Chloe Varnfield, a digital marketing specialist at Atelier Studios with nearly eight years in PPC, joined me to share the mistakes that shaped her career — and the lessons every advertiser should take from them.
When Google sneaks settings past you
Chloe’s first story centers on Google’s account-level automated assets setting — a feature so well hidden that many advertisers don’t know it exists until a client sends a screenshot asking why their headline looks completely wrong. The setting, buried behind a three-dot menu, defaults to on, meaning Google can automatically generate and serve headlines advertisers never wrote or approved. The takeaway: always audit your account-level settings, and treat every Google update as a potential default you’ll need to turn off.
Why you should never make changes on a Friday
A client asked Chloe to narrow their campaign’s location targeting mid-call. She made the change quickly — and accidentally excluded the UK entirely while targeting only the desired regions. Campaigns stopped delivering. It took three days of head-scratching before she audited the full campaign and found the culprit. The lesson she now swears by: never make significant changes on a Friday, and when something stops working, go straight to a full audit rather than waiting for the algorithm to “fix itself.”
The time she listened to a Google rep — and tanked performance for two months
Chloe’s most costly story involves a campaign that was performing at its best in years. A Google rep recommended switching bid strategy from Maximise Conversions to Maximise Conversion Value. She made the switch — and performance collapsed. For small to medium-sized businesses that already struggle to hit the conversion volume thresholds needed for smart bidding to work effectively, changing bid strategy is a high-stakes decision that shouldn’t be made on the spot. It took two months to recover, with the pressure of a major seasonal sale looming. She fixed it — but the lesson stuck: don’t let enthusiasm or a rep’s insistence override your judgment. Sit on big decisions. Trust your gut.
The account mistakes that still happen in 2026
When auditing inherited accounts, Chloe consistently sees the same three problems: broken or absent conversion tracking (sometimes still pulling from Universal Analytics), broad match applied to brand campaigns — which makes it impossible to know whether results are genuinely driven by non-brand keywords — and accounts with zero negative keywords. These aren’t minor structural issues. They directly distort performance data and waste budget.
On honesty, client relationships, and not spiralling
Across all three of her own stories, Chloe’s client relationships survived because she communicated transparently — explaining what had gone wrong, what she was doing to fix it, and what the next step would be if that didn’t work. Her advice to anyone mid-crisis: breathe, be kind to yourself, stay calm, and remember that no one has died. The ability to fix problems under pressure is what builds expertise — and fixing something difficult often becomes your proudest professional moment.
The AI mistake too many marketers are making
On AI, Chloe is clear: using it to generate ad copy or proposals without reviewing or editing the output is lazy and obvious. AI should make you faster, not replace your judgment. Always put your own voice and review back into whatever it produces.
The days of building campaigns around long lists of keywords are fading. Today, AI-powered Google campaigns and features like Performance Max (PMax) and AI Max are changing the rules.
These keywordless campaigns lean on automation, audience signals, and machine learning to find new opportunities, often faster and at greater scale than humans can.
At SMX Next, three PPC pros — Nikki Kuhlman, VP of search at Jumpfly; Brad Geddes, founder of Adalysis; and Christine Zirnheld, director of lead gen at Cypress North — explained where PMax and AI Max fit into your broader campaign strategy, where humans still make the difference, and how to strike the right balance between automation and control.
AI Max for Search: Best practices and what not to do
AI Max for Search is not a new campaign type. It’s a one-click opt-in setting within existing Search campaigns.
Without requiring you to switch to broad match, it expands your keywords — similar to broad match or Dynamic Search Ads — using your landing pages and other site assets. It then personalizes the ad copy and landing page the searcher sees.
The evolution from traditional setup
In the old setup, you might have used a keyword like “skincare for dry sensitive skin” that sent users to a moisturizer page with generic ad copy because you couldn’t capture every variation. With Google’s current matching, a specific ad group no longer guarantees that keyword will trigger that ad group.
AI Max for Search addresses this by generating ad copy based on the search query, making it more relevant and directing users to a landing page that better matches their needs.
