AI Max in Google Ads: what changes in Search campaigns by February 2027

AI Max in plain terms

AI Max for Search isn’t a new campaign type. It’s a set of AI features you switch on in a regular Search campaign. Google introduced it in 2025, it came out of beta in April 2026, and it’s one of the changes that defined 2026. It does three main things:

• Finds searches on its own: it shows your ad for searches your keywords don’t cover, based on your site and your ad copy.
• Tailors the copy: it writes headlines and descriptions that fit the specific search.
• Picks the landing page: it sends people to the page on your site it considers most relevant, not necessarily the one you set.

It also comes with controls: brands you do or don’t want associated with your ads, pages you allow or exclude, locations per ad group. The real decision isn’t whether to use it, but how much freedom you give it and where you set limits.

Dynamic Search Ads are moving to AI Max

For years, Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) were the way to cover searches without writing keywords: Google “read” your site and built the ad itself. AI Max does the same and more, so Google is retiring DSA. Along the same lines, other legacy settings, such as automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match, are moving to AI Max as well.

The automatic upgrade was originally set for September 2026. In June, Google postponed it after pushback from advertisers: from February 2027, campaigns using DSA will be upgraded to AI Max automatically. Until then, you can make the move yourself or test it first with an experiment.

“Automatically” is the part that needs care. An upgrade without preparation can change overnight which searches you show up for, what your ads say and which pages people land on. And if you haven’t kept a picture of the before, you won’t even know what changed.

The new search terms reports

The biggest objection to AI Max has always been the same: “I can’t see what it’s doing.” In October 2026 a new view appeared in accounts’ search terms reporting: Search terms and ad combinations. Next to each search, it shows which headline, which description and which landing page were served.

The most useful part is the new “source” columns. For the search term, the landing page, the headline and the description, they tell you whether you supplied it or AI Max chose or wrote it. For the first time, you can clearly separate what the AI brought in from what your own settings did.

Google hasn’t announced it officially, and it doesn’t appear in every account yet. Where it does, though, it changes how you judge whether AI Max is helping you. What you look for in this data, and which signs show something is drifting, is the work that makes the difference.

Channel prioritization: where the budget goes first

On 14 October 2026 Google announced two new settings. With channel prioritization you mark which channels are high and which are low priority. Google funds the high-priority ones first, and whatever is left goes to the rest. In a Search campaign, Google Search, Search partners and the Display Network can each have a different priority.

The second setting, budget allocation, lets you cap low-priority channels at a percentage of your daily budget. Google says it will “aim” to stay within that limit, so it’s a guide, not a guarantee. Both settings are rolling out gradually over the coming months across Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen.

Here, too, there’s a date: from February 2027, in Search campaigns with the Display Network switched on, the current way spend is allocated will be removed, and money may shift between channels. Google offers a setting to keep things as they are, but it isn’t the right choice for every account.

The timeline to February 2027

• April 2026: AI Max comes out of beta and Google announces that DSA will move to it.
• June 2026: the automatic DSA upgrade is postponed from September 2026 to February 2027.
• October 2026: a new search terms view with source columns, plus new channel prioritization and budget allocation settings.
• February 2027: DSA move to AI Max automatically, and Display Network spend allocation inside Search campaigns changes.

In other words, February 2027 brings two changes at once, and both are about where your money goes.

What to do before the automatic upgrade

Google itself recommends not waiting for the automatic upgrade, and we agree. There’s still time before February to make the change on your own terms:

• Keep a picture of the “before”: which searches, what cost and which conversions your DSA and other campaigns bring today, so you have something to compare against.
• Test before you switch: an experiment lets you see AI Max next to your current campaign, instead of turning it on across the whole account at once.
• Check your site: AI Max picks pages and writes copy based on what it finds there. Old or irrelevant pages can suddenly become landing pages.
• Decide on channels: before February, not after, where you want your budget to go first.

That’s the list. The hard part is the decisions inside each step: which features you switch on and which you don’t, which exclusions you need, how to set up the experiment so it gives a clear answer, and what priority to give each channel. Those depend on your industry, your budget and your account’s history.

FAQ about AI Max

Can I avoid moving to AI Max altogether?

Not for DSA: from February 2027 the upgrade happens automatically. You can, however, decide how it happens and which features you use.

If I don’t run DSA, does this affect me?

Yes. AI Max can be switched on in any Search campaign, and Google is recommending it more and more strongly. The Display Network change in February also affects every Search campaign that has it switched on.

Will I spend more with AI Max?

Not necessarily. Your budget and targets stay the same. What changes is where the money is spent: on more, and more varied, searches. That’s why keeping an eye on search terms matters so much.

Are the new reports in every account?

Not yet. The view with the source columns is appearing gradually, and Google hasn’t given an official timeline.

February 2027 feels far away, but a proper migration needs testing, data and a few weeks to reach a conclusion, so it’s worth putting it into your 2027 plan now. If you run Dynamic Search Ads, or Search campaigns with the Display Network switched on, this affects you directly. At CNCTECH we review your account and plan your move to AI Max before Google makes it for you.

This article describes features and dates as Google had announced them in November 2026. Availability is rolling out gradually and isn’t the same for every account.