text customisation and final URL expansion off.
• Campaigns using standalone automatically created assets: search term matching on; text customisation on; final URL expansion off.
• Brand inclusions and exclusions are preserved and carried into the new setup.

So the biggest practical change for most accounts is search term matching. A campaign that was carefully built around phrase and exact keywords, with automatically created assets ticked years ago and forgotten, can now reach searches it never could before.

Dynamic Search Ads are next. Google plans to migrate those automatically during February 2027, and Search Engine Land reports that in-account prompts to upgrade voluntarily start this month, with reminders due on 15 January 2027.

Not sure which of your campaigns were moved, or what they’re now matching to? Our free Google Ads health check will show you within 48–72 hours.

Five checks to run on an AI Max campaign this week

Don’t make big calls on a week of data. But don’t leave a migrated campaign unwatched for a month either.

1. Confirm which campaigns migrated, and when

Open each Search campaign’s settings and look for AI Max. Note the date it switched on, so you’re comparing performance before and after the change rather than against last month’s seasonal peak.

2. Read the search terms report by the AI Max match type

Google’s documentation says the search terms report now labels these matches with an “AI Max” match type, plus a source column showing whether each came from broad match expansion or a keywordless match. Sort by cost.

As an illustration, a Burnley roofing firm might find spend going on “roofing apprenticeship” or “how to fix a leaking roof yourself”. Add those as negatives. Google confirms negative keywords are still respected with AI Max turned on.

3. Check the landing pages report if final URL expansion is on

The landing pages report has a “Selected by” column that shows which pages AI Max chose. If paid clicks are landing on blog posts, your careers page or a thin location page, use URL exclusions at campaign level to stop it.

4. Audit conversion tracking before you trust the bidding

Google recommends conversion-based bidding with AI Max, and says the full capabilities are limited on manual CPC. Automated bidding only chases what you tell it counts. If “conversions” include page views, clicks on your email address or 10-second visits, the system will happily find more of those. Rule of thumb: only primary conversion actions that represent a genuine lead or sale.

5. Judge on cost per qualified lead, not clicks

More impressions and clicks are the expected result of broader matching. The number that matters is what each real enquiry costs. Compare four weeks after migration with the four weeks before, and check lead quality with whoever answers the phone, not just the dashboard.

Should you keep Google Ads AI Max switched on?

Our view: it suits some accounts well and hurts others. The migration made the decision for you by default, so it’s worth making it deliberately.

AI Max tends to make sense when:

• conversion tracking is clean and records enough leads or sales each month for the bidding to learn from;
• you sell a wide range of products or services that people search for in many different ways;
• every page on your site is fit to receive paid traffic.

An illustrative Manchester e-commerce brand with hundreds of product pages and reliable purchase tracking is the kind of account where broader matching has room to find sales.

Pull it back, or switch it off, when:

• the budget is small and every irrelevant click hurts;
• you work in a narrow niche surrounded by lookalike searches you’ll never convert;
• tracking still counts soft actions as conversions;
• your site has pages you’d never want a paying visitor to land on.

It isn’t all or nothing. Text customisation and final URL expansion can be switched off individually, brand exclusions and URL exclusions set limits at campaign level, and “locations of interest” at ad group level helps with keywordless matches. If you turn AI Max off entirely, Google says turning it back on restores your previous settings.

Why AI Max makes your landing pages matter more

When Google decides more of the query and more of the ad copy, the part you fully control is what happens after the click. Broader searches arriving on a generic page is how cost per lead creeps up without anyone noticing.

Run a quick test on the pages your ads send people to, on a phone:

• Does the first screen answer what the searcher asked for, in plain words?
• Is there one obvious next step, and is the phone number tappable?
• Does the form ask for anything you don’t need at first contact?

If the answer to any of those is no, fixing the page will usually do more for results than any campaign setting. That’s the job of conversion rate optimisation, and where the page itself needs rebuilding, conversion-focused web design.

How MonkeyFish Group approaches AI Max

We treat AI Max as a test to be managed, not a setting to accept. Before judging performance we check conversion tracking, because bidding on bad data makes every other decision wrong.

From there we set a baseline, review AI Max search terms weekly for the first month, build negative keyword lists and brand and URL exclusions, and decide campaign by campaign whether text customisation and final URL expansion stay on. Where landing pages are the weak link, we fix those alongside the ads.

It’s the same approach behind our Google Ads management for businesses across Burnley, Lancashire and the wider North West, backed by 20+ years’ experience in digital marketing.

Frequently asked questions

Can I turn off AI Max in Google Ads?

Yes. Google confirms AI Max can be switched off in campaign settings, which disables all of its features. Text customisation and final URL expansion can also be turned off on their own.

Do negative keywords still work with AI Max?

Yes. Google states that negative keywords are respected with AI Max turned on, so a well-maintained negative list is your main defence against irrelevant matches.

Will my Dynamic Search Ads be moved to AI Max?

Yes. Google plans to migrate Dynamic Search Ads automatically during February 2027, after which new DSA ad groups can’t be created. You can upgrade voluntarily before then.

Does AI Max need Smart Bidding?

Not strictly, but Google says its full capabilities are limited with manual CPC and recommends a conversion or conversion value-based bid strategy. That makes accurate conversion tracking essential.