Success with blog content
One area where AI Max for Search is seeing success beyond the norm is blog content. While DSA campaigns traditionally excluded blogs, AI Max for Search can now serve blogs as landing pages—and they’re converting. The key is that these blogs guide readers to specific products, not just general content.
The generated headlines are compelling and longer than what traditional RSAs allow, creating a more engaging user experience.
Best Practices for AI Max for Search
Do:
Use it on existing campaigns with history and data, not brand new campaigns
Test it as a 50/50 experiment instead of an outright change
Use it on brand campaigns with brand inclusion capabilities
Apply it to campaigns not hitting budget that could use more volume
Review landing pages and utilize URL exclusions (individual or rule-based)
Use landing page inclusions at the ad group level
Review search queries regularly and add negative search terms
Enable both text customization and final URL expansion for maximum value
Turn off AI Max at the ad group level when specific ad groups drive poor traffic
Don’t:
Use it on brand new campaigns without data
Change all campaigns at once without testing
Use it on brand campaigns without name recognition or brand inclusion ability
Apply it to budget-constrained campaigns
Turn off both URL expansion and text customization — if you’re not using both features, stick with broad match and smart bidding
Assume it works universally — test on individual campaigns
Your action plan
Week 1: Pick a search campaign to test (brand with brand inclusion, with budget capability, needing more volume). Review landing page URLs and add inclusions or exclusions.
Week 2: Review search queries and add negatives.
Week 3: Continue optimization and turn off AI Max at the ad group level as needed.
Experiment checklist:
Ensure enough volume for a 50/50 experiment
Give the experiment 6 weeks to 2 months
Set up a custom experiment if you need to enable brand inclusion or update settings
For one-click experiments, change confidence level to medium and turn off auto-apply
Match type performance: What the data shows
A comprehensive study analyzing over 16,000 campaigns revealed surprising insights about match type performance across different bidding strategies.
Match type basics
Exact match: Should match only when the search term has the same intent as your keyword. Misspellings and word order haven’t mattered for years — focus on user intent.
Phrase match: The search intent should match your keyword, but could have additional information around it, whether modifiers, phone numbers, or websites.
Broad match: Shows for anything related to the search intent. The key difference is that broad match uses additional signals that exact and phrase don’t, such as content on the landing page, other keywords in the ad group, and, most powerfully, previous search history for that user.
Performance by bidding strategy
Max Conversion strategies (Max Conversions, Max Conversion Value):
Most campaigns using max bid strategies have under 30 conversions per month, giving machines limited data to work with. The findings:
Exact match has the best click-through rates and conversion rates
Broad match had the worst conversion rates but the best return on ad spend
Broad match also had lower CPA than phrase match
Phrase match performed worst overall
Recommendation: Start with exact match, then skip phrase match entirely and layer in broad match if you have more budget to spend.
Target Bid Strategies (Target CPA, Target ROAS):
Most campaigns using these strategies have over 30 conversions per month, with many at 50 or 100+, giving machines substantially more data. The findings:
Exact match is again the best match type
Phrase match comes second
Broad match is third
Phrase match performs better with more data
Recommendation: Start with exact match, layer in phrase match with more budget, then add broad match if additional budget is available.
The phrase match puzzle
Why does phrase match perform poorly with limited data but better with more data?
Broad match uses additional signals, particularly previous search queries, to determine bids. When conversion data is limited (under 30 conversions monthly), broad match’s ability to leverage previous search history makes it much stronger than phrase match.
However, with sufficient data (50–100+ conversions), Google can properly match phrase match keywords using machine-learning pattern matching.
Brand vs. non-brand considerations
When you combine brand and non-brand data, exact match becomes even more powerful, delivering significantly higher click-through rates, higher conversion rates, lower CPAs, and much higher return on ad spend. That’s why segmenting keywords by brand and non-brand is crucial when determining your match type strategy.
Ecommerce exception
For ecommerce companies, broad match (and sometimes phrase match) can produce higher average order values than exact match. When someone searches for a specific product, and you carry that exact item, conversion rates are high, but they’re usually buying a single product with a lower checkout value.
