Introduction
Starting September 1, 2026, Google Ads begins automatically upgrading certain Search campaigns to AI Max, its AI-powered campaign system.
Google announced the change in an email to advertisers in early August 2026. There was no accompanying blog post, which means many business owners and advertisers have no idea it is coming.
If you have seen the headlines, you may be worried that Google is about to take over your account. If you missed the news, don’t worry. This blog post sets the record straight and helps you figure out whether you will be impacted.
The TLDR: this unwanted upgrade only affects campaigns with specific settings enabled, and if you know what to check, you can find out in about five minutes whether your account needs updating before Google makes the change for you.
In this month’s post, we’ll dive into what AI Max is and what specific settings will force some of your existing Search campaigns to be auto-enrolled in the new AI Max campaigns.
What Is AI Max?
AI Max is an enhanced version of Google’s Search campaigns that came out of beta in April 2026. It adds three AI-driven capabilities on top of a traditional Search campaign:
- Search term matching: Google’s AI expands beyond your keyword list to show your ads on related searches it predicts will convert.
- Text customization: Google generates new versions of your ad copy based on your existing ads, keywords, and landing pages.
- Final URL expansion: Google can send clicks to the page on your site it considers most relevant to each search, not just the URL you specified.
Google reports that campaigns using the full AI Max feature suite see an average of 7% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS compared to using search term matching alone in a standard Search campaign.
Until now, adopting AI Max was optional. Starting September 1, it will not be optional for some campaigns.
Which Campaigns Will Be Auto-Upgraded
Two groups of Search campaigns are included in the automatic upgrade:
1. Campaigns Using Automatically Created Assets (ACA)
If your campaign has the Automatically Created Assets setting enabled, it will be upgraded to AI Max with search term matching and text customization turned on by default. That means Google can both expand which searches trigger your ads and generate new versions of your ad copy. Without you lifting a finger.
2. Campaigns Using the Campaign-Level Broad Match Settings
This campaign setting switches all keywords in a campaign to broad match. If it is enabled, your campaign will be upgraded to AI Max with search term matching turned on by default.
This is different from having individual broad match keywords in your ad groups. Using broad match keywords at the keyword level does not trigger the automatic upgrade. Only the campaign-level setting does.
In both cases, any existing brand lists and brand controls you manually created will carry over. But the new AI features will be active from day one unless you adjust your settings before the upgrade.
Which Campaigns Are NOT Affected
This is the part most blog posts and guru marketers skip, and it is the question we hear most from business owners and advertising partners.
If your Search campaigns use standard Responsive Search Ads with keyword-level match types (broad, phrase, exact), and you have not enabled Automatically Created Assets or the campaign-level broad match setting, nothing happens to your campaigns on September 1.
Your keywords, match types, ads, and settings all continue working exactly as they do today.
A few other campaign types worth clarifying:
- Dynamic Search Ads (DSA): Originally scheduled for the September upgrade to be included in AI Max migration; have been delayed to February 2027 after advertiser feedback about making major changes before the fourth quarter made Google rethink the change. If you run DSAs, you have more runway, but you’ll want to get familiar with AI Max because your DSAs will no longer work unless they are built inside of an AI Max campaign.
- Performance Max: Not part of this upgrade. PMax is a separate campaign type and should not be confused with AI Max.
- Shopping, Display, and Video campaigns: Not part of this upgrade, yet! If you’re currently running standalone Display ads across the Google Display Network, these ads will need to be migrated to Demand Gen by January 2027 because Display campaigns will no longer be available outside of Demand Gen.
The Other September Change Affecting All Search Campaigns: Language Targeting Goes Bye Bye
In late September, Google is removing the campaign-level language targeting setting from Search campaigns and AI Max campaigns. This one applies to everyone, not just upgraded accounts.
Instead of you selecting which languages to target, Google will automatically match your ads to users based on the language of your ad copy and landing pages, combined with what it knows about the languages each user understands.
