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  • Enhanced Conversions, Google Tag Manager gets major upgrades

    Two foundational measurement tools get GA-level upgrades. Enhanced Conversions is being unified: combining the previously separate web and lead conversion tools into a single streamlined Enhanced Conversions module with end-to-end diagnostics, flexible setup via website tags or API imports, and a unified workflow.

  • EU AI Act enforcement begins with fines up to 3% of global revenue

    From 2 August, the European Commission's AI Office and national authorities enforce the AI Act, with fines reaching €35m or 3% of global revenue and a 38-person enforcement team stood up in Brussels. The rules reach well beyond model makers to companies deploying AI, and the Act also bans tools built to mass-produce non-consensual sexual imagery, including nudify apps and deepfake generators.

  • Coalition calls for automated privacy signals in EU reform

    A coalition publicised by noyb calls for automated privacy signals as part of EU reform. The 10 September letter is an advocacy position on a proposed policy approach, not an announcement that website consent requirements have already changed.

  • EU coalition calls for a binding DMA non-compliance decision against Google search self-preferencing

    A broad coalition of industry associations, consumer organisations, and digital rights groups has formally called on the European Commission to adopt a binding non-compliance decision against Alphabet under Article 6(5) of the Digital Markets Act, which prohibits self-preferencing in general online search. The coalition states that two years of investigation, one year of preliminary findings, and compliance discussions have produced no meaningful change, and that remedies and fines must make continued non-compliance economically unviable.

  • EU considers interim measures against Meta over WhatsApp interoperability

    The European Commission announced its preliminary view that Meta has infringed competition law by excluding third-party AI businesses from accessing WhatsApp users, and its intention to impose interim measures. For you, this means potential changes to how WhatsApp integrates with other platforms in the EU.

  • 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.

  • EU finds TikTok in breach of Digital Services Act for addictive design features

    The European Commission has preliminarily found TikTok in breach of the Digital Services Act for its addictive design, including infinite scroll, autoplay, push notifications, and its recommendation system.

  • EU Political Ads confirmation deadline is March 31, 2026

    Google Ads requires advertisers to confirm whether their campaigns contain European Union political ads by March 31, 2026. The setting can be confirmed in Campaign Settings under "EU political ads," in bulk from the Campaigns section, or set once at account level to apply across campaigns.

  • EU Political Ads Regulation enforcement tightening on April 1

    Google announced that its Ads API and Google Ads scripts will introduce stricter account-level enforcement for the European Union Political Ads Regulation, with changes taking effect on April 1, 2026. If a Google Ads account contains campaigns that have not declared their EU political advertising status, all mutate calls related to campaign management will fail with an MutateError.EU_POLITICAL_ADVERTISING_DECLARATION_REQUIRED error.

  • EU publishes full €2.95 billion Google AdTech fine decision

    The European Commission published the provisional non-confidential version of its 363-page AdTech decision, fining Google €2.95 billion for abusive leveraging across display advertising intermediation markets. The decision states that merely stopping the conduct is insufficient and that the underlying conflicts of interest must be eliminated.

  • Europe pledges €10bn to become the "first AI Continent"

    The European Commission President announced up to €10bn of investment in European AI Gigafactories, positioning Europe as an AI power in its own right. For you, this means EU AI infrastructure ambitions are escalating alongside its regulation, so watch for European alternatives entering the tooling market.

  • European Commission sends RFIs to advertisers on Google and Apple's auction practices

    The European Commission has sent Requests for Information to large advertisers, as it has indications of potential concerns regarding the auctions for advertising on Google and Apple platforms. For you, this means watching for regulatory developments that could affect ad delivery and targeting in Europe.

  • European Parliament approves amendments to the AI Act

    The European Parliament has approved proposed amendments to the AI Act, flagged by Luiza Jarovsky. The changes adjust the timeline for high-risk AI obligations: applying from 2 December 2027 for systems listed in Annex III and from 2 August 2028 for those embedded as safety components under EU sectoral legislation: and set AI-generated content labelling obligations from 2 December 2026.

  • Excluded placements still receive spend by default

    Bram Van der Hallen highlighted two overlooked settings in Meta Ads Manager that can undermine placement exclusions. First, when excluding placements at the ad set level, Meta defaults the "allow limited spend" option to enabled - meaning excluded placements can still receive budget unless the advertiser explicitly disables the setting.

  • Excluding kids' content placements remains a constant battle

    Wijnand Meijer has revisited a long-running placement-hygiene problem: kids' content, such as Baby Shark, reappearing in placement reports no matter how often it is excluded. Exclude one cartoon channel, and another takes its place the following month, with new ones going live daily.

  • Experiment: Bing free listings only appeared after ads were enabled

    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.

  • Facebook launches Forum app to compete with Reddit

    Matt Navarra has flagged that Meta has launched Forum: a new standalone iOS app turning Facebook Groups into an AI-powered answer engine to compete with Reddit. Forum heavily pushes questions, recommendations, and "real answers from real people."

  • Feed-based product ads appear, and answers show multiple ads.

