Follow AI Max developments, keyword-priority guidance and campaign controls through dated reporting and original evidence.
Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft has unveiled a major round of advertising updates at its Spring Summit, framed around what it calls the "three eras of the web": the human web ("help me find it"), the LLM web ("help me choose"), and the agentic web ("do it for me").
Google Ads
A large recommendation card promoting AI Max is now appearing in the Recommendations tab in Google Ads. The panel highlights the potential benefits of enabling AI-driven optimisation for Search campaigns and allows advertisers to activate AI Max, Text customisation, and Final URL expansion directly from the recommendation.
Industry
Miles Ryan at Smarter Ecommerce has published an 18-page report on AI Max for Search Campaigns, covering 10 topics including feature comparisons with legacy tech, automation overlap, why AI Max will officially replace DSA, real-world performance data, and known pitfalls. The report includes a new script, designed with Ivan Petrov, that filters and scores the AI Max search term and landing page report data, from best to worst performers.
Industry
Google has expanded beta access for text guidelines to all advertisers globally in AI Max for Search and Performance Max campaigns. The feature allows advertisers to define specific terms to exclude or concepts to avoid using natural language rules, such as "don't imply our products are cheap" or "don't use language like 'only for'."
Industry
Jason King, a Google Ad Grants consultant, has observed steady improvements in CTR across 20 Ad Grants accounts since the AI Max rollout. Average CTR has risen from 4.8% in mid-December to 8.2% currently, the highest since AI Overviews launched in August 2024.
Google Ads
Google Ads is displaying promotional messaging for AI Max directly within campaign settings during account audits. The placement appears to be an internal ad encouraging the adoption of AI features.
Google Ads
Google Ads is testing "synthetic keywords," a feature that condenses long search queries into shorter phrases for reporting. Currently available for AI Max only, the feature addresses two problems: cluttered search term reports from lengthy AI-generated queries and hidden search terms due to privacy thresholds.
