Paid Media News (Week 30)
Lead generation and campaign management move closer together
This edition followed changes that brought lead capture, local advertising and campaign diagnostics further into the platforms advertisers already use.
A digest of the original edition. Updates and availability reflect what was reported at the time.
Local Services Ads migrate into Google Ads as a PMax pay-per-lead
Google confirmed Local Services Ads will move into Google Ads, starting August 2026 for select US home-service verticals such as plumbing and HVAC. LSA campaigns become a pay-per-lead option within Performance Max.
Read this update in detail →LSA verification appears to get easier
A new banner in the LSA platform flags changes to LSA verification. It suggests verification is being simplified, which had been a barrier for local advertisers.
Read this update in detail →Google drops the $50k spend requirement for lead form assets
Google has removed the $50,000 lifetime ad spend requirement for lead form assets. Any advertiser can now attach lead forms to campaigns.
Read this update in detail →Missed Opportunities graduates from Labs to Recommendations
The Missed Growth Opportunities tool moved from Labs to the Recommendations tab, renamed Missed Opportunities. It shows traffic, conversions, and revenue lost to limited bids or budget caps.
Read this update in detail →The Demand Gen Brand report starts rolling out
The Brand report announced months ago is appearing in accounts. It shows branded searches generated per Demand Gen campaign and cost against branded-search trends over time.
Read this update in detail →Google confirms AI matches Shopping ads to long-tail queries and tailors copy
Google says its AI now matches Shopping ads to natural-language, long-tail searches, not just exact product terms. Ad copy is tailored using Merchant Center feed details, confirmed in updated PMax documentation.
Read this update in detail →Product clicks and non-product clicks split shopping reporting
Google added two metrics to product reporting: product clicks and non-product clicks. They separate clicks on the product itself from clicks on other ad elements, not renamed columns.
Read this update in detail →Ads now appear on 29% of commercial AI Mode queries
An SE Ranking study of 50,032 keywords found ads showing on 29.45% of commercial queries in Google AI Mode. Greg Sterling notes Google sees AI Mode as a way to expand the number of SERPs carrying ads.
Read this update in detail →Household exclusions appear in a European PMax campaign
Household exclusions were spotted inside a Performance Max campaign, in a European account. The setting had not been seen in PMax before.
Read this update in detail →Reference images now guide AI image generation in Google Ads
The Generated tab in the Google Ads image picker now accepts reference images. You can add products, people, backgrounds, or style references so Google AI matches your intended look, alongside a 1,500-character prompt and new advanced options.
Read this update in detail →Google confirms the fix for the Shopify product ID bug
Google has confirmed a fix for the Shopify product ID issue that threatened merchants with lost product history. This closes the caveat first raised in Week 25 alongside the server-to-server integration.
Read this update in detail →Ask Advisor reaches Google Merchant Centre
The Ask Advisor chat, announced for Google Ads in May, is now appearing in Merchant Centre. Some accounts show an AI insights summary, a search box with suggested queries, and previous chats.
Read this update in detail →Manufacturer Centre manual updates wind down as data moves to Merchant Centre [Reminder]
Google is changing how Manufacturer Centre handles manual updates, with brand product data surfacing in Merchant Centre. Practitioners will see how their products perform there instead.
Read this update in detail →A "Has improvements" tracking status appears on conversion actions
A new "Has improvements" Tracking Status was spotted on a store visit conversion action during an account audit. Clicking it shows what is missing to enhance the conversion setup.
Read this update in detail →Bing ads pop out of the results as you scroll
Bing is showing ads that visually pop out during scrolling. The animated treatment appeared for multiple observers this week.
Read this update in detail →Policy appeals now expire after six months
From 21 July, you cannot appeal a policy decision made more than six months ago from your account. Older decisions fall outside the in-account appeal route entirely.
Read this update in detail →EU financial advertiser verification starts rolling out
Google's tightened verification for financial services advertisers began rolling out across the EU this week. Identities are verified before campaigns launch, not after.
Read this update in detail →Spain opens to telemedicine prescription drug ads from August
Google is updating its Healthcare and Medicines policy in August to let telemedicine providers promote prescription drug services in Spain. Providers must hold LegitScript's Healthcare Merchant Certification, and violations receive a warning at least seven days before any account suspension.
Read this update in detail →Google posts further policy updates for August
Google logged two more changes in its policy change log. For you, this means regulated verticals face fresh requirements, so check each policy against your markets.
Read this update in detail →Google Ads API v25 ships with YouTube breakdowns and loyalty goals
Version 25 of the Google Ads API landed on 22 July. It adds YouTube ad sub-format breakdowns by duration, Shorts social metrics for comments, likes, and shares, a loyalty retention goal, and a revamped new customer acquisition goal.
Read this update in detail →The Content API for Shopping gets a sunset extension
Google has extended the Content API for Shopping timeline, reported by Search Engine Roundtable. Developers gain more time to migrate to the Merchant API.
Read this update in detail →AI Max rewrites over a quarter of exact match impressions, smec data shows
Smarter Ecommerce analysed 383 million Search impressions with AI Max activated. Over 25% of exact match keyword impressions were served on AI Max's expanded matching rather than the keyword as written.
Read this update in detail →Conversions arrives as a campaign objective
ChatGPT Ads now offers Conversions as a campaign objective, currently for Standard campaigns only, not Product feed campaigns. For you, this means optimisation beyond clicks becomes possible, so test the objective against your existing setup.
Read this update in detail →OpenAI rolls out automated bidding
A new bid strategy removes manual bid prices entirely. OpenAI's algorithms decide which auctions to enter to get the most results from your budget.
