The largest annual survey of PPC professionals finds the industry under growing pressure — more opaque platforms, weaker measurement, and AI tools that help but haven’t transformed the day-to-day.

Why we care. More than half of practitioners (53%) say PPC is harder than it was two years ago, up from 49%. The dominant reason isn’t competition — it’s that platforms are making more decisions advertisers can’t see or override, and that gap is only widening.

With 89% of digital spend flowing to just three companies, advertisers who don’t build measurement infrastructure independent of platform reporting are increasingly flying blind.

By the numbers:

• 1,306 respondents surveyed November–December 2025 across agency, freelance, and in-house roles
• 62% cite platform opacity as the top reason PPC has gotten harder; 53% blame measurement loss
• 5.2 hours/week saved on average through AI tools — 55% save just 1–5 hours; almost no one saves 20+
• 59% now use LLMs for ad copy, up from 42% last year — the fastest-growing AI use case
• 73% of in-house teams now keep PPC fully in-house, up from 44% two years ago
• 20% of clients plan to replace agency work with AI — vs. just 12% planning to switch agencies
• $1 trillion in global digital ad spend in 2025; 89% flows to Google, Meta, or Amazon

What they’re saying. Exact match keywords remain the most trusted feature (75% use them often or always). AI Max for Search has the lowest adoption of any tracked feature — 34% have never used it (but then it’s the youngest of Google’s major updates). Auto-apply recommendations are firmly distrusted across the board.

Between the lines. Agency survival is the subtext of the whole report. Finding talent and growing revenue are both flagged as “very or often challenging” by 62% of agency respondents. And the threat isn’t defection to rival agencies — it’s clients cutting agencies out entirely by using AI in-house.

The big picture. Practitioners seem to have found a pragmatic relationship with AI — use it for copy and research, distrust it for autonomous decisions. The harder problem is one AI can’t solve: platforms are taking more control while giving advertisers less visibility. That gap is widening, and there’s no clear fix in sight.

Dig deeper. The State of PPC Global Report 2026

Google is making Merchant Center for Agencies generally available in the U.S. and Canada today — giving agency teams a single login to manage, monitor, and optimize merchant clients at scale.

What’s included:

• A unified dashboard for managing all client accounts from a single login
• Proactive diagnostics that surface critical alerts across the portfolio

• Merchandising-based opportunity tools to identify performance improvements feeding directly into Google Ads.

Why we care. Managing multiple merchant accounts across Google’s ecosystem has historically meant jumping between logins and dashboards. Having it all surfaced in one place means problems get caught faster, before they quietly drain client revenue. And with merchandising opportunity tools built in, it’s not just a monitoring dashboard — it’s designed to actively surface ways to improve performance across your entire client portfolio.

Early results. Digital marketing agency Socium Media piloted the product ahead of the holiday season, using it to monitor client promotions, inventory, and feed diagnostics from one place — and reported 50% faster resolution on monitoring tasks as a result.

The big picture for agencies. Time spent on account monitoring and diagnostics is time not spent on strategy. Tools that compress that operational overhead — especially during high-stakes periods like Q4 — directly translate into capacity for higher-value client work. Agencies managing large retail portfolios should prioritize getting set up before the next peak season.

What’s next. Full details are available in Google’s Help Center, with the rollout live in the U.S. and Canada starting today.

Starting July 1st, Meta will add “location fees” to ad buys targeting users in six countries — effectively offloading the cost of European digital services taxes onto the advertisers themselves.

The numbers. Fees will match each country’s digital services tax rate:

• France, Italy, Spain: 3%
• Austria, Turkey: 5%
• UK: 2%

How it works in practice. Per Meta’s email to advertisers — “$100 in ads delivered to Italy will cost $103, plus any applicable VAT on top of that.”

The fine print. The fees apply to where the ad is delivered, not where the advertiser is based — meaning a US brand running campaigns targeting French users will pay the French rate regardless.

Why we care. This is a direct, unavoidable cost increase hitting European campaigns on July 1 — with no opt-out. If you’re running ads targeting users in France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Turkey, or the UK, your effective CPM and CPA benchmarks are about to get more expensive, which means existing budgets will stretch less far and current ROAS targets may no longer be achievable without adjustment.

And since the fee is based on where the ad is delivered rather than where you’re based, even non-European brands aren’t off the hook.

The big picture for advertisers. This isn’t unique to Meta — Google and Amazon already charge similar pass-through fees. But it’s a meaningful shift in how European ad budgets need to be calculated, and campaign managers should revisit their cost models before July 1 to account for the added overhead across affected markets.

