Google recently rolled out AI Max for Search campaigns, a smart automation layer designed to enhance reach, relevance, and ROI. Whether you’re managing multiple campaigns or launching a single initiative, it can help boost ROI with less manual effort.
However, AI Max may not be suitable for all campaigns. As it relies heavily on website content to generate ad copy, the quality of your content and website optimisation are essential. In many ways, it resembles a more advanced version of Dynamic Search Ads. Weak website content equals weak results.
Note: AI Max will begin rolling out globally at the end of May, with a full release expected by early Q3 2025. It’s not yet supported in the Google Ads API or Editor, so manual changes should be coordinated internally to prevent errors.
What is AI Max for Search Campaigns?
AI Max is a new suite of AI-powered features that enhances your Search campaigns with targeting and creative performance through intelligent automation.
It’s built around two core capabilities:
- Search Term Matching: Powered by broad match and keywordless AI targeting.
- Asset Optimisation: Through text customisation and Final URL Expansion
When turned on, your campaign becomes more adaptive, responding in real time to user intent, behaviour, and performance signals.
Is AI Max Right for You?
AI Max helps advertisers grow by combining Google’s advanced AI with precision controls and transparency. It’s scalable, adaptive, and designed to save time without sacrificing control.
However, it’s not ideal for every account:
- Poor or unoptimised websites may produce weak results.
- Regulated industries may face creative compliance risks due to dynamic copy.
Top 7 Questions On AI Max Search Campaigns Answered
Google recently answered some of the top questions asked by advertisers, and here’s everything you need to know before you start using AI Max.
Question: Who is the ideal advertiser for AI Max?
Answer: AI Max benefits all Search advertisers. You’ll see the most benefit if you’re still mostly using exact and phrase match keywords, and haven’t shifted 100% of your Search Traffic to Performance Max.
Question: Do I have to opt in to all three features, or can I customise/override?
Answer: Advertisers have full choice and control over opting in.
You can:
- Opt in via a single toggle
- Customise each feature individually (Text Customisation, URL Expansion, Search Term Matching).
The one-click toggle turns all three features on at once, but you can opt out too. But remember, you will get the most performance when opting in to all three features.
Question: Can I A/B test AI Max vs traditional Search setups?
Answer: For A/B testing, drafts and experiments are available to utilise with AI Max for Search campaigns. More backend improvements to A/B testing are on the roadmap.
Question: How does AI Max prevent over-reaching into irrelevant searches that could lead to wasted spend?
Answer: Search term matching only expands to traffic expected to perform well on your goals. Negative keywords and brand exclusions will continue to be supported, as well as ad group-level controls that are exclusive to AI Max for Search campaigns.
Question: What informs generated assets and do I have control over these assets?
Answer: Assets are generated based on your ad’s unique context.
Google uses:
- Landing pages
- Keywords in your ad group
- Existing ad assets
You can review, remove, or modify any generated assets you no longer want to show. More asset controls are on the roadmap.
Question: Once on, does AI Max replace existing keyword targeting?
Answer: No, it does not replace existing keyword targeting but uses broad match and keywordless technology to expand your reach to new queries. Keyword prioritisation will work the same way it does today.
Question: What is keywordless technology?
Answer: The keywordless technology used in search term matching helps you find additional, relevant queries that are predicted to perform well based on the content on your landing pages — like Dynamic Search Ads — as well as by the content in your ad groups like your assets and keywords.
How AI Max Works: Core Capabilities Explained
1. Search Term Matching
AI Max uses Google AI to go beyond your existing keyword list. It uses broad match and keywordless technology to uncover high-potential search terms and conversions that might otherwise go untapped.
Key Benefits:
- Incremental Reach and Performance: Reach new search queries using broad signals like landing page content, ad copy, and user behavior.
- More Control: Gain advanced targeting options like:
- Locations of Interest (at ad group level): Reach users based on geo-intent.
- Brand Controls: Specify brand inclusions or exclusions at the campaign and ad group levels.
- Greater Transparency: View headlines and URLs in the Search Terms Report and understand why matches occurred with the new “match type” and “source” columns.
Note: Search term matching is turned on by default with AI Max. You can toggle it off in the ad group settings.
