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AI Max for Search experts

Test the AI features of Google Ads and measure what they bring.

We test AI Max campaign by campaign, with the guardrails and the measurement it takes to decide.

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EdgeAngel AI Max expertise

Opening up matching, framing generation, reading the reports

01

The three components, and what they change

AI Max is not a single switch: three distinct features turn on, and each has its consequences.

  • Search term matching: the AI expands beyond your keywords, through broad match and a keywordless technology
  • Text customisation: the model rewrites headlines and descriptions, replacing the former automatically created assets
  • Final URL expansion: the landing page is chosen by the model across your whole site
  • What enabling implies: the campaign-level match type setting is deprecated, and every keyword is treated as broad match unless switched off at ad group level
  • The account must be clean first: on a structure whose exclusions are not maintained, expansion costs. We look at the account first
02

Guardrails and text guidelines

Google documents three guardrails, each answering a precise problem. Confusing them fixes nothing.

  • A bad query is handled by a negative keyword, at ad group or campaign level
  • A bad destination is handled by a URL exclusion, on the path or on the page title
  • Brand cannibalisation is handled by a brand exclusion list, and by nothing else
  • Text guidelines: up to twenty-five 30-character term exclusions, and forty 300-character messaging restrictions, to bound what the model may write
  • What commits you: a generated ad is still your ad. Regulatory disclosures and brand prohibitions are declared, not guessed
03

Measurement, migration and trade-offs

The switch is under way on dynamic campaigns. Knowing what happens beats discovering it in the reports.

  • Match source: a reporting segment separates what comes from your keywords, from broad match and from keywordless technology
  • Two views that do not add up: Google warns that the AI Max report and the search terms report describe the same traffic from two angles
  • Dynamic campaign migration: under way since September 2026, with dynamic search ads sunset pushed to February 2027
  • Campaign-by-campaign testing: a framed experiment rather than a blanket switch, over a window long enough to clear the learning phase
  • What the gain means: more conversions across a broader perimeter is not an incremental gain, and that is a different exercise

The tool

AI Max, our reading

Google describes AI Max in a sentence that settles many misunderstandings: « it is not a new campaign type, but rather an optimization layer » you enable within an existing Search campaign. It brings together three things: broadened search term matching, ad text customisation, and final URL expansion.

⚠️ Microsoft Advertising uses exactly the same name for its own suite, generally available since 27 August 2026, with the same three features named identically. The uplift figures in circulation are often Microsoft's. On this page, AI Max means Google's product.

Updated September 2026

What enabling it really changes

The most structural effect is not the advertised one. When AI Max is on, the campaign-level match type setting is deprecated and every keyword is treated as broad match, unless explicitly switched off at ad group level. Ad text can be rewritten, and the landing page chosen by the model across the whole site. In other words: three levers previously held by hand move to the model, in one checkbox. On an account whose exclusions are maintained and whose site is clean, that is a coverage gain. On a loosely framed account, it is paid expansion.

Google documents the guardrails, and they are precise

This is what makes the layer usable, and it is rarely quoted. Google pairs each problem with a distinct tool: a bad query is handled by a negative keyword, a bad destination by a URL exclusion, brand cannibalisation by a brand list. Text guidelines come on top, bounding what the model may write, up to twenty-five forbidden terms and forty messaging restrictions. These settings have existed since API version 23.1, in February 2026. The configuration work has not disappeared, it has moved: from selecting queries to defining prohibitions.

The migration is under way, and the gain is measured elsewhere

AI Max came out of beta on 15 April 2026, and since September 2026 Google has been automatically migrating dynamic search campaigns, whose sunset is pushed to February 2027. So the question is no longer really whether to adopt it, but what you frame before it arrives. One last point of method: a conversion increase after enabling is read across a broader perimeter. More conversions on more queries is not the same as an incremental gain, and only dedicated measurement can tell the difference.

Advanced Media Measurement, our advertising effectiveness offering

Sources : AI Max for Search campaigns, developer documentation · Google upgrading Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max

Frequently asked questions about AI Max

Is AI Max a new campaign type?

No. Google writes that it is not a campaign type but an optimisation layer, enabled within an existing Search campaign. That is what separates it from Performance Max, which is a full campaign type with its own asset group structure.

Should you enable it on every Search campaign?

It is worth testing campaign by campaign. Enabling it widens matching, allows ad rewriting and lets the model pick the landing page. On an account whose exclusions and brand lists are maintained, the coverage gain is real. On a loosely framed account, the expansion costs. We look at the structure first.

How do you keep control over what the AI serves?

Through three guardrails Google documents separately: a negative keyword for a bad query, a URL exclusion for a bad destination, a brand list for cannibalisation. Text guidelines come on top, up to twenty-five forbidden terms and forty messaging restrictions, bounding what the model may write.

Will my dynamic search campaigns disappear?

They migrate to AI Max. Google started the automatic switch in September 2026 and pushed the sunset of dynamic search ads to February 2027. So the useful question is no longer whether to adopt, but which guardrails are in place before the migration reaches your campaigns.

Are Google's AI Max and Microsoft's AI Max the same thing?

No, they are two distinct products sharing a name. Microsoft Advertising's has been generally available since 27 August 2026 and brings together three identically named features. The performance figures in circulation often come from Microsoft: they say nothing about Google's product.

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Paul Schmitt

Paul Schmitt

Consulting Director

"Our goal is to make your data actionable to generate concrete value, quickly."

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