The backdrop. Digital services taxes have been a flashpoint between Europe and Washington. The Trump administration has threatened retaliation against European firms over the levies — adding geopolitical uncertainty to what is already a complex compliance landscape for global advertisers.

Dig deeper. Meta Hikes Fees for Advertisers to Cover Europe’s Digital Taxes (subscription is needed)

Google Ads is rolling out auto end screens — a new feature that appends an interactive, auto-generated card to the end of eligible video ads to nudge viewers toward a conversion.

How it works. An interactive screen appears for a few seconds immediately after the video finishes playing.

• Content is auto-populated from campaign data — app name, icon, price, and a direct install link for app campaigns
• End screens appear by default on eligible ads, requiring no setup from advertisers

Why we care. Advertisers no longer need to manually build post-roll calls-to-action. This feature is on by default and changes the end of your video ads — and if you’ve already built custom YouTube end screens, they’ll be overridden without any warning. With end screens being the last thing a viewer sees before deciding to act, losing control of that moment matters.

• And with broader expansion planned, now is the time to understand how it works before it reaches more of your campaigns.

The catch. Enabling auto end screens in Google Ads overrides any manually added YouTube end screens — meaning advertisers who’ve already customized their YouTube end cards will lose them.

Current limitations. The feature is only available for in-stream ads running in mobile app install campaigns, with broader expansion planned but not yet dated.

What stays the same. Auto end screens don’t affect billing or view counts — they’re purely an added engagement layer tacked on after a full video view.

Next steps. Advertisers running mobile app install campaigns should audit their video ads now — check whether auto end screens are serving as expected and verify that any manually added YouTube end screens aren’t being silently overridden. As Google expands the feature beyond app installs, it’s worth establishing a review process early so campaigns are ready when eligibility broadens.

Dig deeper. About auto end screens for video ads

Google Ads is set to enhance the viewer experience of Performance Max video ads with an innovative asset optimization feature. Leveraging advanced AI voice models, this update aims to infuse video ads with realistic voice-overs, ultimately enhancing user engagement and ad performance.

Why we care. Advertisers who don’t actively opt out by March 20, will have their video ads automatically enhanced with Google’s AI voice models, changing how their ads sound to viewers without requiring any creative production work.

How it works.

• The feature only activates on videos that don’t already contain a voice track
• Google’s AI selects text from advertiser-provided headlines and descriptions, then generates a realistic voice-over from that copy
• The voice-over is layered onto the existing base video and saved as a new video asset

The catch. This is opt-out, not opt-in. The default setting means ads will be automatically eligible for voice enhancement unless advertisers proactively disable it.

Key dates. Advertisers can choose to exclude their ads from this feature until March 20th. To do so, they must opt out of the video enhancement control. After the opt-out period, all ads with video enhancement control enabled will automatically be eligible for voice-enhanced versions.

Action steps for advertisers. Advertisers can adjust their video settings by visiting their ads in Google Ads.

First seen. This update was shared by Paid Search expert Arpan Banerjee who shared the update on LinkedIn.

OpenAI is updating its privacy policy with new details on ads, data usage and upcoming features across its products, including ChatGPT.

The update was shared with ChatGPT users and outlines how advertising will work inside ChatGPT — and what data advertisers can and cannot access.

Why we care. OpenAI’s update makes it clear that user privacy is a top priority: personal chats, histories, and details are never shared with advertisers. Ads can still be personalized using anonymized engagement signals, meaning brands can reach relevant audiences without compromising sensitive data.

This approach lets advertisers measure performance safely while building trust with users in a privacy-conscious environment.

Ads in ChatGPT Ads may appear for users on Free and Go plans, while paid tiers — Plus, Pro, Enterprise, Business and Education — will remain ad-free. OpenAI says ads will always be clearly labeled as sponsored and visually separated from chatbot responses.

The company also stresses that advertising will not influence answers generated by ChatGPT.

How ad targeting works. OpenAI says ads may be personalized using signals that stay within ChatGPT, such as ad interactions or the context of a user’s chat. However, the company says advertisers will not have access to conversations, chat history, personal details or user memories.

Instead, advertisers will only receive aggregated performance metrics such as total views or clicks.

Other privacy updates The revised policy also introduces optional contact syncing to help users find friends who use OpenAI services. Users can choose whether or not to enable this feature.

OpenAI also added new transparency around how long data is stored, how it is processed and what controls users have over it.

