Paid Media News (Week 29)
More in-platform insight for lead generation and Shopping
Google’s growing set of account-level tools was a recurring theme: more explanations, more lead detail and more control over how inventory is selected.
A digest of the original edition. Updates and availability reflect what was reported at the time.
AI performance explanations expand in the campaigns view.
Google Ads is showing more AI-written performance summaries directly above the campaign table. They cover click changes, conversion drops broken down by bid strategy, and conversion-value shifts, with suggested prompts that open the AI chat.
Read this update in detail →A Leads section arrives under the Conversions menu.
Google Ads has started rolling out the Leads section that works as a lightweight CRM for Google Lead Form submissions. You can view all submissions in one place, mark leads as Qualified or Converted, and track progress without leaving the platform.
Read this update in detail →Local Inventory Ads are switched on by default for Shopping campaigns.
Google is turning Local Inventory Ads on by default in eligible Shopping campaigns and removing the "Local products" drop-down from Other settings. A new inventory filter (Channel = Local or Online) takes over, and the notice applies to accounts linked to a Merchant Centre with the local inventory add-on enabled.
Read this update in detail →Business data feeds reach Demand Gen campaigns.
Google is bringing business data feeds to Demand Gen, enabling dynamic ads without a Merchant Centrer account. The capability targets non-retail verticals such as travel, real estate, and automotive, and currently applies to Google Display Network inventory within Demand Gen.
Read this update in detail →Video campaign groups coordinate reach and frequency
Google has introduced video campaign groups, which manage reach and frequency across multiple video campaigns while individual campaign settings stay in place. PPC News Feed reports the option is now available globally.
Read this update in detail →Passkeys become required for sensitive account actions.
Google is rolling out a requirement to use passkeys for sensitive Google Ads actions, such as managing users, adding accounts, and updating billing. The rollout is phased, and Google's Ads Liaison advises setting up passkeys now rather than waiting.
Read this update in detail →Google says the budget-limited bidding change is not a broader update.
Ahead of the 17 August change for budget-limited campaigns, Google's Ads Liaison, Ginny Marvin, confirmed that the update only affects budget-constrained campaigns using a target and is not a broader Smart Bidding change. She added that it will not result in any changes to spending, and that a campaign whose target is reset to its current achieved average should continue to perform as it does now.
Read this update in detail →Performance Max product reporting pulls from all networks
Product-level reporting in Performance Max now includes data from all eligible networks, per a Google notice shared by Bia Camargo. Google notes the change can produce a one-time increase in reported metrics.
Read this update in detail →A High Engagement Ads setting appears for App campaigns
Google Ads now offers a High Engagement Ads setting for App campaigns, enabling ad formats that focus on attributed conversions and stronger user engagement. The setting is optional and is at the account level, alongside a new Click to Call Terms item that shows whether communication terms were accepted.
Read this update in detail →Shopping ads and free listings expand to 14 more countries
Google is expanding eligibility for Shopping ads and free listings to 14 additional countries. The change broadens where product inventory can be served across Google surfaces.
Read this update in detail →Merchant Centre rolls out an AI performance report.
Select Merchant Centre accounts now show an AI performance report inside Analytics, surfacing AI Mode and AI Overviews data for your products. Metrics include query groups users type into AI search, share of voice for those terms, term popularity, and popular product attributes, following help documentation first spotted by Hana Kobzová and interface digging by Brodie Clark.
Read this update in detail →Merchant Centre pilots a Business Agent in early access.
Merchant Centre has introduced rolling out Business Agent in early access, an AI agent that helps your business on Google by answering shopper questions and recommending products customised to match your brand and is rolling out to select accounts. For you, this means an AI layer may soon sit between your catalogue and shoppers on Google, so review how it represents your products if you get access.
Read this update in detail →Promotions add Google Wallet and physical-store placements.
Merchant Centre Promotions now lets you choose placements across Shopping ads, free listings, Chrome, and, newly, Google Wallet in the Physical Stores. Businesses with physical stores can also run promotions through Local Inventory Ads, free local listings, and Wallet.
Read this update in detail →Shopping ads and free listings policies merge in September
Google will consolidate its Shopping ads and free listings policies into one unified set on September 2, standardising requirements across paid and unpaid product surfaces. For you, this means one policy checklist instead of two, so review the combined rules when they are published to catch any tightening requirements.
Read this update in detail →Merchant Centre changes how it handles blocked crawls
Google has updated the way Merchant Centre handles cases where Googlebot cannot access your website. The changes affect diagnostics for sites with crawl or hosting issues.
