Starting September 1, 2026, Google will automatically convert Search campaigns using automatically created assets (ACA) or the campaign-level broad match setting to AI Max for Search campaigns. If you are in either group and do nothing, Google sets the parameters. This article explains what changes, who is most at risk, and what to do before the deadline.

What Google announced

On August 5, 2026, the Google Ads Team sent an email to affected advertisers confirming a hard deadline. No blog post, no named executive. According to ppc.land, this deadline survived the five-month reprieve Google granted to Dynamic Search Ads in June 2026, which was pushed to February 2027 after advertiser pushback about Q4 planning risk.

The upgrade splits affected accounts into two groups, per both searchengineland.com and ppc.land:

  • ACA campaigns convert to AI Max with search term matching and text customization enabled by default
  • Broad match setting campaigns convert to AI Max with search term matching only (no text customization, no final URL expansion by default)

That distinction matters. As ppc.land explains, ACA previously governed creative generation only. Search term matching governs which queries trigger your ads. From September 1, campaigns that opted into automated headline writing will also inherit automated query expansion, unless you manually disable it at ad group level.

The performance record behind this forced migration is contested. Google’s April 2026 general availability announcement cited 7% more conversions at similar CPA/ROAS (Google internal 2026 data, excluding retail). Independent numbers run the other way. Ezra Sackett of Monks reported 99% of AI Max impressions producing zero conversions across roughly 30,000 search terms in August 2025. A November 2025 analysis of 250+ retail campaigns found AI Max delivering conversions at roughly 35% lower ROAS than traditional match types. Intelligency Group research measured ROAS on Search Partner Network placements, where AI Max aggressively expanded, at 37% below Google Search proper, per ppc.land.

Two operational risks travel with the upgrade regardless of performance. First, Google documents AI Max as ineffective in budget-limited campaigns: search term matching widens the query pool without widening the budget. Second, static tracking templates without an lpurl tag can route users to the tracking destination itself once final URL expansion is active, producing 404 errors.

How the AI Max upgrade affects your business by segment

E-commerce accounts (2,000–10,000 EUR/month ad spend)

This is the highest-risk segment. If your campaigns use ACA, you are about to inherit search term matching on top of creative automation. That combination directly threatens CPA and ROAS. The same independent analysis ppc.land cites found 35% lower ROAS in retail campaigns running AI Max versus traditional match types, and Google explicitly excludes retail advertisers from its own 7% improvement benchmark.

Feed-driven accounts face an additional complication. Final URL expansion, if later enabled, can reroute users away from specific product landing pages toward category or homepage URLs, directly undermining feed precision and product-level ROAS tracking. If your Shopping and Search campaigns share budgets or audiences, the query pool expansion from search term matching can trigger cannibalization with Performance Max, making attribution even murkier than it already is.

B2B manufacturing and equipment accounts (1,000–5,000 EUR/month)

For B2B accounts, the narrow semantics that protect lead quality are exactly what AI Max’s search term matching is designed to expand beyond. Inferred intent matching, per Google’s own December 2025 clarification cited by ppc.land, means your campaign for “industrial hydraulic press servicing” could match queries you would never have approved manually. In a long sales cycle environment, one month of degraded lead quality from irrelevant query expansion can corrupt pipeline data for a quarter.

The broad match cohort is particularly exposed here. The campaign-level broad match setting converts every phrase and exact match keyword to broad match. If that was already running in your account, the September upgrade locks it into AI Max’s query expansion framework. Budget-limited campaigns, common in this segment, get the worst of both worlds: wider query eligibility, same daily cap, diluted impression quality.

Local business and service accounts (under 2,000 EUR/month)

The direct impact here is lower. If you are not running ACA or campaign-level broad match, nothing changes, per both sources. There is one structural issue worth flagging though: AI Max’s search term matching can pull a small local budget toward geographically or contextually irrelevant clicks fast. A plumber in Cologne does not benefit from impressions in Dusseldorf at 0.47 EUR CPC (the European median per Billy Grace benchmark data cited by ppc.land) if the phone never rings.

The pinned asset protection is relevant here. ppc.land confirms that pinned assets in responsive search ads remain respected after the upgrade for broad match campaigns. If you have a phone number or location-specific compliance text pinned, it survives. Verify this manually after September 1 regardless.

What to do before September 1, 2026

1. Audit which campaigns are actually affected, before August 31.

Log into Google Ads, filter Search campaigns by ACA status and by campaign-level broad match setting. Only those two populations are affected. If neither applies, stop reading this section.

2. Decide: opt out proactively or upgrade manually now.

Google’s email states that turning off ACA or the broad match setting before September 1 avoids the auto-upgrade. Alternatively, enabling AI Max manually now gives you control over the initial configuration. Google recommends this explicitly in the August 5 notice, per ppc.land. Manual upgrade means you set the parameters; auto-upgrade means Google does.

3. Disable search term matching at ad group level if query control is critical.

For B2B accounts with tight semantics and for e-commerce accounts protecting specific product CPA targets, turn off search term matching at ad group level immediately after upgrade. This is the documented override, per ppc.land.

4. Audit your tracking templates before September 1.

If you use static tracking URLs without an lpurl tag, fix them now. After the upgrade, final URL expansion can route users to your tracking destination rather than your landing page, producing 404 errors. This is a documented risk in Google’s own AI Max documentation, cited by ppc.land, and applies primarily to the ACA cohort.

5. Set a performance review checkpoint for September 15.

Pull search term reports immediately after the upgrade. AI Max adds a source column distinguishing broad match expansion from keywordless matching. Use it. Compare CPA, ROAS, and lead quality against the two weeks prior. If numbers deteriorate, you have documented evidence for a rapid rollback or bid strategy adjustment.

Frequently asked questions

Which campaigns does the September 1, 2026 AI Max auto-upgrade actually affect?

Only Search campaigns using automatically created assets or the campaign-level broad match setting are converted automatically. Campaigns using neither feature are not touched by the September 1 deadline, per Google’s August 5 email and reporting from ppc.land and searchengineland.com.

Can you avoid the AI Max auto-upgrade without opting into AI Max manually?

Yes. Turning off ACA or the campaign-level broad match setting before September 1 removes the campaign from the affected population entirely. Google’s August 5 notice confirmed this opt-out path, and it does not require you to enable AI Max at all.

What is the biggest technical risk of the AI Max upgrade for tracking?

Static tracking templates that do not include an lpurl tag can break once final URL expansion is active, routing users to the tracking URL itself rather than the intended landing page and producing 404 errors. This affects the ACA cohort most directly and should be audited before the deadline.

If you want a second set of eyes on your account before September 1, specifically which campaigns are at risk, whether your tracking templates will survive final URL expansion, and whether opting out or upgrading manually makes more sense for your margin structure, I offer a fixed-scope Google Ads audit. You get a prioritized action list, not a slide deck. [Book the audit here] and we will get through the affected campaigns before Google makes the decision for you.