Changes to search campaigns, bidding and ad delivery. Follow announcements and account observations, with practical checks for your next campaign review.
Google Ads
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.
Microsoft Advertising
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.
Google Ads
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.
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.
Google Ads
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.
Google Ads
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.
Microsoft Advertising
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.
Google Ads
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.
Google 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.
Apple Ads
Apple Maps ads give local businesses a way to reach people searching for places and drive actions such as calls and visits.
Google Ads
Google announced experiments that test budget or return-target changes across multiple Search campaigns, with a September rollout planned.
Google Ads
Google Ads now warns that campaigns without an EU political ads declaration will default to "Yes, this campaign contains EU political ads": which stops those ads serving in EU countries entirely. The declaration is per campaign, and wholly apolitical advertisers are equally exposed.
Industry
Optmyzr's Q2 2026 report across more than 20,000 Google Ads accounts finds median CTR up 8.62% year on year, but ecommerce ROAS fell 3.75% quarter on quarter: ending three straight quarters of gains: as CPC rose roughly 6% across every spend tier. The most striking finding: branded and non-branded CPAs have converged ($42.59 versus $41.67) for the first time in two decades, with branded CPCs inflating faster than conversion efficiency can absorb.
Google Ads
Joey Bidner walks through building a product-specific Demand Gen campaign with one video and one product per ad group, including how to get around the four-product minimum by editing after publishing.
Google Ads
Google's current help guide sets out Local Customer Optimization for Performance Max with store goals. This week's rollout announcement, published by Ginny Marvin as AdsLiaison, adds context to earlier coverage of the feature's documentation.
Google Ads
Google's support form now includes campaign selection, letting you point a case at the specific disapproved or limited campaign, down to ads or keywords.
Google Ads
Google's advertiser email details three Demand Gen changes coming in the next months. VTC optimisation will apply to video assets only; image VTCs will still be reported in secondary columns but will no longer be biddable or appear in the main Conversions column.
Google Merchant Center
Simone Parodi published the full Merchant Centre audit he runs for ecommerce clients, with real case studies, data breakdowns, and a title-audit structure.
YouTube
Google updated its YouTube and Discover Feed ad requirements in August, revising what creative qualifies for feed placements.
Google Ads
As planned, Google is migrating Travel campaigns to Search campaigns for Travel in Q3 2026, with no specific date announced.
Google Ads
Google Ads is extending its Financial Services verification requirements to 13 additional countries. This continues the programme covered in Weeks 25 and 30.
Google Ads
Eligible advertisers creating their first Demand Gen campaign can claim up to $1,500 in credit via a promo code, subject to setup requirements.
Google Ads
Google plans to remove campaign-level language targeting from Search in late September. Performance Max's Search inventory is affected; other channels retain the setting.
Google Ads
Google's 17 August change affects budget-limited campaigns that outperform their CPA or ROAS targets. Optmyzr modelled possible conversion losses rather than a universal observed result.
ChatGPT Ads
A monitoring project logged ChatGPT's ad payload across shopping queries: 54,899 placements from 1,844 advertisers, with 73.6% of questions returning an ad in the answer. Separately, 2,882 UK advertisers ran ChatGPT Ads in July.
YouTube
A new ad format appears while a video plays on mobile in horizontal mode, occupying half the screen: the opposite of a Pause Ad. YouTube is also testing image ads in horizontal mobile playback.
Google Ads
The new customer acquisition setting now offers a third option: report on acquired customers without changing your bidding. Previously, the new-versus-existing customer split required selecting a bid-higher or new-customers-only mode.
Google Ads
Google renamed the Local Services platform policies document to Local Services Ads requirements, and published guides explaining how to set up, target, and optimise Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals. Both continue the migration covered in Weeks 30 and 31.
Microsoft Advertising
Brodie Clark ran a Bing product feeds experiment in which free listings only began showing after ads were enabled. He highlights Bing feeds' growing importance as grounding data for LLMs, including ChatGPT.
Google Ads
The Leads interface under Goals, Conversions, is now showing for some advertisers, listing every lead from Google-hosted lead sources. This continues the announcement covered in Week 29.
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