Since 1 September 2026, Google has been automatically moving some search campaigns to a mode called AI Max. You may not have noticed: nobody asked for your “yes”, and the ads keep running as before. So this is not a scare story but a guide: what this mode is, who it affects and where to look in your own account to see whether it is about you.
We checked the facts on 2 November 2026 against Google’s help pages and against industry publications that describe Google’s letter to advertisers. Where there is no primary source, we say so plainly.
What AI Max is
According to Google’s help page, AI Max is not a separate campaign type but an “optimization layer” inside existing Search campaigns. Put simply, it is a mode in which Google makes part of the decisions for you. The ad budget is the same, but there are fewer decisions that you make.
The help page names three main features:
- Search term matching: Google shows your ad for queries that are not among your keywords but that it considers close.
- Text customization: Google writes headlines and descriptions itself, based on your site, your existing ads and your keywords.
- Final URL expansion: Google can send a person not to the page you specified but to another page on your site. This works only together with text customization.
For new Search campaigns, the help page says AI Max is turned on by default. Older campaigns are a different situation, and this article is about them.
Who was moved
Google told advertisers about the automatic move in a letter on 5 August 2026. We rely on how Search Engine Roundtable (7 August) and PPC Land describe the letter. According to them, from 1 September campaigns with one of two legacy settings are being moved:
- Automatically created assets. This is when Google itself adds headlines and descriptions to your ads. These campaigns move to AI Max with search term matching and text customization.
- Campaign-level broad match. These campaigns move to AI Max with search term matching only.
An important detail, confirmed by PPC Land: final URL expansion is not switched on by this move. It is turned on separately. So Google will not suddenly start sending people to other pages of your site just because of the move. The publications also write that Google promised to configure AI Max to “closely mirror” the legacy setup, and that before 1 September you could turn off those legacy features or turn on AI Max yourself.
Separately: Dynamic Search Ads are planned to be moved to AI Max later, according to the publications in February 2027. That is another story.
Don’t panic, check
Here is what we saw in our own accounts. In the 30 accounts we manage, as of 2 November 2026, AI Max is not turned on in any of the 96 active Search campaigns. We checked by reading the settings through the Google Ads API, changing nothing.
Why, we do not know for certain, and there are honestly two versions. First: our campaigns simply did not have the two legacy settings the move targets. Second: the move has not reached our region yet or went differently. We did not find a Google page confirming that the move is finished and for which countries. So we do not conclude “it won’t affect you”. Google does not publish a list of who has been moved, and the only reliable way to find out is to look in your own account.
What to do in a minute. Open Google Ads, go to Campaigns, then Settings. Select your search campaigns and in the section menu choose AI Max. If all features are off, you were not moved. If something is on, you will see what exactly: search term matching, text customization, final URL expansion.
If a contractor runs your account, you can simply ask: “Is AI Max on for us? Who decided that?” A good answer names specific campaigns and a reason.
If AI Max is on
Stay calm: this is not a disaster and not necessarily bad. But it means Google now shows your ad for words you did not choose. Look at which ones.
- Open the search terms report and see which words you have already paid for. Look not at the most popular ones but at the odd ones: queries not about your business, not about your service or product, not from your city. Every such click is the price of automation.
- Check whether any queries are useful. Sometimes Google finds words you did not add yourself, and they bring leads. Then it is worth adding them to your keywords by hand.
- Read the ads. If text customization is on, look at the headlines Google added. They should match what you really offer, with the price and terms you really have.
- Decide whether to keep it. You can turn it off in the same place: Campaigns > Settings > select the campaigns > AI Max > turn off all AI Max feature settings > Save. According to the help page, if you turn it back on, the same settings you had come back.
The decision is yours, not the default’s. For some advertisers the automation works, for others it does not. The only bad position is not knowing it is on.
What we left out and why
- The conclusion “Google has already turned AI Max on for you”. Not in our accounts, and Google publishes no overall statistics. So we urge you to check rather than claim.
- The claim that the move went the same way in Ukraine. We found no confirmation for Ukrainian accounts. That does not mean there is none: it means we cannot claim it.
- Estimates of whether AI Max brings more leads. Such figures exist only in Google’s own materials. We have seen no independent check, so we give no figures.
Summary
AI Max is a mode in which Google picks queries outside your keywords and can write texts itself. Since 1 September 2026 it has been arriving automatically in campaigns with automatically created assets or campaign-level broad match. The check takes a minute: Campaigns > Settings > AI Max. If something is on, look at the search terms and decide for yourself.
We wrote about other settings Google turns on without your “yes” in “What Google Ads Turns On by Itself: 5 Settings and What to Ask Your Contractor”.
If you are not sure whether this touches your ads, we will look at your account.
Want a free audit of your Google Ads account? Send us a request — we will look at your account and tell you where your advertising wastes money.