When shoppers haven’t decided on a product, they tend to match broader keywords and build larger carts — resulting in lower conversion rates but higher order values.
Performance Max for lead generation
There’s a common misconception that Performance Max only works for ecommerce and is too difficult for lead generation. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
The critical success factor
The biggest mistake you can make—one you should avoid entirely—is optimizing campaigns for form submissions alone. If you treat every form submission as your campaign goal, you’ll end up with spammy submissions and frustrated sales teams.
The solution: integrate your Google Ads account with your CRM and import bottom-of-funnel leads—sales-qualified leads (SQLs), marketing-qualified leads (MQLs), opportunities, or even customers if the sales cycle is short.
When you tell Google Ads what you actually want and set it as your campaign goal, Performance Max can cast a wide net while still bringing in qualified prospects.
Available controls for regulated industries
Performance Max has significantly more controls now than at launch, making it viable for highly regulated industries:
Brand exclusions: Exclude all brand traffic from Performance Max campaigns
Search term reports: See what’s triggering your ads and exclude accordingly
Channel reporting: View spending and performance across different networks
Page feeds: Control where you send traffic on your site
Final URL expansion toggle: Turn it off completely if needed
Text enhancement controls: Optional feature that can be disabled entirely
Text guidelines: Specify words to avoid (e.g., “discount” or “directory”)
Device control: The secret weapon for B2B
One of the most underutilized levers for B2B and regulated industries is device control, introduced at the beginning of 2025. You can turn off any device from your Performance Max campaign.
A B2B SaaS example demonstrates the impact: Before device segmentation in January, the account had 224 SQLs from desktop at an acceptable CPA, but 33 from mobile at $319 CPA (above goal). After creating separate mobile campaigns with more aggressive target CPAs, they achieved 190 desktop SQLs and 37 mobile SQLs in a shorter month, with mobile CPA dropping to $204 and overall Performance Max CPA declining from $238 to $204.
Real Performance Max results for B2B SaaS
Despite lower conversion rates from Performance Max compared to search campaigns (due to broader reach), the results speak for themselves. In September 2025, one B2B SaaS account achieved:
Search Campaigns: 150 SQLs at $237 CPA
Performance Max: 204 SQLs at $220 CPA
Performance Max cast a wider net with cheaper CPCs, bringing in not just more leads but more sales-qualified leads at a lower cost.
How they did it:
Optimized for SQLs, not form submissions
Set lower target CPAs in Performance Max than search (to control spend while casting wider net)
Created separate campaigns for off-hours to control weekend spending
Turned off final URL expansion and text enhancements (client preference)
Implemented separate mobile and tablet campaigns with aggressive target CPAs
AI Max for Search in lead generation
AI Max for Search brings the power of Performance Max to the search network, where bottom-of-funnel intent is strongest. This is especially valuable for lead generation accounts that spend on other networks in Performance Max but don’t generate leads from them.
Early results: Higher ed financial services
A higher education financial client (loan products) showed promising early results:
Approved applications (primary KPI):
Standard Search: 86 approved applications at $660 CPA
AI Max: 70 approved applications at $579 CPA
AI Max brought in qualified leads cheaper despite the highly competitive keyword environment.
Down-funnel performance
Beyond the initial conversion action (soft credit check), AI Max showed superior performance throughout the funnel:
42% of AI Max form submissions resulted in soft pulls vs. 36% for standard search
9.9% of AI Max form submissions resulted in bookings vs. 5.58% for standard search
AI Max isn’t just bringing more qualified prospects at the top—lead quality remains higher throughout the entire funnel.
How they did it:
Optimized for approved applications, not form submissions
Set lower target CPAs in AI Max than standard search
Used high-performing bottom-of-funnel keywords with broad match types
Kept final URL expansion and text enhancements disabled (still worked well without them)
Win with AI without losing control
PPC success requires embracing AI-driven campaigns while maintaining strategic human oversight. Whether you use AI Max for Search, Performance Max for lead generation, or adjust match types based on bidding methods and data volume, the key is understanding how these tools work and applying best practices aligned with your business goals.
