Google is automatically upgrading broad match and automatically created assets campaigns to AI Max starting September 1, with no real opt-out. Here's what changes, what stays the same, and what to check before the deadline.
Google Ads emailed advertisers on August 5, 2026 to confirm a deadline that many assumed had been pushed back: starting September 1, any Search campaign using the campaign-level broad match setting or automatically created assets will be automatically upgraded to AI Max, with no real opt-out other than disabling those features beforehand. The migration runs across all of September. Google already blocked the creation of new legacy broad match and automatically created assets configurations as of August 3.
In April, Google announced a bundled migration plan covering Dynamic Search Ads, automatically created assets, and campaign-level broad match, all originally scheduled for September. In June, Google postponed only the Dynamic Search Ads portion by five months, to February 2027, after advertiser feedback. That partial postponement led many practitioners to assume the entire migration had been delayed. It hadn't. The August 5 email confirmed the original September date still applies to broad match and automatically created assets specifically, even though Dynamic Search Ads got more time.
The default settings differ depending on which legacy feature your campaign uses. Campaigns with automatically created assets enabled are upgraded with both search term matching and text customization switched on by default. Campaigns using only the campaign-level broad match setting receive search term matching alone, without text customization or landing page expansion, since text customization requires being explicitly active for those features to apply.
One detail worth knowing specifically: pinned assets in responsive search ads remain respected after the upgrade for broad match campaigns. For regulated advertisers who rely on pinning to hold required compliance language in fixed positions, that detail matters more than it might first appear.
Google's own stated benchmark is that AI Max for Search campaigns see an average of 7 percent more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS, when using the full feature suite, search term matching, text customization, and final URL expansion together, compared to using search term matching alone. That figure comes directly from Google, the same company automatically upgrading your campaigns into the system being measured. It's a reasonable directional signal, not independent verification, and actual results will vary by account, industry, and how the campaign was structured before the upgrade.
Identify every active campaign currently using campaign-level broad match or automatically created assets. If you don't know offhand, this is worth confirming directly in the account rather than assuming, since the two new reporting fields Google added alongside this migration make it easier to track post-upgrade but don't retroactively flag pre-upgrade campaigns.
Decide deliberately whether to let the automatic upgrade happen or to transition manually beforehand. Google's own recommendation is manual transition, specifically because it preserves more control over how the new settings get configured, rather than accepting whatever default configuration the automatic process applies.
Review pinned asset usage in any regulated or compliance-sensitive campaigns now, confirm which assets are pinned and why, so nothing shifts unexpectedly once the account moves into the new campaign structure.
Export current performance benchmarks for every affected campaign before the migration date, so you have a clean pre-upgrade baseline to compare against once AI Max is fully in place and stabilized.
Yes, by turning off campaign-level broad match and automatically created assets before September 1, or by manually opting into AI Max on your own terms beforehand. Doing nothing means the automatic upgrade applies to any eligible campaign during the September migration window.
Broad match campaigns keep search term matching enabled after the upgrade, which governs which queries the ad becomes eligible for, similar in spirit to how broad match worked previously, but now operating inside the AI Max framework rather than the legacy broad match system.
No. Dynamic Search Ads received a separate five-month postponement in June and won't begin automatic migration until February 2027. Only campaign-level broad match and automatically created assets are affected by the September 2026 timeline.
This connects directly to the same evaluation discipline covered in our 90-day paid media audit and our breakdown of the ROAS formula every campaign change should be measured against. If you want a second set of eyes on your account before the September migration, that's exactly what our paid media team helps with.
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