Google AI Max for Search: keywordless matching, the September 2026 auto-upgrade, and how to opt out

Google AI Max for Search changes how Search campaigns find queries and assemble ads, but it does not replace Search as a campaign type. For an evaluator, the decision is whether its extra automation, and the loss of some line-item control, are worth testing against your current ROAS and conversion volume, while using brand, URL, and text controls to keep risk contained. For Dynamic Search Ads specifics and their migration, see the separate DSA reference.

What AI Max is and how it fits into Search campaigns

AI Max is a suite of targeting and creative features that sits inside existing Search campaigns, per Google Ads Help, not a new campaign type. Structure, history, and keywords stay in place, and new Search campaigns have AI Max enabled by default. Google describes it as an optimization layer that uses broad match and keywordless technology to expand reach, and AI-generated text and URLs to assemble ads.

This corrects a common misconception that AI Max is a separate campaign type you must migrate into. Instead, you manage it through settings inside Search campaigns, and you can toggle individual features on or off. Google’s documentation also states that AI Max requires conversion-based Smart Bidding to function effectively, and that it will not be effective if campaigns are limited by budget.

Google cites internal data that advertisers activating AI Max typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at similar CPA or ROAS, with higher gains (up to 27%) for campaigns that were mostly exact or phrase match. A later claim, also from Google internal non-retail data, is that using the full AI Max suite delivers 7% more conversions or value at similar CPA or ROAS versus using search term matching alone. These 2 percentages use different baselines and are not comparable.

The 3 AI Max features and how they depend on each other

AI Max consists of 3 main features: search term matching, text customization, and Final URL expansion. Search term matching expands your existing keywords using broad match and keywordless technology, and Google states it can be toggled off at the ad group level. This is the targeting expansion piece that moves you beyond your explicit keyword list.

Text customization, which replaces the older automatically created assets feature, generates and optimizes text assets such as headlines and descriptions. Final URL expansion allows AI Max to select landing pages beyond your specified final URLs, but Google’s help pages state that Final URL expansion requires text customization to be on. If you disable text customization at the campaign level, Final URL expansion is automatically disabled.

This dependency matters for control. If you want AI Max to expand queries but not change landing pages, you can keep search term matching on while turning off Final URL expansion by disabling text customization. Conversely, if you want AI-selected URLs, you must accept AI-generated text assets as well. Both text customization and Final URL expansion are controlled at the campaign level, while search term matching is controlled per ad group.

Auto-upgrade timing, who is enrolled, and what carries over

Google announced in April 2026 that AI Max was moving out of beta and that campaigns using Dynamic Search Ads (DSA), automatically created assets (ACA), and campaign-level broad match would begin auto-upgrading starting September 2026. A June 11, 2026 revision moved the DSA sunset and auto-upgrade to the beginning of February 2027, while the September 2026 wave still covers ACA and campaign-level broad match campaigns. This corrects the misconception that DSA is part of the September 2026 upgrade wave.

Per Google’s blog posts, post-upgrade settings mirror the legacy setup. Campaigns that used ACA get search term matching and text customization enabled in AI Max. Campaigns that used campaign-level broad match get search term matching enabled, but not necessarily the creative features. Google refers to these as eligible campaigns, triggered by those legacy settings, without publishing further criteria.

Dynamic Search Ads campaigns are upgraded on their own February 2027 timeline into AI Max-based setups, which is covered in more depth in the separate Dynamic Search Ads migration resource. For evaluators, the key is that September 2026 affects ACA and campaign-level broad match first, with DSA following months later.

Opt-out mechanics before and after enrollment

Google’s help documentation does not describe any pre-emptive opt-out from AI Max auto-enrollment for eligible campaigns. This corrects the misconception that you can opt out of the AI Max auto-upgrade in advance. The documented control is to disable AI Max or its individual features after enrollment.

