Microsoft Advertising is rolling out a slate of updates aimed at making Performance Max campaigns easier to manage, measure, and migrate — especially for advertisers already using Google Ads.

Driving the news. Microsoft now lets advertisers import Google PMax campaigns that use new customer acquisition (NCA) goals, a feature that has been generally available in Microsoft since early this year.

The update is now live for all advertisers.

That means marketers can more easily port over campaigns designed to prioritize first-time buyers without rebuilding them from scratch.

What’s new. Microsoft says imported Google PMax campaigns with NCA goals will carry over if they don’t already exist in the advertiser’s account. Existing Microsoft NCA settings won’t be overwritten.

For audience lists:

• Google website visitor segments will convert into Microsoft remarketing lists.
• Google’s “all visitors” and “all converters” lists will map to Microsoft equivalents.
• Unsupported lists, like Customer Match, will prompt advertisers to use fallback options.

Microsoft also says it takes a more conservative approach to “unknown” customers, classifying them as existing customers to avoid overcounting new customer conversions.

Why we care. This could make cross-platform campaign expansion faster and lower the friction of testing Microsoft’s PMax inventory removing the need of rebuilding campaigns from scratch. The added landing page reporting and search term visibility also give marketers better insight into what’s driving performance, which can help improve optimization and budget decisions.

More visbility for PMax. Microsoft is also adding landing page (Final URL) reporting for PMax campaigns. Advertisers can now see spend, clicks, impressions, conversion value, and ROAS by landing page.

They can also segment by campaign, asset group, and other dimensions.

Microsoft also said search term reporting is becoming more visible by default, with more transparency updates — including auction insights and added publisher URL metrics — planned later.

Other key updates:

• Seasonality adjustments now support portfolio bid strategies, expanding a tool advertisers use for short-term events like promotions.
• Campaign name limits are increasing from 128 to 400 characters, helping agencies and enterprise teams manage naming conventions at scale.
• Autogenerated assets are expanding to underbuilt Responsive Search Ads to improve ad relevance and performance.
• Merchant Center users can now update store names and domains directly without contacting support.

The bottom line. These updates make it easier to scale across platforms, save time on campaign setup, and get better visibility into what’s actually driving performance — giving advertisers more control over both efficiency and results.

Google is making Gemini a core part of ad enforcement, saying the AI upgrade helped catch more scams while sharply reducing mistaken suspensions of legitimate advertisers. The move shows how quickly ad safety is turning into an AI fight over speed, scale, and accuracy.

The details. In its 2025 Ads Safety Report, Google said it blocked or removed 8.3 billion ads and suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts last year. It said more than 99% of policy-violating ads were stopped before they ran.

• Google credited Gemini with cutting incorrect advertiser suspensions by 80%, processing 4x more user reports than the year before, and spotting scam signals faster by better understanding ad intent.
• Scams were a major focus. Google said it removed 602 million scam-related ads and suspended 4 million scam-linked accounts.

By the numbers:

• 602 million scam-related ads removed
• 4 million scam-linked accounts suspended
• 4.8 billion ads restricted
• 480 million web pages blocked or restricted
• 245,000+ publisher sites actioned
• 35 policy updates made in 2025

The U.S. picture: Google said it removed 1.7 billion ads and suspended 3.3 million advertiser accounts in the U.S. in 2025. The most common violations included abuse of the ad network, misrepresentation, sexual content, personalization violations, and dating and companionship ads.

Why we care. This directly affects whether campaigns launch, stay live, or get flagged. Google is signaling that AI will play a bigger role in deciding which ads run and which accounts get stopped. For advertisers, that raises the stakes on policy compliance while also promising fewer costly false suspensions.

How it works: Google said Gemini analyzes hundreds of billions of signals, including account age, behavior patterns, and campaign activity, to detect malicious intent earlier than older systems built more heavily around keywords and rule matching.

The company also said that by the end of 2025, most Responsive Search Ads would be reviewed instantly at submission, blocking harmful ads before launch. It plans to expand that capability to more formats this year.