The data is clear: exact match remains powerful across scenarios, but phrase and broad match perform differently depending on bidding strategy and data volume. For lead generation, the game changer is optimizing for true bottom-of-funnel conversions rather than form submissions, combined with strategic device controls and proper campaign segmentation.
The future of PPC depends on knowing when — and how — to apply automation and control for maximum impact.
Google is leaving the door open to advertising in its Gemini AI app, with a senior executive telling WIRED the company is “not ruling them out” — a notable shift from the flat denials made just months ago.
The current strategy. Rather than rushing into Gemini, Google is using AI Mode — its Gemini-powered Search product — as a testing ground for ad formats in AI experiences.
Ads are kept separate from organic results and clearly labeled
Google says it only shows ads when they’re relevant — if nothing fits, nothing runs
The company is drawing on 20-plus years of Search ad experience to inform the approach
Why we care. Google’s entire business is built on advertising. How and if they bring ads into AI products will shape the future of the industry — and set the tone for every AI company trying to figure out how to monetize free users. The brands that figure out how to show up relevantly in conversational AI environments now — before the auction gets competitive — will have a significant first-mover advantage.
The bigger picture. Google is in a stronger position than its rivals to take its time. The company crossed $400 billion in revenue in 2025, giving it the luxury of patience. OpenAI, by contrast, is under pressure to more than double its $30 billion in revenue this year — and has already started testing ads in ChatGPT’s free tier.
Between the lines: Fox’s framing is careful but revealing. By positioning Gemini ads as a “prioritization question” rather than a values question, Google is signaling it’s a matter of when — not if.
What to watch: Personal Intelligence — Gemini’s feature that pulls from a user’s Gmail, Photos, and Calendar — is the sleeper story here. Fox called personalization his “holy grail” for Search, and hinted it could eventually roll into the broader Search experience. If it does, advertisers would gain access to an entirely new layer of contextual targeting — though Fox was quick to add that user data will not be sold or shared.
What’s next. Advertisers should start preparing now. As Google refines its AI ad formats in AI Mode, those learnings will eventually migrate to Gemini. Brands that understand how to show up relevantly in conversational, context-rich AI environments will have a significant head start when the floodgates open.
Google is launching Ask Maps, a conversational AI feature powered by Gemini that lets you ask Google Maps complex, real-world questions and get personalized, actionable answers.
What’s new. You can now ask Maps questions like “Is there a public tennis court with lights where I can play tonight?” or “My phone is dying — where can I charge it without a long wait?” and get a conversational answer with a customized map view.
Key capabilities:
Personalized recommendations: Results are tailored based on your search and save history, so Maps already knows, for example, that you prefer vegan restaurants before you ask.
Trip planning: Ask for recommended stops along a route and get directions, ETAs, and insider tips sourced from over 500 million community contributors across 300 million places.
Direct action: Book reservations, save places, or share them with friends directly from the response.
On ads. Ask Maps doesn’t include ads yet, but Google isn’t ruling them out, the Gemini team told SEO consultant Glenn Gabe. Because ads are already common in local search, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them appear here eventually.
Ask Maps is intent-rich and planning-focused. You’re deciding where to go and what to do — exactly the moment advertisers pay a premium to reach.
Why we care. Ask Maps changes how you find places, shifting discovery from keyword searches to AI-generated recommendations. The businesses that get picked will have rich, accurate, up-to-date Maps profiles and strong community engagement, because that’s the data Google’s AI uses to make its picks.
Availability. Ask Maps is rolling out now in the U.S. and India on Android and iOS, with desktop coming soon.
What’s next. Advertisers and local businesses should pay close attention. When AI mediates how people discover places, visibility in Maps becomes more critical than ever. Keep your business listings accurate, complete, and review-rich as Gemini draws from that data to power recommendations.
Google redesigned the Asset Optimization section in Google Ads for Demand Gen campaigns, consolidating AI-powered creative controls into a single, cleaner interface.
