Google AI Max for Search Campaigns Explained 2026

Google Ads introduces a new feature for Search campaigns. The latest AI Max campaign setting will roll out to all advertisers globally in beta later in the month of May.

But, what is AI Max and what difference does it make to Search campaigns?

AI Max for Search campaigns bridges the gap between standard Google Ads campaigns and Performance Max campaigns offering same level of automation with new control features. Standard Google Ads campaigns offer better control, but demands significant time in setting up campaigns. On the other hand, Performance Max campaigns are fully automated and offer low control and transparency over ad placements, audience insights, and keyword reports. 

This is where AI Max for Search campaigns comes into play. When you opt for AI Max in Search campaigns, Google AI automatically generates ads to match user intent, providing better control over your campaigns through performance insights like Assets, Landing pages reports, etc. 

Sounds interesting? Let’s find out more. 

What is AI Max for Search Campaigns

AI Max is a suite of AI-powered features to promote products/services through Search Ad campaigns. AI Max uses Google AI to match search queries beyond your current keyword list using broad match and keywordless technology. With this technology, Google AI finds more relevant searches to display your ads. Not only that, but AI Max also optimizes your ads in real-time to match users’ intent and redirects users to the most relevant landing pages.

Google reported that companies like L’Oréal and Myconnect have significantly benefited from using AI Max in their Search campaigns.  L’Oréal saw a 2x boost in conversion rates and cut cost-per-conversion by 31%.  MyConnect in Australia added 16% more leads, dropping CPA by 13%.

There’s more to AI Max; let’s explore it in detail in the upcoming sections. 

Note: As mentioned earlier, AI Max is still in beta stage and the feature will be rolled out in early Q3, 2025.

For now, know that AI Max is a feature in Search Ads that uses Google AI to expand your reach and increase conversions. As Google puts it, “AI Max is a comprehensive suite of targeting and creative features that brings the best of Google AI to help you take your Search campaigns to the next level.”

You can enable AI Max during the campaign set-up process, and it appears something like this:

Source – SearchEngineLand

Note: AI Max is not yet available for Editor or API, but Google says it might be in the future.

Benefits of the AI Max Feature

• Improved Search Ads performance: Google AI analyzes your existing keywords, creatives, website, landing pages, and URLs from other ads. It dynamically creates ads to display for relevant search queries, thus increasing your reach and campaign performance.
• Gain control & transparency over your campaigns: With AI Max intervention in Search Ads, you experience better control over your campaigns. It’s new control features include:
  • Locations of Interest that lets advertisers target customers based on their geographical intent at the ad group level.
  • Asset Removals is another addition to the suite of features in AI Max that allows advertisers to enable/disable the Text Customization.
  • Not only that, advertisers can also provide a specific URL to redirect customers with the URL control option.
  • Above all, AI Max itself is an opt-in feature that lets you decide what’s best for your Search campaigns, thus giving full control. 
• Improved Reporting: AI Max also comes with an improved Search term reporting, where you can see the specific URLs, headlines, and landing pages that bring conversions. The improved assets reports show key metrics such as spend and conversions. There are more such enhancements with AI Max in Google Ads reporting features which we will be discussing in the upcoming sections.

Let’s get into what you can do with the google AI Max for Search campaigns.

If you’re running Search Ad campaigns, you might want to explore: Remarketing lists for Search campaigns Performance Max Vs. Search campaigns

Top Google AI Max for Search Campaigns Features

In the following sections, we will be discussing the google AI Max for Search campaigns features.

Search Term Matching

Search term matching goes beyond the traditional keyword targeting by using broad match and keywordless technology to match user queries based on intent. The system utilizes existing keyword lists, landing pages, URLs, and assets to show ads for high-performing search queries.

This technology enables your ads to appear for more relevant queries, including long-tail keywords and conversational queries. This does not mean it replaces keywords; it is similar to Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) and broad match. If you’re new to DSA, refer to this article on how to set up Dynamic Search Ads.