Yes, but. Faster automated enforcement does not always mean smoother enforcement. Some advertisers in the U.K. and U.S. have recently reported bulk ad disapproval alerts despite finding no actual policy issues. That adds pressure on Google to prove tighter AI enforcement will not create new disruptions for legitimate brands.

Bottom line: Google wants advertisers to see Gemini as both shield and filter — tougher on scams, but more precise with legitimate accounts. The real test is whether that balance holds as enforcement gets faster and more automated.

Google’s blog post. Gemini is stopping harmful ads before people ever see them

Automation doesn’t fail on its own — it does exactly what it’s trained to do. The problem is that when Google Ads is fed incomplete, misaligned, or overly broad signals, it can optimize toward the wrong outcome faster than most advertisers realize.

In our second installment of SMX Now, our new monthly series, Ameet Khabra of Hop Skip Media will break down a real account where a 417% jump in conversions turned out to be the wrong kind of success. She’ll use that case study to explain the four key ways automation drift enters an account: signal drift, query drift, inventory drift, and creative drift.

You’ll leave with a practical framework for diagnosing drift early, understanding where human oversight matters most, and managing automation more deliberately so it works toward real business goals — not just platform-reported wins.

Join us May 6 at noon ET.

Save your spot

Google is giving advertisers more control when appealing disapproved ads in bulk — a small but meaningful update that could save time and reduce accidental resubmissions.

Driving the news. Google has added a new option in its bulk ad review workflow that lets advertisers select ads from specific campaigns when requesting a policy re-review.

Previously, advertisers appealing disapproved ads in bulk often had to resubmit all eligible ads across an account — including older campaigns that hadn’t been updated.

That created extra work and could clutter the review process with ads that weren’t actually fixed.

What’s new. Advertisers can now click a new “Select eligible campaigns” option on the Google Ads policy violations page when filing a bulk appeal.

That means they can:

• send only recently fixed ads for review,
• avoid including outdated campaigns,
• and streamline the appeal process.

Why we care. Bulk appeals are often used after widespread disapprovals or policy issues. Being able to narrow submissions by campaign should make the process faster, more precise, and easier to manage at scale.

For agencies and large accounts, the update could also reduce the risk of confusion when handling multiple policy fixes at once.

The bottom line. This isn’t a flashy product launch, but it’s the kind of workflow improvement advertisers have been asking for — giving teams more control and less friction when fixing disapproved ads.

First spotted. This update was first spotted by Hana Kobzová of PPC News Feed.

Google is retiring legacy Search automation tools, including Dynamic Search Ads (DSA), in favor of AI Max, its broader AI-powered campaign suite. This will affect you if you use DSA, automatically created assets (ACA), or campaign-level broad match settings.

Driving the news. AI Max for Search campaigns is exiting beta after adoption by “hundreds of thousands” of advertisers globally, Google said.

• Starting in September, eligible campaigns using DSA, ACA, or campaign-level broad match will be automatically migrated to AI Max.
• Google will stop allowing advertisers to create new DSA campaigns through Google Ads, Ads Editor, and the Ads API once automatic upgrades begin.
• The company expects all eligible migrations to be completed by the end of September.

Why we care. These tools are being phased out, whether you act or not. Moving early to AI Max gives you more control over targeting, creative, and landing page settings before automatic upgrades begin. It also offers potential performance gains, with Google reporting an average 7% lift in conversions or conversion value at similar efficiency.

What Google says. AI Max delivers “an average of 7% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA/ROAS for non-retail” when you use its full feature set — including search term matching, text customization, and final URL expansion — compared with search term matching alone.

Catch up quick. DSA has long helped advertisers capture additional traffic beyond keyword-based campaigns by dynamically generating headlines and directing users to relevant landing pages.

• But Google says consumer search behavior is becoming more complex and less predictable.
• AI Max is designed to go beyond website landing page signals by using broader real-time intent data.

How AI Max works:

• Uses advertiser inputs, such as website content and existing ads.
• Expands reach to additional relevant search queries.
• Dynamically customizes ad copy and landing page destinations.
• Adds more controls for advertisers, including brand, location, and text guidance settings.