Read this update in detail →Budgets go weekly, UTMs reach all levels, and vertical policies clarify
Three ChatGPT Ads changes landed together. For you, this means the platform is maturing fast while shifting spend control, so recheck budget pacing under the weekly model.
Read this update in detail →Conversion reporting adds a segmented tooltip with view-through data
Hovering the Conversions column now shows a tooltip with three segments, including conversion value and view-through attribution. For you, this means ChatGPT Ads reporting gains attribution depth, so note how much credit comes from views rather than clicks.
Read this update in detail →Scheduling BigQuery queries on the hour can run them twice
Scheduled BigQuery queries set exactly on the hour can execute twice. Scheduling a few minutes before or after the hour avoids the double run.
Read this update in detail →Microsoft Clarity groups AI citation queries into topics
Clarity's AI Citations dashboard now clusters citation queries into automatically generated topics. As AI search cites more sites, the grouping shows which themes drive citations.
Read this update in detail →Meta adds a ROAS goal to Maximise number of conversions
Setting a ROAS goal is now available when optimising to maximise the number of conversions, not only conversion value. Meta can chase volume while holding a return threshold.
Read this update in detail →Ads MCP server permissions become manageable in Business Suite
You can now manage which actions third-party AI agents take in your ad accounts and catalogues, from a new MCP section under Integrations in Business Suite. This continues the MCP server opening covered in Week 29.
Read this update in detail →Amazon's 75-character title cap lands on 27 July with a new Item Highlights field [Reminder]
Amazon caps most product titles at 75 characters from 27 July, with media categories exempt. A new searchable Item Highlights field of up to 125 characters holds overflow specifications.
Read this update in detail →Amazon enforces its AI-generated human imagery rules now
A Seller Central alert and help page set out requirements for AI-generated human images, with immediate effect. Sellers must comply with the new disclosure rules as legislation rolls out.
Read this update in detail →Amazon tests an AI Targeting Strategy for Sponsored Products
A new Targeting strategy beta appeared at campaign level in manual Sponsored Products campaigns, off by default. Enabled, AI adds up to four new keyword and product targets.
Read this update in detail →Amazon expands Returnless Resolutions for FBA sellers
FBA sellers can now configure which products qualify for refunds without a physical return. Shipping back a $5 item can cost $8 to $12, so skipping the return saves money on cheap products.
Read this update in detail →Amazon expands location-based interactive video ads
Amazon expanded location-based video ads into three new locations in the Americas, with customisation for store locations, local offers, and clickthrough. A new console checkbox lets advertisers block demographic signals, limiting them to audiences without age or gender data, and applies only to first-party Amazon Studios video creative.
Read this update in detail →Amazon automates Streaming TV deal selection for Brand+ campaigns
Amazon introduced automatic Streaming TV deal selection for Brand+ campaigns. The system picks premium STV deals rather than requiring manual selection.
Read this update in detail →Negative keywords come to Walmart Advertising
Walmart is adding negative keywords to its ad platform. The long-requested control lets advertisers exclude irrelevant queries.
Read this update in detail →Alphabet posts a $112bn quarterly net profit
Alphabet reported $112bn in net profit for the quarter, more than all 40 DAX companies earned across 2025. The stock still fell on the report.
Read this update in detail →Yelp licenses its reviews to OpenAI for ChatGPT recommendations
OpenAI is licensing Yelp's reviews, ratings, photos, and business data to power real-time local recommendations in ChatGPT, per Axios. Human experience data becomes a key input for AI search.
Read this update in detail →Amazon Business reaches $60bn in sales
Amazon disclosed that Amazon Business now generates $60bn, up from $35bn in 2022. The B2B marketplace grows quietly inside the consumer one.
Read this update in detail →AI Overviews and AI Mode launch in France
Google launched both AI Overviews and AI Mode in France, announced by Search lead Elizabeth Reid. France had been a notable holdout market.
Read this update in detail →Google significantly updates its Crawl Budget documentation
Google rewrote its Crawl Budget documentation. Every site starts with a conservative crawl budget that adjusts based on demand and server capacity.
Read this update in detail →The EU fines Google €890m in its first DMA penalties
The European Commission fined Google €890m on 23 July across two Digital Markets Act decisions: €460m for self-preferencing its shopping, hotels, transport, and sports services in Search, and €430m for blocking Play developers from steering users to cheaper channels. Google has 60 days to comply or faces periodic penalties of up to 5% of worldwide turnover, and is weighing an appeal, while the US President criticised the decision as unjustified.
Read this update in detail →A court dismisses Google's lawsuit over search result scraping
A federal court threw out Google's case against SerpApi, a company scraping Google Search results. Google argued bypassing its anti-bot systems was unlawful; the court disagreed.
Read this update in detail →Anthropic launches Claude Opus 5
Claude Opus 5 approaches Fable 5's frontier intelligence at half the price, with state-of-the-art results on several coding and knowledge-work evaluations. It is positioned as thoughtful, proactive, and efficient.
Read this update in detail →Claude Cowork learns skills from screen recordings
Record your screen while doing a task, talking through it, and Claude turns the recording into a reusable skill. Next time, you run the skill instead of repeating the steps.
Read this update in detail →Claude Code gains a Security plugin in beta
The Claude Security plugin scans code for vulnerabilities before commits or across a codebase, from the terminal. It runs on the Claude inference you already pay for.
Read this update in detail →OpenAI launches Presence for managing live agents
OpenAI Presence helps enterprises test agents before launch and monitor them in production, treating launch as a milestone rather than the finish line. For you, this means agent operations tooling is formalising, so plan governance for any customer-facing agents you deploy.
Read this update in detail →The advertiser takeaway
Keep lead quality visible when testing a new capture method. Reconcile platform leads with the CRM and evaluate budget recommendations against actual commercial outcomes.
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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