Let’s look at an example to understand how search term matching works:

Let’s assume you’re selling “fitness trackers,” you might target keywords such as “buy fitness tracker” or “best fitness tracker.” When you enable AI Max, the campaign can automatically match to related search queries such as “health monitoring wristband” or “activity tracker deals,” even if you do not specify exact terms in the keyword list. 

Note: You can still use negative keywords with AI Max.

How do you Set Up AI Max for Search Term Matching?

Important: Search term matching is an opt-in feature for existing Search campaigns; enabled by default for new campaigns. Advertisers can choose to opt out.

In your Google Ads account >> navigate to Campaigns >> select Ad Groups >> select an Ad Group >> select ‘Search term matching’ >> and toggle on the Search term Matching option.

Note: To apply search term matching at the ad group level, you must turn it on at the campaign level.

Asset Optimization

AI Max for Search campaigns generates Google Ads copies (headlines, descriptions, CTAs) to match user search intent. The system automatically creates ads based on the information available on your website, landing pages, and other existing ads.

Asset optimization in AI Max is designed to show the right creative for the right user, based on their intent and your provided data (like landing pages and existing ads).

A key component under Asset Optimization is Text Customization. It focuses on crafting headlines, descriptions, and CTAs that resonate with user search queries.

Difference between Asset Optimization and Text Customization Asset Optimization is the system-level feature that dynamically adjusts your ad components, including which landing page to show (Final URL expansion), how to combine assets (like RSAs), and what to exclude (via Asset Removals). On the other hand, the Text Customization tool uses AI to write and customize your ad’s textual elements.

Note 1: Asset optimization is not a new feature in Google Ads. It is similar to how AI works for Performance Max assets and Dynamic Search Ads.

Note 2: Final URL expansion also comes under Asset optimization, redirecting users to the most relevant landing page. We will look into this in the upcoming section.

Text Customization

When you enable the text customization feature, AI will generate assets such as headlines and descriptions from your website, existing ads, keywords, and landing page, and curate them to your ad’s unique context. Additionally, AI uses the assets you provide for Responsive Search Ads and combines them with the assets it automatically generates for your campaigns. 

Note: Ensure your website has accurate information and follows Google Ads policies. This step is crucial, as you don’t want Google AI to pick up outdated or inaccurate information.

How do you turn text customization on/off?

Go to Campaigns >>Settings >> select AI Max >> Turn on ‘AI Max’ by toggling ‘Optimize your campaigns with AI Max’ on >> under ‘Asset optimization’ select ‘Text Customization’ checkbox to enable and uncheck to disable it.

Note: Disabling the text customization option also disables the final URL expansion, and all the assets generated will be automatically removed. 

Asset Removal Option

With AI Max, you can also choose to remove irrelevant assets giving you more control over creatives. To do so, navigate to Campaigns >> Assets >> check the checkbox next to the asset and click ‘Remove.’ 

Please note that if you remove an individual asset, you also remove it from any associated ad group or campaign.

Moving on, evaluating the assets performance is crucial as they are automatically generated by Google AI. It is crucial to have a clear understand of which assets are used for your ads.

How to track asset performance?

You can review the performance of AI-generated assets by navigating to the assets report. Within the report, you can view which assets are used for RSA and review the performance of asset combinations using the combinations report.

Important: Advertisers do not have the option to customize the assets generated by AI Max; they are fully automated.

Locations of Interest Targeting

‘Locations of Interest’ is a specific, new feature with AI Max for Search campaigns. This feature helps you target users based on their geographical intent at the ad group level. 

What does this mean? Let’s understand with the help of an example.

Let’s say you have an antique store in Dallas and want to target people looking for an antique store in Dallas, but they can be anywhere in the US. So, what you can do with the locations of interest targeting feature is, target the audience in the US at the campaign level and set the interest targeting to Dallas at the ad group level. When you do this, people searching for an antique store in Dallas can see your ads, and they don’t have to necessarily be in Dallas.