Why we care. Advertisers managing creative at scale now have a centralized panel to toggle automated features on or off — making the process less manual and time consuming.
What’s new. The redesigned layout groups three key automation capabilities together:
Auto-generated shorter videos — AI trims existing video assets into shorter cuts to qualify for additional placements.
Automatic video resizing — Videos are adapted across multiple aspect ratios to maximize inventory coverage.
Landing page image pulls — Images are sourced directly from an advertiser’s landing page to generate additional creative variations.
How it works. The new panel surfaces simple toggles for features like Resized videos and Image assets, letting advertisers quickly enable or disable each automation without digging through multiple menus.
Bottom line. Advertisers running Demand Gen campaigns should head into the Asset Optimization panel now and audit which automations are enabled. Turn on video resizing and landing page image pulls if you haven’t already — these are low-effort wins that can meaningfully expand reach without additional creative production.
Also make sure your landing pages are clean and visually strong, since Google will be pulling from them directly. And as Google continues rolling out more AI-driven creative tools, start shifting your workflow toward providing high-quality source assets and letting the platform handle format and placement optimization from there.
Eight in ten Performance Max advertisers are receiving connected TV (CTV) impressions via YouTube, as reported by Smarter Ecoommerce’s Mike Ryan. Google has expanded the channel’s reach over the past year — and the trajectory is only accelerating.
The timeline of how we got here:
Q2 2025: Google began serving CTV ads using standard product feed images, meaning advertisers with no video assets were suddenly generating TV impressions from their existing catalog photos
January 2026:Google announced shoppable CTV ads — letting viewers browse products and scan QR codes to purchase directly from their TV screen, pulling directly from Google Merchant Center product feeds.
Why we care. CTV is no longer a specialist buy. If you’re running PMax, you’re almost certainly already on the big screen — and Google has been steadily upgrading what that means for commerce. Google is automatically turning your product feed images into TV ads and allocating budget to CTV impressions, with no action required on your part.
Without actively checking your channel performance breakdown, you have no visibility into where your spend is going or whether auto-generated creative is actually fit for a 65-inch screen.
What advertisers should do right now:
Pull your Channel Performance report — Google’s native channel breakdown will show you exactly how much of your PMax spend and impressions are going to CTV. If you haven’t looked, you may be surprised.
Audit your feed images — since Q2 2025, those product photos are being used to generate CTV ads automatically. Low-quality images that worked fine in Shopping are now appearing on 65-inch TV screens. Clean them up.
Check if shoppable CTV applies to you — if you’re running PMax with a Merchant Center feed, your campaigns may already be eligible for shoppable CTV formats. Google reports that Demand Gen campaigns including TV screens drive 7% incremental conversions at the same ROI. Understand whether that inventory is working for you — or being wasted.
Think about creative — feed images as CTV ads is a floor, not a ceiling. Advertisers who invest in purpose-built video assets optimized for the TV screen will outperform those relying on auto-generated formats.
The big picture: YouTube CEO Neal Mohan confirmed that TV has surpassed mobile as the primary device for YouTube viewing in the U.S. by watch time, and YouTube has been the #1 streaming platform in the U.S. for two consecutive years. PMax advertisers are already there — the question is whether they’re managing it intentionally or just along for the ride.
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.
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.
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.
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
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About Haven Services Haven Services LLC is a $100MM residential and commercial plumbing, HVAC, and electrical services and contracting company. Haven Services is executing a growth strategy targeting $200MM in revenue by 2031. We are committed to delivering exceptional service to the homeowners and businesses we serve, and we’re looking for a results-driven digital marketing […]
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Organic Growth: Build and execute the SEO roadmap across technical, content, and off-page. Own the numbers: traffic, rankings, conversions. No handoffs, no excuses.
AI-Optimized Search (AIO): Define and drive CARE.com’s strategy for visibility in AI-generated results — Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and whatever comes next. Optimize entity coverage, content structure, and schema to ensure we’re the answer, not just a result.
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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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.
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