Read this update in detail →Bing tests a new images section in the results.
Bing is testing an enhanced images section within its search results, as spotted by Sachin Patel. The test adds visual content to result pages where it previously showed standard listings.
Read this update in detail →Google tests Read more links in mobile Search ads
Google is testing a "Read more" link in mobile Search ads that expands longer descriptions without sending the user to the site. The test was spotted and shared by Khushal Bherwani, so scope and rollout are unconfirmed.
Read this update in detail →AI Max shows how it rewrites your headlines
Arpan Banerjee has flagged a refreshed AI Max text customisation interface in Search campaign creation. Instead of describing the feature, Google now visually shows how AI rewrites headlines based on the user's query.
Read this update in detail →Google updates three ad policies in one sweep
Google has published three policy changes affecting regulated categories. For you, this means new eligibility and certification requirements between late July and mid-September, so check each policy against your verticals now.
Read this update in detail →Feed-based product ads appear, and answers show multiple ads.
ChatGPT has begun showing product ads generated from retailer feeds, displaying a title, price, and star rating in a format resembling sponsored products, with responses now carrying up to two ad units at the bottom. The feed method follows OpenAI's addition of product-feed support in its Ads Manager, and continues the shopping-format iteration covered in Week 27.
Read this update in detail →Google Tag Manager adds tag-type filtering.
Google Tag Manager now lets you filter the tag list by tag type, with multiple filters applied at once, such as viewing only GA4 and Microsoft Clarity tags. Search previously acted as a rough filter, but this works by type directly.
Read this update in detail →Brand Lift studies expand with an Enhanced option.
Google Ads has expanded the availability of Brand Lift studies and added an Enhanced option, as Thomas Eccel flagged. The Enhanced study carries a lower reported lift threshold but requires a larger budget than the Standard version.
Read this update in detail →Snapchat and DICK'S Media link ads to sales in a clean room
Snapchat has announced a measurement partnership with DICK'S Media that combines Snapchat ad exposure with DICK'S sales data in LiveRamp's data clean room. The stated aim is to show how Snapchat campaigns drive verified online and in-store sales.
Read this update in detail →Meta's AI assistant surfaces inside Ads Manager
Meta is starting to integrate its AI assistant into Ads Manager, with new buttons appearing at all three levels: Optimise Budget on campaigns, Analyse Audience Engagement on ad sets, and Analyse Creative Engagement on ads. The buttons are visible in some accounts but not yet clickable.
Read this update in detail →Carousel ads gain a Collage display option.
Meta's latest ad creation flow lets you show carousel media as a single media ad, with Collage, single image or video, and video slideshow options. The controls sit under Format display options at the ad level and reuse the media from your original carousel.
Read this update in detail →Highest Volume bidding pairs with a min ROAS goal in beta
Meta is testing the ability to combine the Highest Volume bid strategy with a minimum ROAS goal, currently in beta. Min ROAS was previously available only with Highest Value.
Read this update in detail →The Audiences interface gets a cleaner layout.
Meta has refreshed the Audiences interface with dedicated sections for Customers, Engaged Audiences, Lookalikes, Saved Audiences, and Unlabeled Audiences. The update is still rolling out across accounts.
Read this update in detail →Meta opens its ads MCP server to developers
Meta has made its ads MCP server available, allowing AI applications to connect to advertising capabilities, including campaign and optimisation, performance insights, and catalogue management, through natural language. The announcement covers developer access rather than changes to Ads Manager itself.
Read this update in detail →Walmart rewrites content rules for AI-driven shopping.
Walmart has released new content guidelines that take effect now, and sellers report titles over 90 characters being rejected ahead of a formal mandate. Walmart's standardisation of Sparky, its AI shopping agent, whose weekly active users are up over 100% quarter-on-quarter.
Read this update in detail →Amazon cuts China-based storage costs for US sellers.
Amazon's Global Warehousing and Distribution now offers 30 days of free storage for shipments received between 1 July and 31 December 2026, at rates already up to 45% below AWD. Amazon is also opening a Shanghai facility and adding FOB support, allowing exporters to keep separate invoices for tax rebates.
Read this update in detail →Amazon tests hiding the Other Sellers section.
Some Amazon product pages no longer show the "Other Sellers on Amazon" section beneath the Buy Box, even where multiple offers are active on the SKU. Amazon has not confirmed the change, and results vary across accounts and locations, suggesting a test that follows the Featured Offer eligibility change covered in Week 28.