What you should do now. Google is urging advertisers to upgrade before September to keep more control over setup and avoid disruption.

Phase 1: Voluntary upgrades (starting now)

• DSA users: Google is rolling out upgrade tools this week to help move campaign history, settings, and data into standard ad groups.
• ACA and broad match users: Advertisers will see in-platform prompts to switch to AI Max.

Phase 2: Automatic upgrades (starting September) For advertisers who don’t switch manually:

• DSA campaigns will convert dynamic ad groups into standard ad groups, with legacy settings and URL controls preserved.
• ACA campaigns will move to AI Max with search term matching and text customization turned on by default.
• Broad match setting campaigns will move with search term matching enabled by default.

What Google are saying. I asked Google whether this update reduces the role of manual keyword strategy and feed-based search structures. A Google spokesperson responded that keywords remains essential and this update is to help with keyword management:

• ‘Keywords remain an essential component of a successful campaign strategy, providing the “fuel” for our AI and for the intent signals necessary to drive performance.’ 
• ‘Rather than reducing their role, this upgrade is designed to help advertisers simplify management and expand beyond keywords while remaining in control.’

Bottom line. Google is making AI Max the default path for Search automation, signaling a broader shift away from manual campaign management toward AI-led optimization. If you migrate early, you’ll have more time to test settings and fine-tune performance before the forced switch.

A major shift is underway in digital advertising: Meta Platforms is projected to generate more ad revenue than Google in 2026, signaling how marketers are increasingly favoring automated, performance-driven platforms.

Driving the news. According to Emarketer, Meta is expected to bring in $243.46 billion in global ad revenue this year, narrowly topping Google’s projected $239.54 billion.

• Meta is forecast to capture 26.8% of global ad spend.
• Google is projected to take 26.4%.
• It would be the first time Google has lost the top spot in digital ad revenue.

Why we care. Meta’s growth suggests brands are getting more value from automated, performance-focused tools, which could influence how they split budgets between Meta and Google. It’s also a reminder that platform dynamics are changing fast, so media strategies need to stay flexible.

Catch up quick: Google has long dominated digital advertising through Search ads, Display ads across the web, and YouTube.

But its core ad business is growing more slowly than in previous years.

Meanwhile, Meta has benefited from AI-powered ad automation, stronger performance measurement tools, and continued scale across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Why Meta is winning now. Advertisers are increasingly prioritizing platforms that can deliver both reach and measurable return.

Meta’s advantage has been its ability to automate creative and targeting faster, optimize campaigns with less manual input, and make it easier for brands to prove ROI.

That’s especially appealing in a tighter economic environment where marketers are under pressure to do more with less.

Yes, but. Google is still enormous — and still growing.

Its search business remains one of the most profitable ad engines in the world, and YouTube continues to attract brand budgets. But the company faces more pressure from, AI search disruption, antitrust scrutiny, and slowing growth in traditional search advertising.

The bottom line. Meta passing Google in ad revenue would mark more than a symbolic milestone — it reflects a broader power shift toward platforms that make advertising easier to automate, measure, and scale.

A growing number of advertisers say their Google Ads campaigns were suddenly hit with mass disapprovals tied to DNS and 500 server errors — even when their sites appeared to be working normally. The issue is raising fresh concerns about platform reliability and the risk of sudden performance disruptions.

Driving the news. PPC advertisers began flagging widespread problems this week across Google Ads accounts, with multiple agency leaders saying clients were affected at the same time.

• Managing Director at Cornerhouse Media, Ryan Berry, said more than 1,500 ads were disapproved in a single account around 1:30 p.m. UTC.
• Others said they received overnight emails warning that ads had been disapproved.

Why we care. Sudden mass disapprovals can instantly pause traffic, leads, and revenue — even if nothing is actually wrong with their website. If Google’s systems are incorrectly flagging DNS or server errors, brands could lose performance and spend valuable time troubleshooting an issue they didn’t cause. It also highlights the need for closer monitoring and faster escalation when platform glitches happen.

