Google is migrating Search campaigns to AI Max on a fixed schedule. Campaign-level broad match and standalone automatically created assets are being auto-upgraded through September 2026. Dynamic Search Ads were delayed and now migrate in February 2027. Nothing is cancelled — the dates moved, and the controls you keep are worth learning before the switch reaches your account.
What is Google actually auto-upgrading to AI Max right now?
Two things this month, and a third next year.
According to Search Engine Land’s migration timeline published 14 August 2026, Google blocked creation of new campaign-level broad match and legacy automatically created assets on 3 August 2026, then began automatically migrating those existing campaigns to AI Max between 1 and 30 September 2026. Google’s wording, quoted in that piece, is that campaigns are "migrated in place using equivalent AI Max settings," with existing inclusions and exclusions preserved.
Dynamic Search Ads are the part that moved. Google’s announcement confirms the DSA sunset was extended: reminder notices go out 15 January 2027, automatic migration runs 1–28 February 2027, and new DSA creation is permanently disabled at that point. If you read a headline in the spring saying DSAs die in September, it is out of date.
So if you run a plain keyword Search campaign with manual assets, nothing happened to you this month. If you turned on campaign-level broad match, or let Google generate assets automatically, your campaign has probably already been converted.
What does AI Max actually change in a campaign?
It bolts three things onto a Search campaign that used to be separate features.
Per Google Ads Help, AI Max is made of search term matching, which uses broad match plus keywordless technology to expand beyond the keywords you typed in; text customization, which writes ad copy from your existing ads, landing page text and assets using generative AI; and final URL expansion, which sends a click to whichever page Google thinks converts best rather than the URL you set. Final URL expansion requires text customization to be on.
That last one is the piece most owners underestimate. A plumber with one landing page for emergency calls and one for scheduled installs can end up sending emergency traffic to the install page.
Google states in its announcement that the full feature suite delivers "an average of 7% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA/ROAS" compared with search term matching alone. That is Google’s own figure across its advertiser base — not an independent study, and not Canada-specific.
What is the migration schedule, date by date?
| Date | What happens | Who it affects |
|---|---|---|
| 3 August 2026 | New campaign-level broad match and legacy ACA blocked | All advertisers |
| 1–30 September 2026 | Broad match and ACA campaigns auto-migrate in place | Users of those features |
| September 2026 | In-account notices encourage voluntary DSA upgrades | DSA advertisers |
| 15 January 2027 | Reminder notifications for legacy DSA campaigns | DSA advertisers |
| 1–28 February 2027 | Automatic DSA migration; new DSA creation disabled | DSA advertisers |
Sources for all five rows: Search Engine Land, 14 August 2026, and Google’s DSA upgrade announcement.
What control do I keep after the upgrade?
More than the panic posts suggest, but you have to go and set it.
Google Ads Help lists four controls that survive the migration. Brand settings let you name the brands your ads may appear alongside, or block specific ones, at campaign and ad group level. Locations of interest target by geographic intent rather than only physical location — useful for a Toronto contractor who wants Toronto searches from someone sitting in Mississauga. URL inclusions steer final URL expansion toward pages you approve; URL exclusions stop pages serving as landing pages at all. Keyword exclusions still work.
On the DSA upgrade, Google says all three features will be switched on "with your legacy URL controls preserved." Preserved is not the same as reviewed. A URL rule you wrote in 2023 for a page that no longer exists carries forward untouched.
Reporting improved, which matters if you want to audit this. The search terms report now shows AI Max as a match type, with a source column telling you whether a query came from broad match or keywordless matching, and the landing pages report gained a "Selected by" column showing which pages AI Max chose itself.
Should a small advertiser upgrade voluntarily or wait?
Upgrade voluntarily if you have the time to watch it; wait if you do not.
Going early buys control: you choose the moment, set brand and URL controls before any spend flows through them, and get a clean before-and-after in your reporting. Google is explicitly recommending early adoption for this reason. Waiting buys five more months of a campaign type you already understand. What is not a real option is assuming DSAs will still be there in the spring. They will not be.
What to do this week
- Check whether you were already migrated. Open each Search campaign and look for AI Max settings in the campaign settings panel. If your campaign used campaign-level broad match or automatically created assets, September’s automatic migration has likely already touched it.
- Set your brand controls before anything else. If you are a local service business, excluding competitor brand associations takes five minutes and prevents the single most common complaint about keywordless matching.
- Audit your URL exclusions. List every page on your site you would not want a paid click to land on — thank-you pages, old promo pages, blog posts, the careers page — and exclude them. Final URL expansion otherwise treats them as fair game.
- Pull the search terms report weekly for a month. Filter to the AI Max match type and read the source column. It is the only way to see what keywordless matching is actually buying you.
Frequently asked questions
Does AI Max cost more per click than a standard Search campaign?
Google has not published a CPC figure for AI Max, and any specific number you see quoted is an estimate rather than a disclosed metric. What Google does say is that the full feature suite delivers roughly 7% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS compared with search term matching alone. That framing implies cost efficiency holds steady while volume rises — but it is Google’s own aggregate figure across its advertiser base, and your account can move in either direction. Budget for a two to four week observation period rather than judging it on week one.
Can I turn AI Max off after my campaign is auto-migrated?
The individual features can be managed. Text customization and final URL expansion are settings you can switch off within the campaign, and URL inclusions and exclusions constrain expansion without disabling it. What you cannot do is revert a migrated campaign back to the legacy Dynamic Search Ads or campaign-level broad match structure, because Google has permanently disabled creation of those campaign types. Treat the migration as one-way and spend your effort on the controls rather than looking for an undo button.
Is this change different for Canadian advertisers?
No. The AI Max migration schedule is a global Google Ads platform change and applies to Canadian accounts on the same dates as everywhere else. The performance figures Google publishes are aggregates across its global advertiser base, not broken out by country, so there is no published Canada-specific benchmark. The one practical difference is local: locations of interest is a more useful control in a market like the GTA, where customers routinely search for a city they are not standing in.
Want a second pair of eyes on what the migration did to your account? We offer a free 48-hour audit — get in touch — and you can read how we approach account structure on our Google Ads management page.
Sources: Google, DSA upgrade to AI Max; Search Engine Land, 14 August 2026; Google Ads Help, How AI Max works.