Paid Media News (Week 34)
New advertising destinations meet bigger automation decisions
The week brought more places to reach customers, alongside changes to how established search platforms test and manage campaigns.
A digest of the original edition. Updates and availability reflect what was reported at the time.
AI Max adds cross-campaign budget and ROI experiments
Google is adding a single A/B test for budget or ROI-target changes across multiple Search campaigns, with rollout scheduled for September. AI Max experiments can also retain brand and location controls, while Performance Planner can model bidding or budget changes and apply them directly.
Read this update in detail →Performance Max can generate missing video aspect ratios
Arpan Banerjee reported that Performance Max is rolling out generative AI extensions that adapt existing video to missing aspect ratios. The setting may apply automatically, with an opt-out route and a reported 4 September deadline for requests.
Read this update in detail →Loyalty members gain dedicated retention controls
Arpan Banerjee spotted separate customer-retention controls for loyalty-program members, including the ability to bid higher for members and, in eligible countries, show loyalty benefits in ads. The interface is distinct from lapsed-customer bidding and is not yet documented as universally available.
Read this update in detail →The Asset Optimisation panel is reorganised
Arpan Banerjee first surfaced a redesigned Asset Optimisation panel, with text, image, and video automation settings grouped more clearly. The change affects navigation and visibility rather than introducing a new optimisation principle.
Read this update in detail →Google Ads starts surfacing sitelink suggestions proactively
Arpan Banerjee reported that Google Ads is presenting suggested sitelinks inside campaign workflows. The suggestions can reduce setup time, but still require review for destination relevance, duplication, and approved messaging.
Read this update in detail →Late offline conversions remain in reports but miss DDA calculations
Google's attribution documentation now states that data-driven attribution processes offline conversions uploaded within the previous seven days. Later uploads can still appear in standard reporting, but are not incorporated into the attribution calculation described in the update.
Read this update in detail →Core Local Services Ads details now sync from Business Profile
Anthony Higman flagged a Local Services Ads change tied to the migration into Google Ads. Google's documentation clarifies that core details such as business name, physical address, and standard hours sync one way from Google Business Profile, while photos, service areas, routing numbers, and schedules retain separate controls.
Read this update in detail →Product images below 500 × 500 pixels face disapproval in 2027
Google has notified advertisers that images supplied via image_link below 500 × 500 pixels will be disapproved as of 31 January 2027, with 1,500 × 1,500 pixels recommended. Hana Kobzová surfaced the notice first, with Thomas Eccel sharing the deadline in the contributor feed.
Read this update in detail →Business logos can be added directly in Google Ads
Google Ads now lets advertisers add a business logo during setup for Performance Max and Shopping campaigns, using the Merchant Centre logo as a fallback when no separate asset is supplied. Arpan Banerjee was credited with first bringing the change to light.
Read this update in detail →A native commerce attribute appears in Merchant Centre documentation
A new Merchant Centre help page reference documents a native commerce attribute intended to support checkout experiences within Google surfaces. The documentation does not establish universal activation for all merchants or markets.
Read this update in detail →TrueView consideration campaigns move to Video View Campaigns
Google is upgrading TrueView in-stream and in-feed consideration campaigns to Video View Campaigns, widening them toward multi-format delivery. The notice indicates that campaigns which previously excluded YouTube Search may have that inventory included after migration.
Read this update in detail →YouTube documents Watch-While Ads
YouTube has documented Watch-While Ads, an image-led format shown alongside active mobile video playback without pausing the content. The format is associated with eligible Demand Gen, Performance Max, and App campaigns.
Read this update in detail →Holiday feed guidance prioritises context, media, and fundamentals
Google's Ads Decoded team highlighted conversational attributes, Q&A content, variant details, high-resolution imagery, short-form video links, shipping cut-offs, returns, local inventory, and accurate identifiers as holiday feed priorities. The guidance reflects how richer product context supports conversational and multimodal discovery.
Read this update in detail →Misleading ad design guidance gains more examples
Google updated its Misleading ad design policy article with additional examples and clearer explanations, while stating that enforcement has not changed. The update is clarification rather than a new policy threshold.
Read this update in detail →Google Ads API v25.1 adds lift measurement and migration fields
Google released the non-breaking v25.1 update with support for Brand Lift and Conversion Lift resources, new AI Max migration date fields, text-disclaimer assets, benchmark services, loyalty segmentation, and additional reporting dimensions. Client libraries must be upgraded before the new capabilities can be used.
