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One Setting: AI Max for Search

What AI Max for Search does, what's on by default, what it changes in your account, and how Jerry runs it: start with search term matching, mine the reports, and treat Google-written copy with caution.

Jerry Quin, · 7:24

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One setting, explained: AI Max for Search campaigns. What it is, what Google turns on by default, what it changes in your account, how it goes wrong, and how I actually run it. Google said it would start moving some existing campaigns to AI Max automatically in September, so check whether yours already have it on.

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Sources

All facts in this episode come from Google's own help pages, announcements and API documentation, checked Oct 13, 2026. Opinions are mine.

Transcript

I'm usually skeptical of new launches until they prove their worth. I'll test everything, and I don't write something off until I have more than one poor use case.

AI Max has had a year and a half to prove itself. And for a lot of advertisers, the choice of whether to test it is going away. Google said it would start switching some existing campaigns over in September.

So this episode is one setting: what it is, what it changes, and how I actually run it.

This is One Setting, from The Keywordless. I'm Jerry Quin.

Each episode takes one setting in your ad account and works through the same questions: what it is, what's on by default, what it changes, who it's for, how it goes wrong, how I'd set it up, and the one thing to do this week.

Today, AI Max for Search campaigns.

What it is

AI Max isn't a new campaign type. Google describes it as an optimization layer inside your existing Search campaigns. You turn it on per campaign, and it brings three features.

The first is search term matching. Your ads can show on searches beyond your keyword list, using broad match plus what Google calls keywordless technology, which matches on your landing pages and your ads.

The second is text customization. Google writes additional headlines and descriptions from your site, your ads, and your keywords.

The third is final URL expansion. Google can send a click to a different page on your site if it thinks that page fits the search better.

It's not a black box where you turn it on and hope for the best. You get levers: URL exclusions, brand controls, guidelines for the copy, and settings at the ad group level.

At the ad group level, the settings are brand inclusions, URL inclusions, and locations of interest.

What's on by default

New Search campaigns built in the Google Ads interface have AI Max selected by default. When AI Max is on, search term matching comes with it.

The other two features are less clear. Google's interface help pages say text customization and final URL expansion are on by default once you opt in. Google's own API documentation says they start switched off. So depending on how a campaign was built, the defaults can differ. Open the campaign and check.

Then there are existing campaigns. Google announced that campaigns using automatically created assets, or the campaign-level broad match setting, would be upgraded to AI Max automatically starting in September. Dynamic Search Ads campaigns follow starting in February twenty twenty-seven.

Their platform, their rules. We'll adapt. And the people who've been testing will benefit from months of learning and fine-tuning.

To me, it looks like a shift toward a keywordless world at some point.

What it changes

Three things change.

Your reach. Search term matching finds queries your keywords wouldn't. Google says an exact match keyword that's identical to the search still takes priority. But if you were using the old campaign-level broad match setting, your broad keywords no longer get that exact-match-style priority.

I do feel it opens you up to a lot of poor-quality traffic. But it's not the poor traffic of broad match in the past. It can also surface those long-tail searches and one-offs, the kind that AI Overviews and conversational search are bringing out.

Your ads. Google says its written headlines only serve when they're predicted to beat yours. You can't edit them. You can remove them, one at a time in the interface, or in bulk through Editor or the API.

Your landing pages. With final URL expansion on, Google can choose the page. When it does, your pinned headlines aren't used. If you pin a disclaimer or an offer, that matters.

Who it's for

Google lists two requirements. Search term matching doesn't work with manual CPC, so you need conversion-based Smart Bidding. And Google says AI Max won't be effective if the campaign is limited by budget.

Beyond that:

I think all accounts, whether they're well established or just starting out, can benefit from it. Best practice is best practice, and best practice says test on more established accounts first. I like to go against best practice, and honestly, I see similar results with newer accounts.

And if Google is moving accounts into this anyway, I wouldn't tell anyone not to test it.

The three parts

Search term matching is one of the core benefits of AI Max. That's where I'd start.

Where I'm more cautious is text customization and final URL expansion. Of the two, I like final URL expansion better.

With text customization, I typically see lower-quality copy. Copy that sounds like it was generated by AI. Because it was.

I get better results writing ad copy with Claude. It feels more on brand on the first try.

If you do leave text customization on, Google gives you a few tools. There's a new preview that shows up to ten sample headlines and descriptions before you opt in. And there are text guidelines, where you can exclude terms and set messaging rules for what Google writes.

How it goes wrong

This isn't a magic setting. It can go bad if you're not mining the search terms report, and if you're not mining the landing page report.

In the search terms report, there's an "AI Max" match type, with a source column showing whether a match came from broad match or from keywordless matching. The landing pages report shows which pages AI Max chose.

One caution from Google's own help page: if you filter the search terms report to the AI Max match type, the totals can come out lower than they really are, because that filter leaves out the "other search terms" row.

A few more things worth knowing:

Pinned headlines are skipped when final URL expansion or URL inclusions choose the page.

Google warns that expanded URLs can break and return a 404 if your tracking templates aren't set up for them.

Brand exclusions on a Search campaign need AI Max on. Google says that if you turn AI Max off, your brand exclusions and URL rules stop applying too. So switching it off isn't automatically the safe choice.

One more use most people miss

It can be good. It can open you up to searches you wouldn't have even shown for. You can even use it for brand or competitor campaigns, if you set up your brand inclusion lists properly.

Brand inclusions tell Google to show your ads only on searches that contain the brands on your list. In an AI Max campaign, that keeps the expanded reach inside the brand terms you choose.

The one thing to do this week

Turn AI Max on. Make sure your negative keyword list is extensive. Add URL exclusions. And if you leave text customization on, refine your text guidelines.

And check which of your existing Search campaigns already have it on, especially ones that used automatically created assets or the broad match setting. Those were set to switch in September.

That's One Setting. The sources for this episode, all from Google's own help pages and announcements, are linked on thekeywordless.com.

The Keywordless Weekly is out every Monday.

I'm Jerry Quin. One setting at a time.