Google postponed the automatic migration of Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max from September 2026 to February 2027. That delay covers DSA only. Campaigns using automatically created assets or the campaign-level broad match setting still auto-upgrade to AI Max starting in September 2026, with search term matching enabled by default. If you run Search campaigns and have not checked which settings they use, some of your campaigns are five weeks from changing how they match queries.
The delay made headlines. The exception did not. That gap is exactly where advertisers get hurt, because the campaigns that flip in September are the ones running on quiet settings someone enabled years ago and nobody has looked at since. This guide separates what moved from what did not, what the upgrade actually changes, and what a Canadian SMB should do before the flip.
01. The Quick Answer
- Delayed to February 2027: automatic migration of Dynamic Search Ads campaigns. DSA creation was restored June 15, 2026 and ends again in January 2027.
- Still September 2026: auto-upgrade of campaigns using automatically created assets (ACA) and the campaign-level broad match setting.
- What gets enabled: search term matching by default for both groups, plus text customization for ACA campaigns.
- What to do: inventory affected campaigns, baseline performance, verify conversion tracking, review pinned assets, and set guardrails before Google flips the switch.
02. The Delay Headline That Created a False Sense of Safety
On April 15, 2026, Google announced AI Max was leaving beta and that three legacy features would automatically upgrade to it starting in September: Dynamic Search Ads, automatically created assets, and the campaign-level broad match setting.
On June 11, 2026, Google announced a change: the DSA automigration moved to February 2027, and DSA campaign creation came back on June 15. Nearly every headline compressed that into "Google delays AI Max migration."
What most advertisers get wrong:
The June announcement covers Dynamic Search Ads and nothing else. It does not mention automatically created assets or the campaign-level broad match setting, and Google's September timeline for those two remains in force. An account with no DSA campaigns at all can still have most of its Search campaigns scheduled to flip in September.
The practical consequence: advertisers who read the delay coverage and moved on are preparing for the wrong deadline. The February date matters if you run DSA. The September date matters if anyone who ever managed your account turned on ACA or campaign-level broad match, and both of those were heavily promoted defaults in Google's own recommendations tab for years.
03. The Full Timeline
Google states it expects the September upgrades for eligible campaigns to conclude by the end of that month, with account notifications before the transition begins. Watch for those notifications, but do not wait for them to start preparing.
04. What Actually Changes When a Campaign Flips
AI Max is three features that can each be controlled separately once the campaign is upgraded:
- Search term matching. Expands the queries your ads can enter beyond your keyword list, using your ads, landing pages, and intent signals. This is the feature that changes spend patterns, because your campaign starts competing on queries you never added.
- Text customization. Generates ad text from your domain, landing pages, existing ads, and keywords. The successor to automatically created assets.
- Final URL expansion. Lets Google send traffic to whatever page on your domain it judges most relevant to the query, not just your designated landing page.
In the September auto-upgrade, Google mirrors your legacy setup rather than enabling everything. ACA campaigns get search term matching plus text customization. Campaign-level broad match campaigns get search term matching. Final URL expansion is not force-enabled in either September case, which is one small mercy in the default configuration.
The controls that come with AI Max are real and worth using: URL exclusions and inclusions, brand inclusion and exclusion lists, and per-ad-group search term matching toggles. The problem is not that the controls are missing. It is that in an auto-upgrade nobody is in the room to set them.
05. The Pinned-Asset Gotcha Most Advertisers Miss
Buried in Google's setup documentation is a rule with outsized consequences for anyone in a regulated or brand-sensitive category: when final URL expansion is turned on, pinned Responsive Search Ad assets are not used if Google chooses a more relevant URL. The same applies when URL inclusions are enabled.
Advertisers pin headlines for reasons: legal disclaimers, regulated claims wording, franchise brand standards, French-language requirements. If a future settings change or a DSA migration in February enables final URL expansion, those pins stop being guarantees. Google's own fix is explicit: to always use pinned assets, turn off final URL expansion.
Why it matters: this is a silent behaviour change. Nothing warns you that a pinned disclaimer did not serve. If compliance wording matters in your category, audit this setting on every upgraded campaign.
06. The September Readiness Checklist
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| Identify affected campaigns | Filter for campaigns using automatically created assets or the campaign-level broad match setting. These flip in September, not February. |
| Baseline performance now | Export search terms, conversions, cost per conversion, and top queries for each affected campaign so post-upgrade drift is measurable. |
| Verify conversion tracking | AI Max leans on Smart Bidding. If your conversion tags undercount or double-count, the AI optimizes toward bad data. |
| Review pinned assets | Final URL expansion and URL inclusions can bypass pinned Responsive Search Ad assets. Critical for regulated or brand-controlled messaging. |
| Set your guardrails | Configure URL exclusions, brand lists, and negative keywords before the flip, not after the first surprising search terms report. |
| Decide opt-in vs opt-out per campaign | Upgrade deliberately through the UI prompts where AI Max fits, and pre-configure or disable features where it does not. |
Google also offers one-click experiments to test AI Max against your current setup. If you have the traffic to support a split, an experiment run in July and August is the cleanest way to know what September will do to your account before September does it.