In addition, you don’t have to add keywords such as antique store in Dallas, antique store in Texas, etc. You can optimize the campaign for an antique store, decor store, etc., and AI Max will enable intent matching for you. Remember to set the locations of interest targeting Dallas at the ad group level.

Previously, we saw campaign-level targeting, but now with AI Max, advertisers can experience more control over precise targeting, where they used keywords earlier.

How to set up locations of interest? 

You can set up the locations of interest feature when you enable AI Max for your campaign in your Google Ads account. 

Final URL Expansion 

Final URL expansion in AI Max is the same as PMax Final URL Expansion. When you enable Final URL expansion, AI Max dynamically chooses URLs to redirect users to the most suitable landing page based on their search query. When users click on an ad, they are taken to a landing page where AI Max creates relevant headlines, assets, and descriptions that match their intent.

Advertisers can also control AI’s dynamic nature by excluding or including specific URLs that they feel are relevant or irrelevant. They can apply the inclusions/exclusions in the campaign settings themselves.

Note: The final URL is an opt-in feature turned on by default. You can disable it. To turn on the Final URL expansion, you must ensure text customization is enabled.

How do you set up Final URL Expansion for a new Search campaign?

As mentioned, Final URL expansion is turned on for a new campaign when you opt for AI Max. However, there is a slightly different approach to enable Final URL expansion for an existing campaign.

• Navigate to a specific Search campaign’s settings >> click AI Max in the section menu >> to turn on ‘AI Max’, click “Optimize your campaign with AI Max”.
• When you turn on this option, text customization and Final URL expansion will activate by default.
• Click ‘save.’

Note 1: Google recommends enabling Final URL expansion and text customization for better performance. Pinned Responsive Search ad assets will be overridden when you enable Final URL expansion. You cannot use the RSA assets with Final URL expansion turned on.

What are Responsive Search Ads (RSAs)? Responsive Search Ads are a type of Search Ads that allow advertisers to provide multiple headlines and descriptions in creating an ad and adapt the content to show the relevant message to customers. Over time, Google Ads learns and identifies the best combinations of headlines and descriptions and adapts ads to match user search queries.  Assets in Responsive Search ads refer to headlines, descriptions, and other details like contact numbers. Pinned assets in RSAs are the assets fixed to specific positions within the ad.

Note 2: Google also offers you an option to provide a feed of URLs, which helps Google understand what products advertisers should use for Final URL expansion. 

Reporting Improvements With AI Max

With AI Max, Google has also introduced improvements in Google Ads Reporting. These improvements are made across Search terms reports, keywords reports, landing page reports, and asset reports. With these reporting improvements, AI Max offers transparency and detailed performance insights. 

Search Terms Report

When you access the Search terms report, you will notice that the report has a new match type, ‘AI Max,’ alongside the source, which informs you if the match is from a board match or keywordless matching.

In addition, you can view a Search term, its corresponding headlines, and the URL the user visited. This combined report lets you visualize the entire customer ad journey, offering more insights into what’s working and what isn’t.

How to access the Search term Report?

In your Google Ads account >> go to Campaigns >> click Insights and reports >> and click Search terms.

Keywords report

Google says advertisers can now view new summary rows that show ‘AI Max.’ This addition lets you understand the total contributions from AI Max.

How to access the keywords report?

In your Google Ads account >> go to Campaigns >> click Audiences, keywords and content >> and click Keywords.

Landing pages report

The report has a new column, ‘selected by,’ that shows the performance of AI Max-generated landing pages for your Search campaigns.

How to access the landing pages report?

In your Google Ads account >> go to Campaigns >> click Insights and reports >> and click Landing pages.

Asset report

The assets report also allows you to track the performance of assets generated by AI Max.

How to access the assets report?

In your Google Ads account >> go to Campaigns >> click Assets >> and click Assets.

