Google Ads sets September 1 deadline for AI Max auto-upgrade
Google Ads emailed advertisers on August 5, 2026 confirming that campaigns still using Dynamic Search Ads (DSA), automatically created assets (ACA) or campaign-level broad match will automatically upgrade to AI Max starting September 1, 2026. Search Engine Roundtable first reported the email on August 7.
What the Google Ads email says is changing
The email tells advertisers that any Search campaign still using ACA or campaign-level broad match will be upgraded to AI Max once the automatic migration begins. Campaigns with ACA will get AI Max with search term matching and text customization turned on by default. Campaigns using campaign-level broad match will get AI Max with search term matching turned on by default.
This confirms details Google first published in an April 2026 announcement about retiring DSA. That announcement laid out two phases. Phase one let advertisers voluntarily move to AI Max starting earlier this year. Phase two, the automatic migration beginning September 1, also ends new DSA campaign creation through Google Ads, Google Ads Editor and the Google Ads API. Google says it expects all eligible upgrades to finish by the end of September, and that AI Max campaigns already show an average 7% lift in conversions or conversion value at a similar cost per acquisition, compared to using search term matching alone, based on Google’s own internal data for non-retail advertisers.
Who confirmed the AI Max upgrade timeline
Search Engine Roundtable’s Barry Schwartz reported the advertiser email on August 7, 2026, and included a screenshot posted to X by PPC consultant Menachem Ani, who wrote, “The great merge continues.” Google’s own accelerate announcements page independently confirms the same September migration window and feature defaults described in the advertiser email.
Why the AI Max deadline matters for B2B advertisers
This upgrade touches a wide slice of Google Ads accounts, since ACA and campaign-level broad match were both common default settings for years. B2B advertisers already have reason to watch their Google Ads automation closely. A recent benchmark found that Google Ads clicks now cost 15% more while Performance Max return on ad spend fell 46% over the same period, raising the stakes on any change that reduces manual control. Google has also been adjusting other automated bidding defaults this year, including a separate Smart Bidding and Promotion Mode change tied to an August 17 target date. Not every recent move has pushed toward less control, though. Google also restored Target CPA and Target ROAS as standalone bidding strategies after advertiser pushback, showing the platform will walk back automation defaults when the data or the complaints are loud enough.
Talking Shift: losing the legacy setting is not the same as losing control
Start Some Shift reads this migration as Google removing a choice advertisers were already avoiding making. Most accounts still on DSA or broad match were there by default, not by strategy. “The upgrade is mandatory, but the account review that should come with it is not, and most teams will skip it,” says Lara McCulloch, President of Start Some Shift. Established B2B brands that treat September 1 as a deadline to actually re-check their account, rather than a change to wait out, will come out of this migration with a cleaner setup than they had going in.
What B2B marketers should do about the AI Max deadline
B2B advertisers running Google Search campaigns have concrete steps to take before September 1.
- Check every active Search campaign now for DSA, ACA or campaign-level broad match settings, since Google will not ask before upgrading them.
- Review the text customization and search term matching defaults Google will apply, and adjust the new AI Max controls immediately after migration rather than leaving them as-is.
- Remember your ad still competes against other advertisers and organic results for the same query, so tighter brand and text controls in AI Max matter more, not less, once matching gets broader.
- Export current performance benchmarks for CPA, ROAS and click volume before the migration, so you have a clean before-and-after comparison.
- Move voluntarily now if you have not already, since Google’s own data shows a performance gap versus waiting for the automatic switch.
- Brief anyone managing paid search on the new AI Max control panel before September 1, since the interface differs from legacy DSA and broad match settings.
What to watch next on the AI Max migration
Watch whether Google publishes updated performance data once the full advertiser base is upgraded, not just the subset that opted in early. Watch too whether advertiser complaints prompt Google to add more granular override controls, the way it did with standalone Target CPA and Target ROAS bidding.