2. Asset Optimisation
AI Max automatically adapts your ad creative to better suit user intent, using:
- Text Customisation (formerly “automatically created assets”)
- Final URL Expansion
These tools allow your ads to dynamically adjust copy and destination URLs to improve relevance and performance.
Key Benefits:
- Improved Performance: AI selects the highest-performing landing pages and tailors ad copy to user intent.
- Greater Relevance: Customised text increases engagement and click-through.
- Efficiency at Scale: Quickly launch optimised ads with minimal manual work.
- Enhanced Reporting: View metrics such as spend and conversions per asset.
Note: Final URL Expansion requires Text Customisation to ensure copy relevance. If URL expansion is enabled, pinned RSA assets will not be honored.
3. Smarter Keyword Strategy with Keywordless Targeting
One of AI Max’s standout features is keywordless targeting, which enhances your traditional keyword strategy.
Instead of relying solely on keyword match types, AI Max uses signals from your landing pages (similar to Dynamic Search Ads) and ad group assets to identify new, high-potential queries. This allows your ads to reach users even when specific keywords aren’t present in your account.
AI Max enhances the reach of traditional keywords by applying broad match logic in the background.
Google’s Ginny Marvin emphasised the importance of ad group theming, as AI Max pulls context from your ad group’s keywords, assets, and landing pages to match relevant queries predicted to convert.
4. Location-Based Targeting Gets Smarter
AI Max also introduces enhanced geographic targeting at the ad group level, enabling a more precise approach:
- You can now target users based on either their physical location or geo-intent (what they’re searching for).
- This is ideal for industries like tourism. For instance, to promote travel to Spain among U.S. users, set Spain as a location of interest in a U.S.-targeted campaign.
- If you include location terms in your keywords, adding that location to your ad group’s settings ensures keywordless targeting aligns with your geographic goals.
5. Seamless Integration with Existing Campaign Types
AI Max is designed to complement your current Search and Performance Max strategies—not replace them:
- Keyword prioritisation rules remain unchanged: If a query matches a Search keyword in any match type, your existing Search campaign takes precedence over AI Max or Performance Max.
- Google recommends that advertisers continue using both Search and Performance Max together for optimal coverage.
- AI Max mirrors the Search-only component of Performance Max, focusing solely on Search text inventory (not Display, YouTube, etc.).
6. Built for Seasonality and Adaptive Performance
AI Max is built to detect and adapt to seasonal shifts and evolving user behavior—without needing complex structural changes:
- For instance, a landing page highlighting a Mother’s Day promotion can trigger relevant matches like “Mother’s Day gifts,” even if those keywords aren’t in your campaign.
- According to Google, advertisers using AI Max typically see a 14% lift in conversions or conversion value at comparable CPA/ROAS. Campaigns relying heavily on exact or phrase match keywords can see improvements of up to 27%.
Improved Reporting with AI Max
AI Max introduces new ways to understand and analyse campaign performance:
- Search Terms Report: Includes AI Max-specific match types and sources, and a unified view of terms, headlines, and URLs.
- Keywords Report: Highlights AI Max’s contribution in summary rows.
- Landing Pages Report: Shows which URLs were selected by AI Max.
- Asset Report: Offers deeper insights into asset-level performance based on key metrics.
Important: Before activating or deactivating AI Max, inform your team. AI Max is not currently supported in the Google Ads API or Editor, and making changes may cause errors with automatically created assets and brand settings.
How To Set Up AI Max in Google Ads
To activate AI Max:
- Go to your campaign settings in Google Ads.
- Enable AI Max under Search Campaign features.
- Review default toggles for Search Term Matching, Text Customisation, and Final URL Expansion. Adjust if needed.
- Communicate with your team to avoid conflicts with unsupported tools like the API or Editor.
- Monitor performance through the upgraded reports to refine strategy.
Note: Once AI Max is enabled, legacy controls for broad match, text customisation, and brand settings will be upgraded to the AI Max model.
AI Max for Search campaigns is built to help advertisers grow by combining Google's AI with new precision controls and transparency features. Whether you’re looking to expand your reach, improve ad relevance, or reduce manual workload, AI Max offers a scalable path to performance.
Ready to get started? Navigate to your campaign settings in Google Ads and turn on AI Max to unlock the future of search advertising.
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