After a campaign is upgraded or created with AI Max on, you can go to Campaigns, then Settings, then the AI Max section, and toggle off all AI Max settings at the campaign level. You can also disable individual features: search term matching per ad group, and text customization and Final URL expansion per campaign. Google states that re-enabling AI Max restores prior feature settings.

When AI Max is turned off, URL inclusions and exclusions configured for AI Max are ignored, and when you disable text customization, generated assets are marked as Removed in reporting. For an evaluator, the practical reading is that you cannot stop eligible campaigns from being upgraded, but you can revert the AI Max behavior feature by feature once it is live.

Brand, location, URL, and text controls that survive AI Max

AI Max introduces and preserves several controls that matter for brand safety and geographic focus. Google documents brand inclusions at both the campaign and ad group level, with ad group lists overriding campaign lists, and brand exclusions at the campaign level. These lists shape how AI Max matches on branded queries, and are conceptually aligned with the brand strategy covered in the separate brand bidding reference.

Locations of interest are controlled at the ad group level. Google describes this as a geographic-intent control that applies even when AI Max is matching keywordless queries, so you can constrain AI Max to users showing interest in certain locations. This is distinct from pure location presence targeting and is specific to AI Max’s matching logic.

For URLs, Google provides campaign-level URL exclusions and ad group-level URL inclusions. URL exclusions let you keep AI Max from sending traffic to specific pages, while inclusions at the ad group level guide which URLs are eligible for Final URL expansion. Text guidelines allow you to specify term exclusions and messaging restrictions for generated text, so you can prevent certain phrases or themes from appearing in AI-generated assets.

Reporting changes and how to see what AI Max matched

AI Max adds several reporting elements so you can see what it is doing. In the search terms report, AI Max appears as a match type, with a source column that distinguishes between broad match expansion and keywordless matching, per Google Ads Help. This lets you identify where AI Max is going beyond your explicit keywords.

Google also provides a combined view that shows search term, headlines, and URLs together, so you can see how AI Max assembled the ad for each query. In the keywords report, AI Max summary rows appear to aggregate performance related to AI Max matching. The landing pages report gains a Selected by column that indicates when AI Max selected a landing page, and the asset report shows generated assets that you can remove, which are then marked as Removed if text customization is disabled.

These reporting additions are where you monitor AI Max’s impact on intent and creative. Temper And Forge’s stated practice is to read these AI Max rows in the search terms report weekly, with particular focus on keywordless matches, since that is where wasted intent is most likely to appear first.

How pinning and keyword prioritization behave under AI Max

AI Max changes how pinned assets and keyword prioritization behave. Google’s help pages state that when Final URL expansion is on, pinned responsive search ad assets are not used when AI Max selects a more relevant URL. To ensure that compliance-pinned text always shows, you must turn off Final URL expansion, which is controlled through the text customization dependency and is covered in more depth in the separate responsive search ads reference. This corrects the misconception that pinned assets always show regardless of AI Max settings.

Keyword prioritization also shifts. With the campaign-level broad match setting moved into AI Max, Google documents that broad keywords are no longer treated as exact match keywords in prioritization. Their workaround is to add exact match copies of those keywords if you need exact-match-style prioritization, while noting that converting broad to exact removes historical keyword statistics.

This matters most where you rely on exact-match prioritization for brand defense or critical non-brand terms. Temper And Forge’s practice is to verify this behavior post-upgrade in accounts where exact-match prioritization is central, especially for brand defense, and to adjust keyword match types accordingly.

Temper And Forge’s stated practice is to treat AI Max as the same trade it already prices on Performance Max: more automated matching and generation in exchange for less line-item control, judged on ROAS from conversion volume read weekly. In practice that means watching the new AI Max rows in the search terms report, configuring brand controls and URL exclusions before the September 2026 wave, treating Google’s uplift percentages as Google’s own averages, and verifying the broad-keyword prioritization change in accounts that rely on exact-match prioritization.