Read this update in detail →AI Max rolls out globally for Search campaigns
Microsoft Advertising is rolling out AI Max globally as an optional Search campaign suite, covering expanded query matching, text customisation, and final URL optimisation. Navah Hopkins surfaced the rollout first, with Barry Schwartz amplifying it.
Read this update in detail →Max CPC closes for new standalone automated campaigns on 1 October
Microsoft Advertising will remove Max CPC controls from new standalone campaigns that use several conversion-based automated bidding strategies as of 1 October. Existing campaigns and portfolio strategies retain their current options in response to the reported change.
Read this update in detail →Microsoft publishes an agentic-commerce playbook
Microsoft Advertising published guidance for preparing product discovery and checkout for AI assistants and purchasing agents. It emphasises complete, structured product feeds, Merchant Centre data quality, AI-native ad formats, Copilot Checkout, Brand Agents, and visibility measurement within AI experiences.
Read this update in detail →ChatGPT Ads expands to 31 European markets
OpenAI announced that ChatGPT Ads will begin expanding across 31 European markets this week, including France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Austria. Access starts through OpenAI's Ads Solutions team, agency partners, and technology partners, with self-service Ads Manager access due later; ads remain limited to Free and Go users.
Read this update in detail →Best Buy checkout appears inside ChatGPT
Juozas Kaziukėnas spotted a Best Buy-controlled checkout flow that lets shoppers complete an order without leaving ChatGPT, using an MCP-powered experience rather than a generic external checkout. The observed flow indicated that some membership benefits and reward points were unavailable.
Read this update in detail →Ads Manager adds an app and platform selectors
Anthony Higman spotted a new ChatGPT Ads Manager app, followed by controls to choose whether ads are served in the iOS app, Android app, or on the web. These are account-level observations rather than a published universal rollout, so availability may differ.
Read this update in detail →ChatGPT tests a separated ad label and site name
SERP Alert observed a test in which the ad label and advertiser site name appear above standard single-text ads rather than inside the ad unit. The sighting does not establish a full rollout or a performance effect.
Read this update in detail →Google begins unifying Google tag and Tag Manager
Google is consolidating Google Tag measurement settings with advanced Tag Manager capabilities, along with no-code event tracking, a visual map showing which platforms receive data, and an in-account container update guide. Google says the consolidation can simplify data transmission, while new integrations include Akamai, Cloudflare, Duda, Fastly, and Webflow.
Read this update in detail →GA4 adds direct product-link flows for paid-social platforms
Darshak P. reported new GA4 Product Links for Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, Reddit, and Snap, bringing cost, click, and impression data into Analytics. He also warned that UTM values must match and that overlapping historic cost imports can duplicate spend because the sources are not automatically deduplicated.
Read this update in detail →BigQuery adds time-series functions to the query editor
BigQuery's 20 August release notes added preview support for table-valued functions, including ML.TREND, ML.SEASONALITY, and ML.DETECT_CHANGE_POINTS in the query editor and conversational analytics. The functions are designed to expose patterns and anomalies in time-series data through reusable queries.
Read this update in detail →Looker's new Explore and Merge Query experience is enabled by default
Google Cloud's Looker notes state that the new Explore and Merge Query Experience preview became enabled by default on 21 August. Because it remains a preview, interface behaviour and administrator controls may still change.
Read this update in detail →Clarity publishes five advanced MCP Server queries
Microsoft Clarity published five advanced query patterns for its MCP Server, including identifying pages with high scroll depth but low conversion rates and diagnosing mobile page friction. The examples are workflow guidance rather than a new advertising feature.
Read this update in detail →Meta AI begins supporting campaign analysis for small businesses
Meta announced new Meta AI features for small businesses, with reports indicating that connected campaigns can be analysed and that optimisation or reporting support can be requested in conversation. The rollout should be treated as account-dependent, and automated recommendations still inherit the quality of the connected data.
Read this update in detail →Audience signals can be assigned to individual creatives
Bram Van der Hallen spotted an option to choose age and gender signals for each creative within a single ad set. Meta can still deliver beyond the selected audience when it predicts a better response, so the setting is a signal rather than a strict targeting boundary.
Read this update in detail →Placement exclusions move away from the ad-set level
Peter Quadrel first reported that advertisers were removing granular placement exclusions from ad sets and steering hard exclusions toward account-level Placement Controls, with value rules available for softer bid adjustments. Social Media Today later reported the same direction as part of Meta's wider automation push.
Read this update in detail →Ads on Apple Maps go live
Apple Ads launched ads on Apple Maps for businesses looking to drive calls, directions, visits, and other local actions, with a first-$150 promotional offer shown on the launch page. Apple positions the format around searches for places to go, while separate policies restrict several categories, including home services, bail bonds, and cryptocurrency ATMs.
