The changes that matter to advertisers, with the sources behind them and a practical next step. Pick a topic and catch up at your own pace.
Microsoft Advertising
A new preview hub lets advertisers see how ads appear across the Microsoft Advertising Network. You can preview ads on specific publishers (currently MSN and Outlook, with more coming), select individual assets, toggle between device views, and switch between full-page context and isolated ad view.
Google Ads
Google's Campaign Mix Experiments let you test multiple campaign types, budgets, and settings in one experiment. You can create up to five experiment arms with any campaigns (Search, Performance Max, Shopping, Demand Gen, Video, and App), with campaigns appearing in multiple arms and traffic split.
Google Ads
Google Ads has expanded its text guidelines feature to support all available languages. The feature was initially English-only, then extended to Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Japanese, and Dutch, and is now globally available.
Google Ads
Google has released campaign total budgets in open beta for Search, Performance Max, and Shopping campaigns. The feature allows setting a total budget over a specific time period, from a few days to a few weeks, rather than managing daily budgets manually.
Google Ads
Google Ads now supports account-level placement exclusions, allowing advertisers to block unwanted inventory across all campaigns from a single list. Previously, exclusions had to be managed individually at the ad group or campaign level.
Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft Advertising has improved location targeting with broader coverage, more reliable Google import data, and enhanced campaign activation. Fewer campaigns will remain paused or inactive after import due to location targeting issues.
Google Ads
Google has made it easier to select manual CPC bidding when creating campaigns. The option is now more accessible in the campaign setup flow.
Google Ads
Google Ads now allows you to preview Performance Max asset group ads directly from the table by clicking on the images.
Google Ads
Microsoft Advertising has added Share of Voice metrics to Performance Max campaigns. New metrics include impression share, click share, impression share lost to budget, and impression share lost to rank.
Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft Advertising has made Content Targeting generally available for Audience ads. Placement targeting serves ads exclusively on premium Microsoft properties, including MSN, Outlook, Microsoft Casual Games, and Microsoft Edge.
Google Ads
Google Ads now includes Data Transmission Control, a new layer on top of Advanced Consent Mode. Advertisers can independently restrict advertising, behavioural analytics, and diagnostic data at the tag level.
Google Ads
Microsoft Advertising has launched a new customer acquisition feature for Performance Max campaigns. Advertisers can now target new customers specifically, with options to either increase bids for new customers or focus exclusively on acquiring them.
Google Ads
Google has silently tripled the video capacity for Performance Max asset groups. Advertisers can now upload up to 15 videos per asset group, up from the previous limit of 5.
Google Ads
Google Ads has enhanced the Ads Advisor panel under performance graphs to include a conversion summary alongside AI-driven suggestions. Advertisers now see a quick performance recap showing total conversions and top-performing campaigns before exploring recommended questions.
Microsoft Advertising
Google is testing a new "Create an Account with Campaign for Faster Set Up" option when creating accounts within an MCC.
Microsoft Advertising
Google is testing Local Services Ads profiles that display different trust qualifiers for the same advertisers. Some profiles show "Passed License Check," others show "Number Of Recent Bookings," "Passed Background Check," or "Has Business Insurance."
Google Ads
Google has updated the terms for Call and Messaging Ads with significant changes. Google now records all live chats, text messages, phone calls, and other communications initiated through ads.
Google Merchant Center
Google is rolling out Business Agent in Merchant Centre Next for US accounts. The feature lets retailers claim their brand and customise an AI agent to answer customer questions, recommend products, and more.
Google Ads
Smarter Ecommerce has released a Google Ads Benchmarks dashboard to help advertisers validate their metrics against the wider ecosystem. The dashboard provides clarity on channel-specific performance, market pressure from major players such as Amazon and Temu, and key metrics, including AOV, ROAS, and click volume comparisons.
Google Ads
Microsoft Advertising has improved the Performance Max import process from Google Ads. Asset groups with images that don't meet size requirements, exceed the previous 25-image limit, or include auto-generated logos will now import all eligible assets rather than failing entirely.
Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft Advertising now enables the generation of autogenerated assets when creating new Responsive Search Ads globally, excluding China and South Korea. The feature uses website content to create additional headlines and descriptions if you haven't filled all 15 headlines and 4 descriptions.
Google Ads
Google Ads will allow advertising for prediction markets in the United States starting January 21, 2026, but only for federally regulated entities. Eligible advertisers must be authorised by the CFTC as a Designated Contract Market or by the NFA as a brokerage offering access to qualifying DCM products.
Google Ads
Google is sending deprecation emails to advertisers using Call Ads, signalling the format is being phased out. Advertisers should ensure Location Assets are set up to maintain call functionality after the transition.
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.
Google Ads
Google has added call asset support to Vehicle Ads, enabling click-to-call functionality directly within the ad format. Users can now call dealers directly from search results.
Microsoft Advertising
Microsoft Advertising has increased the search themes limit for Performance Max campaigns from the previous cap of 50 to 50. Search themes can be combined with LinkedIn profile targeting, audience signals, and Impression-Based Remarketing to guide campaign targeting.
Google Ads
Google has released A/B testing for assets within Performance Max campaigns. You can now test two different creative sets (A vs B) inside the same asset group while keeping shared assets running in parallel.
Google Ads
Starting February 2, 2026, the Google Ads API will no longer accept new adopters using session attributes or IP address data for conversion imports. Developers should transition to the Data Manager API, which will continue accepting this data.
Google Ads
Smarter Ecommerce has released a free script that audits Google Display Network placements for spam and MFA (Made for Advertising) sites. The tool flags 125+ high-risk TLDs based on data from ICANN, Spamhaus, and other watchdogs, and cross-references your Content Suitability report to identify mismatched country targeting.
Google Ads
Google has introduced Direct Offers, a new Google Ads pilot that lets advertisers present exclusive discounts to high-intent shoppers directly in AI Mode. The feature works alongside PMax and Standard Shopping campaigns, using AI to determine when to display offers based on shopper intent.
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