What Is AI Max for Search? What Changed in September 2026 and What to Set

AI Max for Search is a set of three features Google adds to an ordinary Search campaign: search term matching, text customization and final URL expansion. In September 2026, Google began moving two older campaign settings into it automatically. Dynamic Search Ads follow in 2027.

This is the second post in our Marketing in the AI Age series. It covers what AI Max does, who Google moved and who it did not, which controls matter, how to read the reports, and what the end of campaign language targeting means for bilingual sites.

The short version: AI Max is not mandatory for every Search campaign. Google upgraded only campaigns that used campaign-level broad match or standalone automatically created assets, and it kept their behavior close to what it was. The larger risk for nonprofits, associations, colleges and government sites is quieter. Final URL expansion can send paid clicks to pages you never chose. And the language setting many bilingual sites relied on is going away. The fix is site hygiene and two controls, URL exclusions and brand lists.

What AI Max for Search is, and what it is not

AI Max for Search is not a new campaign type. It is a setting on a standard Search campaign that turns on a bundle of AI features. Your keywords, ad groups, budgets and negative keywords stay where they are.

Google announced it on May 6, 2025, in a Google Ads blog post by Brian Burdick, Senior Director of Product Management. The post called it "a new, one-click feature suite." The Google Ads Developer Blog set the open beta in the Google Ads interface to begin on May 27, 2025.

Google makes a performance claim. It says "advertisers that activate AI Max in Search campaigns will typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA/ROAS." For campaigns running mostly on exact and phrase match, it puts the typical lift at 27%. Both figures come from Google’s internal data. Treat them as the vendor’s claim, not a forecast for your account.

This is automation applied to a campaign you already run, not a separate tool. If that idea is new, our beginner’s guide to marketing automation covers the basics.

The three AI Max features, with an association example

Google’s help page on how AI Max for Search works describes three features, each controlled on its own.

Search term matching. AI Max expands your keywords "using broad match and keywordless technology." In practice, your ads can show for searches you never listed. Google also uses your landing pages and ads to find matching queries. This feature works at the ad group level and is on by default when AI Max is on.

Text customization. Google writes new headlines and descriptions from your existing ads, your landing pages and your other assets. It is a campaign-level switch.

Final URL expansion. Google can send a click to a different page on your site than the one you set, when it judges that page more relevant and likely to perform better. It is also a campaign-level switch. Google says final URL expansion "requires text customization to be turned on to ensure that the ad copy matches the landing page."

Here is how that plays out for a professional association running an ad group on "annual conference registration."

• Search term matching might show the ad for "teacher conference November" or a query naming your city.
• Text customization might write a headline about continuing education credits, pulled from your conference page.
• Final URL expansion might send the click to your hotel block page or your call for proposals.

Some of that helps. Some of it sends a registrant to the wrong page.

AI Max timeline, from launch to Dynamic Search Ads

These are the dates Google has published.

The Dynamic Search Ads dates moved once already. Google first planned the automatic upgrade for September 2026. In June it postponed it to February 2027 and restored the ability to create new Dynamic Search Ads from June 15, 2026.

Who Google moved to AI Max for Search in September, and who it did not

Much of the coverage calls this a forced migration. It is narrower.

According to the Google Ads Developer Blog, Google began automatically upgrading two kinds of Search campaign on September 1, 2026. The first used campaign-level broad match. The second used standalone automatically created assets. Google said the migration would "roll out progressively throughout the month." As of late September 2026, it had not published a completion notice.

Google also kept the upgraded settings close to what each campaign had before.

So a broad match campaign now matches much as before, under a new name. Final URL expansion is off in both cases until someone turns it on.

Other Search campaigns were not moved. A campaign that used neither setting is not in AI Max for Search unless someone opted in.

For developers, API versions released after September 1 drop the legacy settings. Older versions support them until their sunset, around September 2027.

It is one of several quiet account changes this year. We covered another, limited ad serving, in August.

Final URL expansion and the sprawling nonprofit website

Final URL expansion is off after the upgrade. It is the AI Max for Search feature to think hardest about before turning it on.

It assumes every page on your site is a good landing page. Most nonprofit, association and campus sites are not. A ten-year-old CMS holds job postings, past event pages, board minutes, press archives, policy PDFs, login screens and donation receipts. Any of those could look relevant to a search.

AI Max gives you two URL controls:

• URL exclusions apply at the campaign level. They block specific pages or paths from being chosen.
• URL inclusions apply at the ad group level. They limit expansion to pages you name.

For most mission-driven sites, inclusions are the safer start. Name the program pages, the membership page and the donation form. Let AI Max choose among those.

One note from Google’s documentation: when final URL expansion or URL inclusions pick a more relevant page, pinned assets are not used.

Brand controls and locations of interest in AI Max

Brand lists let you control which brand names your ads show for.

• Brand inclusions work at the campaign and ad group level. They limit matching to searches naming the brands you list.
• Brand exclusions work at the campaign level. They stop ads showing for searches naming those brands.

For our readers, this is less about competitors and more about partner names. A university may not want ads showing for a partner institution’s name. A nonprofit may not want to pay for its own brand searches in a prospecting campaign.

One detail matters here. Google’s AI Max FAQ says turning AI Max off disables all its features, and "if your campaign is running brand exclusions and AI Max is turned off, brand exclusions will be disabled." If an upgraded campaign relied on brand exclusions, check that setting in your account before switching AI Max off.