What advertisers are seeing:

• DNS errors, even when internal IT teams found no website issue.
• HTTP 500 errors, despite landing pages loading normally.
• Repeated disapprovals across multiple accounts.

Google Ads trainer, Charlotte Osborne said she saw two separate cases this week — one tied to a DNS error and another to a 500 error — with no issues found on the client side.

Google Advertising specialist Joshua Barr said he received “lots of emails overnight” about disapproved ads and has been dealing with similar problems for weeks.

Several Paid Search experts also said they were seeing the same issue across accounts.

What’s likely happening. Google’s ad review systems use automated crawlers to test landing pages. If Googlebot encounters temporary server issues, DNS lookup failures, redirects, or timeout errors, ads can be automatically disapproved under the platform’s “destination not working” policy.

That means advertisers can be penalized even if:

• their site is live for users,
• the issue is temporary,
• or the problem is on Google’s crawler side.

What to do now:

• Check Google Ads policy manager for exact disapproval reasons.
• Test landing pages using multiple locations and devices.
• Review DNS uptime, redirects, and CDN/firewall settings.
• Submit appeals for clearly incorrect disapprovals.
• Document account-level impacts in case the issue proves platform-wide.

The bottom line. For advertisers, this is a reminder that campaign performance can be derailed by platform glitches as much as by strategy — and when Google’s systems misfire, spend and leads can disappear fast.

First spotted. The errors were first spotted by Ryan Berry in the UK and Founder Anthony Higman also spotted issues in the US.

Google’s legal troubles over its search and ad tech businesses are entering a new phase — one that could expose the company to billions in payouts from advertisers seeking damages after U.S. courts found it illegally monopolized key digital ad markets.

Driving the news. A growing group of advertisers is preparing to file mass arbitration claims against Google, according to attorney Ashley Keller, who said the first filings are expected this week.

• Keller says he has already signed up a “significant number” of advertisers.
• He estimates potential claims tied to online search and display advertising could exceed $218 billion, based on economic analysis his firm commissioned.
• Similar mass arbitration cases typically take 12 to 24 months to resolve.

Catch up quick. Courts in 2024 dealt Google major antitrust blows.

• A federal court in Washington, D.C. found Google illegally monopolized online search.
• A separate federal court ruled Google also illegally monopolized parts of the ad tech stack that connects advertisers with publishers.
• Google is appealing both decisions.

Why we care. This case could open a path to recover money advertisers believe they overpaid for search and display ads due to Google’s alleged monopoly power. Mass arbitration may give businesses more leverage than individual claims and could pressure Google into settlements.

It also signals growing legal scrutiny of the digital ad market, which could eventually lead to more competition and lower costs.

Why arbitration matters. Most advertisers can’t simply sue Google in court because their contracts require disputes to go through arbitration.

That usually favors large companies when claims are handled one by one. But mass arbitration — which bundles 25 or more similar claims — can shift leverage back toward claimants.

• It increases pressure to settle.
• It can lower legal costs for smaller businesses.
• It allows companies with relatively modest individual claims to pursue damages collectively.

What’s new. This case could break new ground because most mass arbitrations to date have involved consumers or workers — not corporate plaintiffs.

A large-scale advertiser action against Google would be among the first major efforts to use the strategy for business-to-business claims.

What Google says. In a recent filing, Google said it faces private damages claims tied to global antitrust cases but cannot yet estimate potential losses.

The company said it believes it has “strong arguments” and plans to defend itself aggressively.

The bottom line. Google’s antitrust losses are no longer just a regulatory problem — they are becoming a direct financial threat, with advertisers now testing whether mass arbitration can turn monopoly rulings into real payouts.

Google is changing how Google Analytics and Google Ads share consent signals — a shift that could have major implications for marketers’ tracking setups starting this summer.

What’s happening. Beginning June 15th, Google Ads data collection will rely solely on the ad_storage consent setting, removing a layer of complexity that previously came from linked Google Analytics configurations.

