Google Ads AI Max: how AI Max for Search replaces Dynamic Search Ads

What AI Max for Search is

Google calls AI Max an optimization layer within existing Search campaigns. You find the toggle in campaign settings. Per the Google Ads Help Center, new Search campaigns have AI Max turned on by default, so check that toggle every time you launch one.

The Help Center names two conditions. The features need a conversion-based Smart Bidding strategy, such as Target ROAS. And if the campaign is limited by budget, Google says AI Max won't be effective and shows an alert.

With final URL expansion on, Google ignores pinned responsive search ad assets whenever it picks a different URL. If a line must always show, such as a required disclosure, turn final URL expansion off for that campaign.

AI Max vs Dynamic Search Ads vs broad match

Google's AI Max FAQ calls it an evolution of DSA and of final URL expansion in Performance Max. Here is how the three compare in day-to-day management:

Which campaign wins a query follows Google's ad group prioritization rules. An exact match keyword identical to the search term always comes first. AI Max sits on the same tier as phrase and broad match. Ad groups without keywords, DSA or AI Max, compete on Ad Rank, and so does AI Max against Performance Max.

If you use the campaign-level broad match setting today, note one line in the Help Center: after moving to AI Max, Google no longer treats your broad keywords like exact ones in prioritization. To keep that priority, add exact match copies of those keywords.

What happens to Dynamic Search Ads

Google announced the upgrade on its official blog on April 15, 2026, and changed the timeline on June 11, 2026. Plenty of articles still name September 2026 as the DSA deadline. That date now applies to other settings only:

In the automatic upgrade, dynamic ad groups become standard ad groups. Google says all three AI Max features get switched on and your legacy URL controls stay in place. If you upgrade yourself, the confirmation dialog lists the changes first:

• Your dynamic ads become responsive search ads. Google generates the minimum assets with text customization.
• The old ads keep serving until the new ones pass policy review. Then Google pauses them and sets them to view-only.
• Rules such as "page title contains" or "page content contains" turn read-only. You can remove them, but you can't edit them or add new ones.

Audit your DSA targets before you upgrade. If your targeting relies on page title or page content rules, rebuild it on URL rules or a labeled page feed first. After the upgrade you can't change those rules.

The controls you keep with AI Max

AI Max picks the individual queries for you. You still set the guardrails. This table sums up what the Google Ads Help Center says about each control:

According to the Help Center, with URL inclusions on and final URL expansion off, Google uses only the URLs you specify. That combination comes closest to the old DSA setup with a page feed.

Our standard exclusion list

From DSA builds we carry over a fixed list of pages that should never be a landing page. With AI Max it goes into the campaign's URL exclusions before the first ad serves:

• Privacy policy, terms, legal notice and contact pages
• Thank-you and confirmation pages. A visitor who lands there directly can trigger a conversion without buying
• Cart, checkout and login
• Careers pages and sitemaps

For the pages Google may use, a labeled page feed works well in DSA builds. Group URLs by page type, such as collections, products and guides, and by how close they sit to purchase. Copy the structure your store already has. The same groups later drive your URL inclusions in AI Max.

Keep every page Google may pick accurate. Mismatches between your website, your Merchant Center settings and your product data can lead to a misrepresentation suspension, and while it lasts your products don't show on Google Shopping. Our guide to Google Merchant Center misrepresentation covers the usual triggers.

Review search terms and move winners to exact match

The search terms report shows an "AI Max" match type plus a source column. It tells you whether a match came from broad match expansion or from keywordless technology. A separate view combines search term, headline and URL. In the landing pages report, the "Selected by" column shows which pages AI Max picked.

1. Open the search terms report weekly and filter for the "AI Max" match type.
2. Sort by cost. Add queries without purchase intent, such as jobs, how-to or free offers, as negative keywords.
3. Check the landing pages report for queries routed to your homepage or blog when a collection page fits better. Exclude those pages or narrow them with URL inclusions.
4. Add search terms with conversions and a healthy ROAS as exact match keywords. Identical exact match keywords take priority over AI Max, so you win back the bid, the ad copy and the landing page for that query.

Step 4 eats hours when you do it by hand. Our free script does it for you: it lists converting search terms that aren't keywords yet, with spend, conversions and ROAS, in a Google Sheet.

How ecommerce brands should test AI Max

Google quotes two numbers. The Help Center says advertisers who activate AI Max typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS. The source is Google internal data from 2025, for non-retail advertisers. The second number, from Google's blog, is 7% more conversions or conversion value, and it compares the full feature suite against search term matching alone. Neither number tells a store what AI Max adds over a campaign without it. Only your own test answers that.

1. 01

   Split out brand

   Brand searches inflate any test. In a Harucon analysis of 41 audits (audits over recent years up to 2026), brand traffic drove most of the measured revenue in at least 34 of 41 accounts. Test AI Max in a non-brand campaign, with your brand added as a negative keyword.

2. 02

   Set up the experiment

   Under Campaigns, Experiments, pick "Campaign features and settings", then AI Max for Search campaigns. Google splits traffic and budget inside the campaign. It won't work with text customization already on, a portfolio bid strategy, a shared budget or another active experiment. For a campaign made up only of dynamic ad groups, the Help Center points you to a custom experiment with "Upgrade campaign" in the draft. In a mixed campaign, the AI Max experiment upgrades only the standard ad groups and leaves the dynamic ones as they are.

3. 03

   Set guardrails first

   URL exclusions and your negative list go in before the test starts. Add the brand exclusion for your own brand in the brand settings of the experiment setup, and Google applies it to both arms. A brand list exclusion already sitting on a non-brand campaign can block the experiment. Google then recommends a new campaign without that legacy setting.

4. 04

   Judge it on profit

   Compare contribution after ad spend in both arms. Conversion value alone points you the wrong way, as the numbers below show.

An example: a store with a 40% contribution margin and 25% returns has a break-even ROAS of 3.33. Revenue in the ad account excludes sales tax. The test runs four weeks.

The ad account reports almost 10% more conversion value, and ROAS stays above break-even at 4.57. But the extra $1,000 brings in only $2,400 in revenue, an incremental ROAS of 2.4. After returns and cost of goods, the store earns $280 less with AI Max over the test period.

Decide on AI Max with incremental ROAS: extra conversion value ÷ extra ad spend. Above your break-even, keep AI Max on. Below it, run the campaign without AI Max or tighten it with URL inclusions.

Then confirm the result in your store backend, net of returns. That is also how we measure our $100k guarantee. If you'd rather hand off the upgrade and the test, working with an agency for Google Ads saves you the setup time.