Safety and product changes. The policy update also references new tools and safeguards, including age prediction systems designed to create safer experiences for teens. OpenAI also added documentation for newer features and projects such as Atlas, Sora 2 and parental controls for teen accounts.

Bottom line. As OpenAI expands advertising in ChatGPT, the company is emphasizing strict boundaries around user privacy — promising advertisers performance insights without access to personal conversations or user data.

First seen. This update was first shared by Paid Media expert Arpan Banerjee who shared tips on this message on LinkedIn.

Google has confirmed that Google Marketing Live 2026 will take place on May 20, when the company is expected to unveil its latest updates across advertising, AI, measurement and campaign automation.

The date surfaced in an email received by PPC News Feed owner Hana Kobzová from the Accelerate with Google program, which invited participants to submit entries for the Google Ads Impact Awards.

• According to the message, winners of the awards will be announced during Google Marketing Live 2026.

Why we care. The annual event has become one of the biggest announcement days for advertisers using Google Ads. Google Marketing Live is where Google typically announces its biggest changes to Google Ads — including new AI features, campaign types and measurement tools that can directly impact how campaigns are built and optimized.

Many of Google’s most significant advertising updates each year are first revealed at this event, meaning it often shows where the platform — and advertisers’ strategies — are heading next.

The bigger picture. The event will land during the same window as Google I/O 2026, scheduled for May 19–20. While I/O focuses on Google’s broader ecosystem — including AI, Search and developer technologies — announcements there often influence the direction of advertising products.

What to watch. Expect updates tied to AI-driven advertising, automation and new ways to measure performance across Google’s platforms. For marketers, the event often sets the tone for where Google’s ad strategy is heading for the rest of the year.

First spotted. Kobzová shared the update on PPC News Feed

Dig deeper. Google Marketing Live 2025.

Looking to take the next step in your search marketing career?

Below, you will find the latest SEO, PPC, and digital marketing jobs at brands and agencies. We also include positions from previous weeks that are still open.

Newest SEO Jobs

(Provided to Search Engine Land by SEOjobs.com)

• Content Marketing Manager
  March 9, 2026
  Job Description Crusoe is on a mission to accelerate the abundance of energy and intelligence. As the only vertically integrated AI infrastructure company built from the ground up, we own and operate each layer of the stack — from electrons to tokens — to power the world’s most ambitious AI workloads. When you join Crusoe, […]
• SEO Analyst (Part Time/Contract)
  March 8, 2026
  Job Description Direct Agents is on the search for an SEO Analyst in our NYC office, who will assess and develop SEO strategy for a variety of mid to large-sized clients, and act as SEO expert for both internal and external teams. Who We Are Direct Agents is not a traditional agency. We are an […]
• Senior Product Manager (SEO)
  March 7, 2026
  At NerdWallet, we’re on a mission to bring clarity to all of life’s financial decisions and every great mission needs a team of exceptional Nerds. We’ve built an inclusive, flexible, and candid culture where you’re empowered to grow, take smart risks, and be unapologetically yourself (cape optional). Whether remote or in-office, we support how you […]
• SEO Specialist
  March 7, 2026
  About J&Y Law J&Y Law is a leading California plaintiff’s personal injury and elder abuse law firm headquartered in Los Angeles with multiple offices statewide. We are dedicated to protecting the rights of those injured through negligence and delivering the highest quality legal representation and client service. Our culture emphasizes Client Service, Quality Work Product, […]
• Content Marketing Manager (SEO/AEO/Social)
  March 6, 2026
  Job Description Content Marketing Manager Location: El Segundo, California, USA (HQ) Reports To: Director of Marketing Role Type: Full-Time, On-Site Compensation: $75,000-$90,000 annually About QuikStor QuikStor is the leading SaaS facility management platform for the self-storage industry, delivering a purpose-built, scalable system that serves as the foundation for intelligent automation and modern facility operations. We […]
• Content Marketing Specialist
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  (Hybrid) Description We are expanding our marketing team and seeking a Content Marketing Specialist to play a key role in executing our marketing strategy. You will own the creation and publication of content across blogs, social media, email campaigns, and the company website, helping bring DMC’s brand to life across digital channels. A portfolio of […]
• E-commerce and SEO Specialist
  March 5, 2026
  Job Description Position Title: E-commerce and SEO Specialist Compensation Range: $55,000 – $75,000 Location: Hybrid / On-site – Englewood, CO About GOLFTEC Enterprises: GOLFTEC Enterprises is a dynamic, technology-driven leader in the golf industry, uniting two premier brands—GOLFTEC and SKYTRAK—with a shared mission: to help people play better golf. GOLFTEC, the world leader in golf […]
• Senior Technical SEO Manager
  March 5, 2026
  The Role Wpromote is seeking a Senior Technical SEO Manager dedicated exclusively to the Southwest Airlines account. This isn’t a typical SEO role — it’s an opportunity to shape how a leading travel company competes in a transforming search landscape. You’ll be a key player focused on organic discoverability, cross-channel collaboration, and measurable revenue impact. […]
• SEO Manager (Local / Multi-Location SEO)
  March 5, 2026
  Our digital marketing agency helps multi-location home service brands generate leads across dozens of local markets. Our flagship client is a PE-backed home services company operating 40+ locations across the U.S. and Canada under several brands, and we are expanding our SEO team to support rapid growth. We are looking for a hands-on SEO Manager […]
• Content Marketing Specialist
  March 5, 2026
  Job Description Salary: $45,000-$50,000 DOE Position Summary We are looking for a creative and motivated Content Marketing Specialist to join our team in the roofing industry. This role is ideal for someone with at least one year of marketing experience who thrives in a fast-paced environment and enjoys creating visually engaging, results-driven content. You will […]