Performance Max is partially affected: ads shown on Google Search will follow the new automated matching, while other PMax channels like YouTube, Display, Discover, and Gmail continue to honor your selected language settings.
For most single-language advertisers, Google says existing campaign structures will continue operating normally. If you advertise in multiple languages, your campaigns should already be separated by language with natively written ads and landing pages, because that is now how Google decides who sees them.
How to Check Your Account for AI Max Changes in Five Minutes
Here is what to look at before September 1:
- Check for Automatically Created Assets. In Google Ads, go to your campaign settings and look for the Automatically Created Assets section under campaign-level settings. If it is enabled, that campaign is on the upgrade list.
- Check for campaign-level broad match. In the same campaign settings, look for the broad match keywords setting. If the campaign-level toggle is on, that campaign is on the upgrade list.
- Look for the upgrade banner. Google has been showing an in-product banner inviting eligible campaigns to upgrade to AI Max early. If you have seen that banner near your notifications icon, your campaign qualifies and should be updated ASAP. Google has been politely warning you.
Search your inbox for the August email. The email went to affected accounts in early August (around August 5th), and in many cases the affected campaigns were named in the email.
If Your Campaigns Are on the List: You Have Three Options
Once you have identified which campaigns will be affected by September 1st, review the options below to choose the best approach to maintain control and performance.
Option 1: Upgrade Manually Before September 1
If you plan to adopt AI Max anyway, upgrading on your own schedule lets you configure the settings yourself instead of accepting the defaults. You choose whether text customization is on, set your brand restrictions, and add URL exclusions before the AI starts exploring options for you.
We recommend this option for most affected accounts. The upgrade is coming either way, so we suggest the option that gives you the most control.
Option 2: Opt Out Before the Deadline
If you are not ready for AI Max, you can turn off the qualifying settings before September 1. Disable Automatically Created Assets and turn off the campaign-level broad match setting, and your campaigns will remain standard Search campaigns.
Keep in mind that this also changes how your campaigns behave. Turning off campaign-level broad match reverts your keywords to their individual match types, which will affect your traffic. Make this change with enough time to monitor the results, not the night before.
You should also pause any automated assets Google created for you when the Automatically Created Assets setting was turned on. That includes any ad headlines, descriptions, or assets like callout extensions, sitelink extensions, etc. Since your keyword match types will change, many of the automated assets Google created may no longer be relevant. This is also our speculation, but we think keeping the automated assets enabled could cause the system to automatically migrate your campaign to AI Max because you chose to keep the automated assets Google created for you, which are no longer available outside of AI Max.
Option 3: Let the Upgrade Happen, Then Supervise Closely
If the deadline arrives before you can migrate the campaigns yourself, go with the flow. However, monitor the change closely once it’s live. AI Max gives you controls worth learning: brand restrictions, URL inclusions and exclusions, search term insights, and the ability to remove AI-generated assets that miss the mark.
Whichever path you take, review your Search Terms report weekly for the first 30 to 60 days after the upgrade. That window is when the AI is learning, and your negative keywords and exclusions shape its long-term behavior the most.
The Bottom Line
The September 1 AI Max upgrade affects a specific set of campaigns: those using Automatically Created Assets or the campaign-level broad match setting. Standard Search campaigns built on Responsive Search Ads with keyword-level match types are not being migrated.
The language targeting removal later in September affects everyone, but for single-language advertisers this isn’t an issue.
The real risk is not the upgrade itself. It is being upgraded without your knowledge, with default settings you never reviewed, or with conversion data you never validated. While we’re on the subject, if you choose option 2 or 3, review your conversion tracking ASAP. AI Max optimizes toward whatever your conversion data says. If your tracking counts duplicate events or low-value actions, the AI will optimize your new campaign towards inaccurate conversion data.
Five minutes of checking now beats a month of confused performance reports later.
We hope you found this content useful and that it helped clarify some of the confusion in the info being shared online. Be sure to subscribe to our blog or follow us on Meta, Instagram, X, or YouTube to stay up to date on changes affecting paid media campaigns.