Read this update in detail →Amazon tells 1P vendors it will reverse tariff cost increases.
Amazon has begun notifying 1P vendors that it will reverse tariff-related cost price increases, effective as of August 2026, presenting this as a change rather than a negotiation. Martin Heubel notes that a cost shown on a purchase order form is part of Amazon's contract terms once confirmed.
Read this update in detail →Amazon expands AI image analysis for product listings.
Amazon is expanding AI analysis of listing images, evaluating visual attributes alongside titles, descriptions, and attribute fields to understand products. Strong, relevant imagery may help Amazon match products to shopper intent across its AI-powered experiences.
Read this update in detail →Search-click behaviour holds steady as Alexa replaces Rufus.
Bradley Sutton has shared Search Query Performance data suggesting clicks straight after an Amazon keyword search have changed little in two and a half years. Clicks rose through Q1, then dipped in the two months since Alexa for Shopping replaced Rufus, which he says could indicate more shoppers consulting Alexa after searching.
Read this update in detail →Alexa shopping adds AI-powered custom merch.
Amazon is expanding Alexa shopping so customers can describe design ideas in natural language and generate custom products through Amazon Merch on Demand. Amazon fulfils items and keeps the whole flow inside its ecosystem.
Read this update in detail →WARC charts YouTube's slowing ad growth
WARC Media's latest Platform Insights report shows YouTube's ad revenue growth decelerating from 14.7% in 2024 to 11.7% in 2025, with a forecast of 7.9% by 2027, putting TikTok on track to overtake it in 2028. Fospha data cited in the report suggests that last-click attribution underreports YouTube's revenue contribution by 15.9x.
Read this update in detail →Top Stories appear in Google AI Overviews
Google has begun showing news updates and Top Stories inside AI Overviews for mobile users in the United States. The stories appear in a carousel that also highlights a user's Preferred Sources, with further expansion expected.
Read this update in detail →Judge calls both sides' penalty figures extreme in the Meta addiction trial
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has rejected both parties' civil penalty estimates ahead of the advisory jury trial in Oakland, now set to begin on 12 August 2026. In a three-hour pretrial hearing, she called the state's $1.4 trillion calculation unreasonable, while describing Meta's $4m counter-proposal as not even a slap on the hand.
Read this update in detail →The EU tells Google how to open Android and share search data.
The European Commission has adopted two DMA specification decisions covering Google. The first sets out how Android must open functionality to third-party AI assistants under Article 6(7), noting that alternatives currently cannot compete equally with Google's own AI services, and the second, which anonymises click and query data Google must share, with whom, and at what price under Article 6(11).
Read this update in detail →France's competition authority weighs in on agentic commerce.
The Autorité de la concurrence has published an opinion on the competition implications of AI agents and agentic commerce, warning that agents could become the next major gateway to the digital economy. It recommends enforcing existing rules, including the AI Act, keeping AI distribution open, and promoting interoperability and data portability rather than drafting regulations.
Read this update in detail →Moonshot releases Kimi K3 as the largest open-weight model yet
Moonshot AI has released Kimi K3, a 2.8-trillion-parameter open-weight model with a one-million-token context window and native visual understanding. Moonshot says it trails Claude Fable 5 and GPT-5.6 Sol on overall performance but consistently beats Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5 on coding, visual understanding, and long-horizon tasks, and it led Arena's front-end programming leaderboard within a day of launch.
Read this update in detail →The OpenAI Partner Network goes live
OpenAI's Partner Network is now officially live, with applications open, a Partner Locator for finding partners by expertise, and training and enablement on a Partner Hub with badges and tiers, formalising the ecosystem announced last month. For you, this means agencies and consultancies can now certify OpenAI expertise, so expect partner badges to start appearing in vendor selection.
Read this update in detail →Copilot Cowork adds event triggers and browser automation.
Microsoft Copilot Cowork can now run tasks triggered by events across Teams, Outlook, and meetings, described in plain language, such as a specific sender, an @mention, or a keyword. Everything runs on a draft-and-approve model under the user's own permissions, and browser automation is now generally available, building on the general availability of Cowork covered in Week 27.
Read this update in detail →The advertiser takeaway
Use platform diagnostics to guide investigation. Keep CRM statuses in sync and confirm that inventory filters still match the way your budgets are organised.
Explore the original edition
Every update from this edition is linked above. Explore the original newsletter for its full context, contributor credits and reporting links.
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