What Google actually changed
A running log of Google Ads changes, with the date, the source, and the part most coverage leaves out: what it means for the account you are responsible for.
Every entry names its source and the date it was announced, so you can check us. The "what it changes for you" note is our reading, not Google's wording - we mark the difference because the two get blurred constantly. Where we do not know something, we say so rather than filling the gap.
Google changes its platform faster than any page can promise to track. Always check Google's current documentation before acting on anything here.
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2026-09-01Deprecation
You can no longer create new Dynamic Search Ads campaigns
After September 2026, new DSA campaigns cannot be created through the Google Ads interface, Google Ads Editor, or the Google Ads API. Existing DSA campaigns continue to run until the sunset.
What it changes for youIf you have scripts or tooling that create DSA campaigns, they break here. We build our own campaign tooling against the API, so this one hit our own code first. Check any automated pipeline before it fails quietly.Source: Google Ads & Commerce Blog
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2026-09-01Forced migration
Campaigns using automatically created assets or campaign-level broad match are auto-upgraded to AI Max
This is the September wave of the AI Max migration, and it landed on schedule. For accounts using automatically created assets, search term matching and text customisation switch on. For accounts using the campaign-level broad match setting, search term matching enables by default.
What it changes for youSearch term matching turning on by default is a targeting expansion you did not ask for. Set brand restrictions and check the search terms report weekly for the first month, and do it before the change rather than after you find competitor brand names in the report.Source: Google Ads & Commerce Blog
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2026-06-11Deadline moved
Dynamic Search Ads sunset pushed back to February 2027
The DSA sunset and auto-upgrade was originally set for September 2026 and has been extended to February 2027. Note that only the sunset moved - the September restrictions above did not.
What it changes for youTwo deadlines, not one, and most write-ups still conflate them. You have until February 2027 to run existing DSA campaigns, but only until September 2026 to build new ones. Plan launches accordingly.Source: Google Ads & Commerce Blog
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2026-05-20Announcement
Google Marketing Live 2026: a unified Gemini agent across the ad stack
Google announced a new unified agent built with Gemini spanning Google Ads, Google Analytics, Merchant Center and Google Marketing Platform, alongside a set of AI features for creating, capturing and converting demand.
What it changes for youTreat announcements as direction, not as something in your account today. The practical question for any agentic feature is what it is allowed to change without asking you. Find that setting before you switch anything on.Source: blog.google, Google Marketing Live 2026
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2025-11-11Measurement
Incrementality testing improvements
Enhanced tools for measuring the causal impact of campaigns - whether the conversions would have happened anyway.
What it changes for youThe most under-used report in Google Ads. Attribution tells you which touchpoint got credit; incrementality tells you whether the spend created anything. If you have the volume to run one, run one before you increase a budget.Source: Google Ads Help - New features & announcements
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2025-11-07Brand safety
Brand suitability controls expanded to YouTube Home Feed, Watch Next Feed and Discover
New inventory type controls and excluded content themes are now available across those placements.
What it changes for youWorth ten minutes on any account running video or Demand Gen. Defaults are permissive, and the excluded content themes list is where you stop your ad appearing next to something you would not want it next to.Source: Google Ads Help - New features & announcements
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2025-11-06Reporting
Performance Max adds Waze inventory and channel performance reporting
Waze ads inventory became available for store goals campaigns, and channel performance reporting was added.
What it changes for youChannel performance reporting is the more useful half. Performance Max has long been criticised as a black box; anything that tells you which channel spent your money is worth turning on and reading.Source: Google Ads Help - New features & announcements
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2025-10-03Deprecation
Call-only ads deprecated - move to call assets in responsive search ads
In Google's wording: "Call ads (call-only ads) are being deprecated. To continue generating valuable phone call leads, you must transition to using call assets within responsive search ads (RSAs)."
What it changes for youIf your business runs on inbound calls, this is the deprecation that actually costs money when missed. Check every campaign for call-only ads, rebuild as RSAs with call assets, and verify call conversion tracking still fires afterwards - it often does not.Source: Google Ads Help - New features & announcements
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2025-09-05Feature
Campaigns can send users to both web and app
Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns can direct users to web and app destinations at the same time.
What it changes for youOnly relevant if you have an app. If you do, check what it does to your conversion counting before you enable it - two destinations means two ways to double-count the same customer.Source: Google Ads Help - New features & announcements
Tell us at dat@defio.io or raise it on the discussion page. We would rather be corrected than be wrong in public.
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