Until now, ad data flows between Analytics and Ads were influenced by both Consent Mode and Google Signals settings inside GA. That created confusion for marketers, especially because some of the controls were buried in Analytics settings rather than clearly surfaced in ad consent banners or tag implementations.

Starting in June, Google is simplifying that structure. Google Analytics data collection will still be governed by Google Signals, but Google Ads will look only at whether users have granted ad_storage consent.

That means a linked Google Analytics tag will no longer affect whether Google Ads can collect or use advertising identifiers.

What changes. For many advertisers, the update will effectively create a cleaner — but more rigid — consent framework.

If ad_storage is granted, Google Ads may use all available advertising signals, including linking activity to a user’s signed-in Google account when possible. If ad_storage is denied, Google will be limited to less persistent signals, such as URL parameters like gclid.

There appears to be little middle ground. Marketers will have less ambiguity about what drives ads data collection, but they will also have fewer ways to fine-tune what gets shared.

Why we care. This change makes consent settings much more consequential for measurement, attribution and audience targeting. From June, whether Google Ads can use identifiers will depend almost entirely on the ad_storage signal, so any gaps or errors in consent mode setup could directly affect campaign performance data.

It also removes some hidden complexity from linked Google Analytics settings, giving advertisers clearer rules — but less flexibility.

Between the lines. The move reflects Google’s broader push to make consent systems easier to understand for advertisers and regulators.

A single source of truth for ad consent could reduce implementation errors and make compliance easier to explain. But it also puts more pressure on brands to ensure their Consent Mode setup is working properly.

If consent updates are delayed, misconfigured or incomplete, marketers could see gaps in measurement, attribution and audience targeting.

What marketers should do now. Audit your consent implementation before the June deadline.

Teams should confirm that Consent Mode update calls are firing correctly and that ad_storage settings accurately reflect user choices. Brands with Google Signals turned off should pay particular attention: under the new setup, they could see more Ads-linked data than before if users grant ad consent.

For marketers, the takeaway is simple: cleaner rules are coming, but getting consent right will matter more than ever.

Dig deeper. Updates to Google Analytics Data Controls

In an AI-driven economy, companies have more data than ever but still struggle to turn it into useful daily decisions. Google is betting that a revamped Data Studio can become the place where users quickly explore, organize and act on data across its ecosystem.

Why the switch back. Google says the new Data Studio will serve as a central hub for a range of assets, from traditional reports and dashboards to data apps built in Colab and BigQuery conversational agents. The idea is to give users one place to work with the tools and information that shape their business each day.

Flashback. Three years ago, Google folded Data Studio into its broader analytics push by rebranding it as Looker Studio. Now, it is separating the products again as customer needs evolve.

Two versions. Google is launching two versions of the product.

• Data Studio will remain free for individuals and small teams that need quick analysis and visualization.
• Data Studio Pro, meanwhile, is aimed at larger organizations that need stronger security, compliance, management controls and AI capabilities, with licenses sold through the Google Cloud and Workspace admin consoles.

Why we care. The (kind of) new Data Studio could make it much easier to pull together campaign, audience and performance data from across Google’s ecosystem in one place. That means faster reporting, easier ad hoc analysis and quicker answers without relying as heavily on analysts or engineering teams. For brands already using Google Ads, BigQuery or Sheets, it could streamline how teams track performance and make day-to-day budget and creative decisions.

Where Looker fits in. Under the new structure, Looker will remain Google Cloud’s enterprise business intelligence platform, focused on governed data, semantic modeling and large-scale analytics. Data Studio, by contrast, is being positioned as the faster, more flexible option for personal exploration, ad hoc reporting and lightweight dashboards across services like BigQuery, Google Sheets and Ads.

What’s next. For existing users, Google says the transition should be seamless. Current reports, data sources and assets will carry over automatically, with no action required.

Google plans to share more about the relaunch and its broader analytics strategy at Google Cloud Next ’26 later this month.

Dig deeper. Data Studio returns as new home for Data Cloud assets