Newest PPC and paid media jobs

(Provided to Search Engine Land by PPCjobs.com)

• Paid Search Manager
  March 9, 2026
  New York, NY We are currently seeking a Paid Search Manager for a rapidly growing media agency in NYC. This is an amazing opportunity for someone to make a name for themselves in the industry with this progressive and growing agency. The position will work across various high-profile national and global accounts, supporting account teams […]
• Paid Search Manager
  March 8, 2026
  Lamark Media (“Lamark”) is an integrated digital marketing firm driven by a simple philosophy: create extraordinary marketing campaigns that yield positive, measurable results for their clients and strategic partners. Lamark’s methodology is to create a custom omni-channel strategy that leverages digital marketing assets like a portfolio which can be measured, optimized, and scaled for long-term […]
• Paid Search Marketing Manager
  March 8, 2026
  Paid Search Marketing Manager We’re currently hiring a Paid Search Marketing Manager to join our growing remote team. Lead high-scale SEM programs across Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Local Services Ads (LSA) for a rapidly growing multi-location business. You’ll own strategy + execution, turning analysis into performance gains through rigorous testing, optimization, and KPI-driven decisions. […]
• Paid Search Marketing Manager
  March 7, 2026
  Add3 seeks a Paid Search Marketing (SEM) Account Manager who will be responsible for account optimization and creation of new campaigns across multiple client accounts leveraging industry best practices. The individual will support overall efforts and deliver on client needs while recommending new opportunities for account growth. This position will report to the pod/account director. […]
• Paid Social Manager
  March 7, 2026
  The Role Wpromote is looking for a sharp Paid Social Manager to manage scalable full-funnel paid social advertising campaigns across a portfolio of clients. This is a hands-on role: build campaign strategy, execute high-quality activations, optimize to business KPIs, and partner with cross-functional counterparts such as Creative leads to test social-first creative as well as […]

Other roles you may be interested in

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• Salary: $100,000 -$110,000
• Develop and implement strategic advertising plans for Etail (Ecomm/Retail) accounts.
• Analyzing advertising performance data with related ROAS & TACoS evaluations.

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• Salary: $75,000
• Manage the day-to-day programmatic campaign approach, execution, trafficking optimization, and reporting across the relevant DSPs for your clients.
• Build and present directly to client stakeholders programmatic campaign performance, analysis, and insights.

Marketing Manager, Backstage (Remote)

• Salary: $100,000 – $140,000
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• Own forecasting, pacing, budget allocation, and optimization for high-scale monthly budgets..

Demand Generation Manager, Shoplift (Remote)

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• Design and execute inbound-led outbound campaigns—reaching prospects who’ve shown intent (visited pricing page, downloaded resources, engaged with content) at precisely the right moment
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Search Engine Optimization Manager, Confidential (Hybrid, Miami-Fort Lauderdale Area)

• Salary: $75,000 – $105,000
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Meta Ads Manager, Cardone Ventures (Scottsdale, AZ)

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Senior Manager of Marketing (Paid, SEO, Affiliate), What Goes Around Comes Around (Jersey City, NJ)

• Salary: $125,000
• Develop and execute paid media strategies across channels (Google Ads, social media, display, retargeting)
• Lead organic search strategy to improve rankings, traffic, and conversions

Paid Search Marketing Manager, LawnStarter (Remote)

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• Manage and optimize large-scale, complex SEM campaigns across Google Ads, Bing Ads, Meta Ads and other search platforms
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Senior Manager, SEO, Turo (Hybrid, San Francisco, CA)

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Search Engine Op imization Manager, NoGood (Remote)

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Note: We update this post weekly. So make sure to bookmark this page and check back.