Risks and Considerations

In this section, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages, along with the risks, associated with implementing AI Max for Search campaigns. 

Pros	Cons
AI Max uses broad match and keywordless technology to identify new, relevant search queries, expanding ads’ reach.	Advertisers may experience less control over exact match keywords and individual bid adjustments.
Automatically generates ad copies such as headlines and descriptions based on the information available on the website, keyword lists, and existing ads, ensuring relevance to the user’s search intent.	Although Google has improved its reporting features, uncertainty over audience insights makes it challenging to optimize campaigns.
AI Max aims to simplify the campaign setup process, ad delivery, and more, saving advertisers time.	Expanded targeting could increase ad spending, especially if the ads reach less relevant audiences.
Leverages AI to optimize ads in real-time, tailoring messages to match users’ search intent.	Search campaign performance heavily relies on AI interpreting user search intent, which may show ads for irrelevant searches.
Consolidates asset suggestions under one ‘Ads’ tab, streamlining the management process.	Brands with a specific tone of voice or operating in regulated sectors like Finance or Luxury may have issues with automated assets.

Common Issues and Fixes with AI Max

• As AI Max automatically generates ad copies, they may not align with your brand tone or messaging guidelines. To overcome this issue, ensure your website and landing pages are relevant, up-to-date, and contain clear messaging. Use control options, such as brand inclusion/exclusion lists, URL controls, and location of interest targeting.
• Another risk of using AI Max is that machine learning takes time to learn and to optimize campaigns. Therefore, you might experience poor campaign performance initially. This becomes challenging if you have strict CPA targets or a limited Google Ads budget.
  • To minimize the impact on campaign performance, select the best keywords, especially broad match keywords. Monitor the Search terms report, Asset performance, and Landing pages performance, and make necessary adjustments.
• AI Max for Search campaigns is not supported by Google Ads Editor and APIs. It causes errors when managing campaigns through these interfaces. Inform your teams in advance and anticipate further updates.

Additionally, consider testing the performance of google AI Max for Search campaigns before going all in. How do you test? Let’s assume you are already running high-performing Search campaigns. To test how AI Max works for you, create a new Search campaign and enable AI Max for it.

In the next step, add all the keywords you’re targeting in existing high-performing campaigns as negative keywords in the new campaign. With this approach, you can identify new Search terms that are converting and add them to your bottom of the funnel strategy.

Note: Don’t worry if you need full control over your campaigns and do not see AI Max adding any value. Remember that it’s an opt-in feature, not a mandatory one, and you can opt out anytime. 

Conclusion

AI Max in Search campaigns is a development of Dynamic Search Ads and Performance Max campaigns’ Final URL expansion. It automates and optimizes most parts of your ad creation process while giving you control and transparency over Search terms, Keywords, Assets, etc.

If you’re a beginner or a seasoned professional, don’t miss out on this opportunity and make the most of your Search Ad campaigns. While AI Max is still in beta stage Google says the feature will be rolled out to all advertisers in early Q3, 2025.

FAQs

How do I measure the success of my AI Max for Search campaigns?

You can assess the performance of Search terms, Keywords, Landing pages, and Assets by navigating to the respective reporting sections in your Google Ads account. For example, to review the performance of Search terms matching by AI Max, go to Campaigns >>Insights and reports >> Search terms.

What are the best practices for maximizing ROI with AI Max?

Adhere to Google Ads policies, provide accurate and up-to-date information on your website and landing pages, and use control features such as URL exclusions, brand exclusions, and asset removals to improve ad relevancy.

How can I leverage AI Max for Search to improve ad relevance?

Enable text customization to create ads that match user intent dynamically. Use brand and URL controls to improve ad relevancy.

Check Out These Related Articles:

• Feed-Only vs All Assets 
• Performance Max Reporting
• Google Ads Auction Insights
• Demand Gen vs Performance Max
• PMax-Feed Only Campaign
•  Smart Bidding in Google Ads