Locations of interest is an ad group control available only in AI Max for Search campaigns. Google says it targets people "based on their geographical intent." A state association could use it for chapter ad groups, or a college for a satellite campus.

Negative keywords still apply. The FAQ says: "Negative keywords will be respected even with AI Max turned on."

AI Brief and text disclaimers

On April 30, 2026, Google announced AI Brief, a Gemini-powered tool for steering AI Max in plain language. It covers three kinds of guidance:

• Messaging guidelines: what ads should and should not say.
• Matching guidelines: searches you want, and searches you do not.
• Audience guidelines: who you want to reach, and how.

AI Brief takes over from text guidelines. Google says existing text guidelines move into messaging guidelines automatically when you start using it. At announcement, it was rolling out in English for AI Max Search campaigns "over the coming months." Check your account to see whether it has reached you.

Google also announced text disclaimers, which add required text to ads while final URL expansion is on. For our readers, think accreditation statements and fundraising registration language. Google said the feature was coming "in the coming weeks" as of April. Confirm it is live in your account before relying on it.

Bidding and conversion tracking come first

AI Max assumes you bid for conversions. Google’s FAQ is direct: "The Search Term Matching feature in AI Max will not work with manual CPC bidding." It recommends conversion or conversion value bidding instead.

That makes conversion tracking the real prerequisite. If a campaign counts page views or button clicks as conversions, AI Max will find new searches and pages that produce more of them.

Before relying on AI Max for Search, check three things:

• Your primary conversion is an action that matters: a donation, a registration, a membership join, an application.
• Values are set, if you use conversion value bidding.
• The campaign has enough conversions for automated bidding to learn from.

If your team has not agreed on what a conversion is, start there. Our guide to setting SMART marketing goals is a reasonable first step.

Reading the AI Max reports

Google’s help page on AI Max for Search reporting lists four places to look.

• Search terms report. Filter the Match type column to "AI Max" to see the searches AI Max found. A view called "Search terms and ad combinations" shows each search with its headline, landing page, campaign and ad group.
• Keywords report. Two summary rows appear at the bottom: "Total: AI Max expanded matches" and "Total: AI Max landing page matches."
• Landing pages report. This includes URLs chosen by final URL expansion. A "Selected by" column shows which ones AI Max picked.
• Asset reports. Text written by text customization is marked "Google AI" in the "Added by" column.

For the first month after any change, read the search terms and landing pages reports weekly. Add negative keywords for poor matches and URL exclusions for wrong pages.

Language targeting is gone: what bilingual sites should do

The quieter change affects anyone running ads in more than one language. The Google Ads Developer Blog said on August 13, 2026 that "the campaign-level language targeting setting will be removed" for Search and AI Max for Search campaigns, effective late September 2026. As of September 29, Google’s language targeting help page still described the removal as an upcoming September change. Check your account for the current state.

Google says search ads will "automatically match based on the language of your ads." It tells advertisers to make sure "ad creatives and landing pages are clearly structured in the intended languages." It says ads will use those signals "alongside user language preferences." Where more than one ad group is eligible, "AI-based ad group prioritization will select the most relevant ad language."

Performance Max works differently. The campaign language setting no longer applies to its ads on Google Search. It still applies on YouTube, Display, Discover and Gmail.

For a county, a health system or a college with Spanish and English pages, the burden moves to structure:

• Keep each ad group in one language.
• Send each ad group to a landing page written in that language.
• Fix the site itself: correct lang attributes, one language per page, and clear language paths.

That last point is ordinary technical SEO. Our technical SEO guide covers language structure.

Test AI Max for Search before you commit

If a campaign was not moved and you are weighing AI Max for Search, test it first. Google offers AI Max experiments that run inside one campaign. Traffic splits between a control arm with AI Max off and a trial arm with it on.

You set one up from the Experiments page under Campaigns, choosing "AI Max for Search campaigns." Google says this gives faster results than copying the campaign. When it ends, applying the experiment turns AI Max on.

Judge the result on conversions that matter, not clicks. Our introduction to A/B testing covers how long to run a test and how to read it.

What happens to Dynamic Search Ads

Dynamic Search Ads are next. According to Google’s developer blog, creating new ones ends in January 2027, and automigration begins in February 2027.

Google’s April 2026 post on the Dynamic Search Ads upgrade says upgraded campaigns get "all three AI Max features" turned on, "with your legacy URL controls preserved." Dynamic ad groups become standard ad groups. The developer blog’s timeline says remaining campaigns move to "Performance Max or AI-powered Search campaigns." Google has not said how it picks between the two for a given campaign.

If you run Dynamic Search Ads, plan your own move to AI Max for Search before January rather than waiting for the automatic one.

An AI Max for Search checklist for the next 30 days

• Open each Search campaign and confirm whether AI Max is on, and which features are active.
• Check the bidding strategy. Search term matching does not work with manual CPC.
• Confirm the primary conversion is a real outcome.
• Add URL exclusions before anyone turns on final URL expansion.
• Review brand inclusions and exclusions.
• Read the search terms report, filtered to "AI Max," every week.
• Read the landing pages report every week.
• Split any mixed-language ad groups, and check lang attributes on landing pages.
• If you run Dynamic Search Ads, set a date to upgrade before January 2027.

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