Google is reaching out directly to advertisers via email, requiring them to confirm whether their campaigns contain EU political ads — with a hard deadline of March 31st.

Why we care. This isn’t optional. EU regulation now requires Google to verify political ad status across all active campaigns, and advertisers who don’t act before the deadline could face compliance issues.

What’s happening. Google is asking every advertiser to declare whether their existing campaigns include EU political ads. The requirement applies to all current campaigns and must be completed by March 31, 2026.

How to comply: Google has outlined three ways to submit the confirmation:

• Campaign level — Go to Campaign Settings and select “EU political ads” to confirm individual campaigns.
• Multiple campaigns — Go to the Campaigns tab and use the “EU political ads” option to confirm several at once.
• Account level — Confirm for all new and existing campaigns in one go. Selecting “No” at account level automatically applies that answer to every campaign, including future ones. You can still override this for individual campaigns at any time.

Between the lines. The account-level option is the most efficient route for most advertisers who are confident none of their campaigns fall under the EU political ads definition. Google has made it straightforward to reverse or adjust the selection at any point, so there’s no risk in acting early.

The bottom line. Check your inbox — Google is contacting advertisers directly. If you run campaigns targeting EU audiences, log in and complete the confirmation before March 31st to stay compliant.

First seen. This update was spotted by Paid Search expert, Arpan Banerjee, who shared the details of the comms on Linkedin.

Google AI Max drives revenue but at a higher cost, according to Smarter Ecommerce’s Mike Ryan, who analyzed 250+ campaigns. Outcomes vary, and much more testing is still needed.

Why we care. AI Max isn’t a minor update. It’s Google’s most significant reimagining of Search campaigns in years, shifting away from keyword syntax toward pure intent matching. For you, that’s both an opportunity (possible growth) and a risk (an efficiency tradeoff).

By the numbers. The result of the analysis:

• Median revenue: +13%
• Median CPA: +16%
• ROAS range: +42% to -35%

Advertisers who activate AI Max typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS, rising to 27% for campaigns still relying on exact and phrase match keywords, Google says.

Turning on AI Max is essentially a coin toss: you may see a lift, but efficiency likely won’t follow, Ryan concluded

What AI Max actually is. Rather than forcing Search campaigns into Performance Max, Google went the other direction — bringing PMax-style automation into classic Search. The result is three core features:

• Search Term Matching (broad match expansion plus keywordless targeting),
• Text Customization (dynamic ad copy), and
• Final URL Expansion (automated landing page selection).

Four pitfalls Smarter Ecommerce identified:

• Broad match cannibalization: Up to 63% of the time, recycling existing coverage rather than finding new queries.
• Competitor hijacking: In one account, AI Max scaled so aggressively into competitor brand terms that it consumed 69% of total Search impressions.
• Reporting overload: Search term and ad combination reports can run to tens of thousands of rows, making manual auditing nearly impossible without automation.
• Search Partner Network blowouts: One campaign saw half a million monthly impressions land on SPN at a 0.07% conversion rate, versus 3.04% on standard Google Search.

Between the lines. Google’s 14% uplift stat conspicuously excludes retail — an omission Ryan flags as significant for ecommerce advertisers. There’s also a deeper irony: you’re most likely to adopt AI Max if you’re already running Broad Match, DSA, and PMax — yet Google says those accounts will see the lowest incremental benefit.

What’s next. In a conversation with Ryan, Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin confirmed that Google plans to deprecate Dynamic Search Ads and migrate the technology into AI Max for Search. No firm timeline was given, though past Google deprecations often run about a year from announcement.

Ryan recommends activating AI Max’s keywordless features in your existing Search campaigns now and beginning to wind down DSA — not migrating it to PMax.

Ryan’s verdict is cautious optimism. About 16% of advertisers are testing AI Max, and few have gone all in. Start small, audit aggressively, and don’t let FOMO around AI Overviews drive your decision.

The report. The Ultimate Guide to AI Max for Google Search