Read this update in detail →Amazon Warehousing and Distribution launches in Europe
Amazon introduced AWD in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK on 20 August. The programme offers bulk inventory storage and automated replenishment into FBA, reducing the need to manage every restock manually.
Read this update in detail →The Manager Account API becomes generally available
Amazon Ads made its Manager Account API generally available to advertisers and agencies with an approved Login with Amazon client. The API supports bulk account creation, account lookup, pagination, and programmatic updates to business details across managed accounts.
Read this update in detail →Inventory groups reach Amazon DSP audio ad groups
Vita K. spotted inventory groups for Amazon DSP audio, extending a workflow already available for display and video. Advertisers can bundle negotiated or curated deals into one group and reuse updates across audio ad groups.
Read this update in detail →Sellers can bid for Sub Same Day warehouse capacity
Ivan Marynych reported a Placement Reservation programme that allows eligible third-party sellers to select ASINs and bid for additional Sub Same Day warehouse space via Capacity Manager. Amazon's Sub Same Day network can deliver eligible products in two to five hours, while costs vary by ASIN and market and apply when units ship through the programme.
Read this update in detail →Amazon and HUMAN target AI-scaled MFA supply
Amazon Ads detailed how it works with HUMAN to identify and block made-for-advertising networks by using site, traffic, supply chain, infrastructure, and operator signals, rather than relying solely on page-level quality. Amazon says its agentic scanning system filtered more than 10 trillion bid requests that failed verification standards in 2025, while HUMAN observed a fourfold rise in requests from one investigated network during the first half of 2026.
Read this update in detail →Google's August spam update completes in under three days
Google's August 2026 spam update began on 18 August and completed on 21 August, applying globally and across languages. Organic volatility during that window should be separated from paid-media changes and routine demand movement.
Read this update in detail →Search Console patches a two-day Crawl Stats gap
Barry Schwartz reported missing Crawl Stats data for 15 and 16 August and confirmed on 23 August that Google had patched the gap. The incident affected reporting rather than establishing a change in crawl behaviour.
Read this update in detail →ChatGPT citations shift away from listicles and Reddit
Tomek Rudzki's comparison of one million prompts before and after the GPT-5.6 rollout found listicles losing half their citation share and comparison pages falling 32.1%, alongside more fan-out searches and more direct-source retrieval. Aleyda Solís separately observed declining Reddit citations across several markets and verticals, with competitors, specialist publications, platforms, and government sites gaining visibility; neither dataset proves the same effect for every brand or model.
Read this update in detail →ChatGPT is buying traffic from the search platform it competes with
Garrett Sussman shared iPullRank panel data showing ChatGPT as the sixth-largest destination for Google Search clicks in the sample, with about 1.7 million clicks in one week and 4.75% of its Google clicks classified as paid. The analysis cannot reveal OpenAI's total spend, bids, or unclicked auctions, so it measures observed traffic mix rather than budget.
Read this update in detail →UK regulators open three drip-pricing investigations
The Competition and Markets Authority opened investigations into Trainline, Virgin Atlantic, and RED Driving School over the presentation of mandatory fees. The cases are investigations rather than findings of infringement, but they sit within the UK's wider enforcement focus on transparent consumer pricing.
Read this update in detail →Apple commits to neutral ATT consent prompts
Germany's competition authority made Apple's ATT commitments binding, requiring more neutral wording, content, and layout, more room for publishers to explain personalised advertising, and greater freedom to combine ATT with data-protection consent flows. Apple has four months to implement the changes; the commitments remain in force for seven years and are expected to cover almost all EU countries.
Read this update in detail →GPT-5.6 Sol pricing falls by more than 20% for three months
OpenAI cut the API and credit pricing of GPT-5.6 Sol by more than 20% for three months from 21 August, following July's reductions for Terra and Luna. For you, this means frontier-model economics are still moving on a weekly basis rather than annual procurement cycles, so re-run the cost analysis of agentic research, creative, and reporting workflows before locking in model allocation.
Read this update in detail →OpenAI previews safety monitoring that preserves Zero Data Retention
OpenAI introduced Private Safety Processing, a preview designed to detect risk patterns across related interactions while keeping eligible API deployments compatible with Zero Data Retention. It says customer content can remain on customer-controlled infrastructure: or be encrypted under customer-controlled keys: while automated systems return limited safety signals without exposing prompts or responses to OpenAI personnel.
Read this update in detail →The advertiser takeaway
Start with a clear conversion goal and a controlled test. Confirm access, category eligibility and measurement before shifting budget into a newly available channel.
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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