07. Budget and Query Drift: What to Watch in October
Search term matching is the feature that moves money. After the flip, review the search terms report weekly for the first month. What you are looking for: queries far outside your service area or product line, brand terms you did not intend to bid on, and informational queries that click but never convert. Feed what you find into negative keyword lists quickly, because Smart Bidding learns from whatever traffic it gets.
Conversion tracking accuracy matters double here. AI Max optimizes toward your conversion signals, so a broken or double-firing tag does not just distort reporting, it steers spending. This is the same verification discipline we apply to feed and conversion setup across Google, Microsoft, and Meta, and it belongs on the September checklist, not the October postmortem.
For Canadian merchants, the timing lands right on BFCM ramp-up. A September flip followed by an unreviewed October means your highest-spend weeks run on matching behaviour you have never audited. Plan the review cycles now. If you run product ads across multiple platforms, our multichannel advertising guide covers the wider channel picture.
08. How AtlanticWorks Helps
AtlanticWorks manages Google, Microsoft, and Meta advertising for SMBs across Atlantic Canada, and we are running AI Max readiness on the accounts we manage now: identifying which campaigns flip in September, baselining performance, verifying conversion tracking, setting URL and brand guardrails, and scheduling the post-flip search term reviews. AI-driven matching is also changing how buyers find businesses organically, which is why we treat this alongside GEO and AEO as one shift, not two. If your Search campaigns have been running on autopilot settings, the audit is worth doing before Google does it for you.
09. Key Takeaways
- The February 2027 delay covers Dynamic Search Ads only.
- Campaigns using automatically created assets or campaign-level broad match still auto-upgrade to AI Max starting September 2026.
- Search term matching gets enabled by default, which changes which queries your budget competes on.
- Final URL expansion and URL inclusions can bypass pinned Responsive Search Ad assets.
- Baseline performance and verify conversion tracking before the flip; review search terms weekly after it.
- Upgrading voluntarily before September keeps the settings decisions in your hands.
10. Frequently Asked Questions
What is Google AI Max for Search?
AI Max is a suite of AI-powered features for Google Search campaigns that came out of beta in April 2026. Its three main features are search term matching, which expands the queries your ads can show for beyond your keywords, text customization, which generates ad assets from your site and ads, and final URL expansion, which sends traffic to pages Google considers most relevant. Google positions it as the successor to Dynamic Search Ads, automatically created assets, and the campaign-level broad match setting.
Was the Google AI Max migration delayed?
Only partly. On June 11, 2026 Google announced that the automatic migration of Dynamic Search Ads campaigns is postponed from September 2026 to February 2027, and DSA campaign creation was restored on June 15, 2026. The announcement covers DSA only. Google's April 2026 announcement that campaigns using automatically created assets and the campaign-level broad match setting will auto-upgrade to AI Max starting in September 2026 still stands.
What happens to my campaigns when they auto-upgrade to AI Max?
Google enables AI Max with settings configured to mirror your legacy setup. Campaigns that used automatically created assets get search term matching and text customization enabled by default. Campaigns that used the campaign-level broad match setting get search term matching enabled by default. When DSA campaigns migrate in February 2027, all three AI Max features are enabled, dynamic ad groups become standard ad groups, and existing Dynamic Search Ads become Responsive Search Ads.
Can I turn AI Max off after the auto-upgrade?
Yes. AI Max is controlled per campaign in the campaign settings, where you can toggle the overall setting off or adjust individual features. Search term matching can also be controlled at the ad group level, and you can add URL exclusions, URL inclusions, and brand inclusion or exclusion lists to constrain where AI Max sends traffic and what it writes about. What you cannot do is keep the legacy features: automatically created assets and the campaign-level broad match setting are being retired in favour of AI Max controls.
Does AI Max override pinned headlines in Responsive Search Ads?
It can. Per Google's documentation, when final URL expansion is turned on, pinned Responsive Search Ad assets are not used if Google chooses a more relevant URL, and the same applies when URL inclusions are enabled. If you pin headlines for legal, regulatory, or brand compliance reasons, this is the single most important setting to review, because the auto-upgrade can silently change which text serves. To always use pinned assets, turn off final URL expansion.
What should Canadian advertisers do before September 2026?
Inventory which campaigns use automatically created assets or the campaign-level broad match setting, since those flip first. Baseline current performance, including search terms, conversion volume, and cost per conversion, so you can measure what the upgrade changes. Verify conversion tracking is accurate, because AI Max leans on Smart Bidding and bad conversion data compounds. Then decide deliberately: opt in early through the upgrade prompts to control the settings yourself, or configure the features you do not want before Google enables them for you.
Is Dynamic Search Ads going away completely?
Yes, on the extended timeline. Google restored DSA campaign creation on June 15, 2026 to give advertisers a longer testing window. The ability to create new DSA campaigns ends in January 2027, and in February 2027 any remaining active DSA campaigns are automatically upgraded. Google recommends running side-by-side experiments against AI Max during the extension rather than waiting for the forced migration.
Related resources
Google Shopping, Meta, Microsoft, and Reddit for Canadian merchants
The feed and conversion setup AI Max will optimize against
The organic side of AI-driven discovery
Where paid media fits in a lean marketing stack
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