    ChatGPT has begun showing product ads generated from retailer feeds, displaying a title, price, and star rating in a format resembling sponsored products, with responses now carrying up to two ad units at the bottom. The feed method follows OpenAI's addition of product-feed support in its Ads Manager, and continues the shopping-format iteration covered in Week 27.

  • Financial services verification expands to 13 more countries

    Google Ads is extending its Financial Services verification requirements to 13 additional countries. This continues the programme covered in Weeks 25 and 30.

  • ⚠️ Floodlight Counter conversions are miscounting in web GTM

    A bug in Web GTM is forcing Floodlight Counter tags set to "Unique" or "Per Session" to fire as "Standard," counting every conversion instead of deduplicating.

  • Four new Performance Max controls add first-party exclusions, placement reporting, budget forecasting, and audience demographics

    Google has shipped four additions to Performance Max's controls and reporting suite. Advertisers can now exclude specific first-party audience lists from PMax campaigns: providing the targeting guardrails that have been the most consistently requested capability since PMax launched.

  • France's CNIL publishes guidance on cross-device cookie consent requirements

    France's data protection authority, the CNIL, has issued recommendations on cross-device consent for cookies and trackers. When users consent to cookies on one device, that consent can apply across all devices connected to their account, but there are strict conditions.

  • France's competition authority weighs in on agentic commerce.

    The Autorité de la concurrence has published an opinion on the competition implications of AI agents and agentic commerce, warning that agents could become the next major gateway to the digital economy. It recommends enforcing existing rules, including the AI Act, keeping AI distribution open, and promoting interoperability and data portability rather than drafting regulations.

  • Frederick Vallaeys publishes The AI-Amplified Marketer

    Frederick Vallaeys: Google's first AdWords Evangelist and CEO of Optmyzr: has published The AI-Amplified Marketer: Digital Marketing in a GenAI World. The book is framed around closing the gap between AI hype and practical leverage for PPC practitioners, covering how to use generative AI as a force multiplier for existing expertise, how to build AI-powered workflows without a technical background, and how to maintain control as platforms become more automated.

  • Free email addresses face a block on sensitive account changes

    Google Ads is piloting a restriction that stops users on free email addresses, such as Gmail or Yahoo, from making sensitive account changes. It follows the Passkey requirement covered in Week 31 as part of a broader security tightening.

  • French publishers sue Google over AI Overviews

    Days after AI Overviews launched in France, French news publishers filed suit, arguing that the value AI answers extract from their journalism must be shared and that competition be respected. This follows the France launch covered in Week 30.

  • [From Prev. Editions] Creator Partnerships is now populated with a searchable creator database

    Google's Creator Partnerships section in Google Ads is now populated with searchable creator profiles, making it a free influencer marketing platform. The feature includes search filters by keyword and views, a centralised dashboard for creator communications, and built-in access to email addresses.

  • FTC and 22 states sue Amazon over advertising auction charges

    The US Federal Trade Commission and 22 states sued Amazon on 31 August, alleging that undisclosed auction practices inflated advertising charges over several years.

  • GA4 adds a campaign data import validation report

    GA4's new report checks the quality of imported campaign data, flagging whether costs, clicks, and impressions from non-Google sources reconcile with Analytics via match rates. For you, this means imported spend data finally gets a health check, so run it before trusting blended-cost dashboards.

  • GA4 adds a conversion attribution models report with selectable timing

    Thomas Eccel has flagged a new GA4 Conversion Attribution Models report in beta. It shows how conversion credit is attributed across paid and organic channels and lets advertisers compare attribution models side by side.

  • GA4 adds a Source Group dimension for cross-channel reporting

    The new Source Group dimension in Google Analytics consolidates disparate source values into clean platform categories, working retroactively. For you, this means cross-channel reporting needs less manual cleanup, so rebuild source reports on the standardised groupings.

  • 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.

  • GA4 adds multi-channel budgets, Yield Curves, and attribution reports in beta

    GA4 is rolling out new features in the Advertising area, currently in beta. Budgets now allow projections and scenario planning to forecast how budget allocation affects results.

  • GA4 AI Assistants channel instructions are published, but non-functional

    Google has added documentation for creating an AI Assistants channel in GA4: a dedicated channel grouping intended to capture traffic from AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. Dana DiTomaso flagged, via Jason Dodge , that the published instructions do not work: the channel grouping configuration cannot be correctly mapped without additional steps that are not yet documented.

  • GA4 brings back Assisted Conversions in attribution analytics

    Google Analytics 4 has restored Assisted Conversions reporting. To view: go to Advertising > Conversion Attribution Analytics Report and change the model to Last Click.

  • GA4 conversion windows accept any custom day count

    Per the 11 August release notes, click-through and engaged-view conversion windows in GA4 now accept any custom integer day count instead of preset buckets. For you, this means attribution windows can finally mirror your real sales cycle, so align them with how long your customers actually take to convert.

  • GA4 hostname filters gain allowlists; source grouping explained

    Google’s 21 September update adds approved-hostname allowlists to GA4 data filters. Measurement Protocol events are exempt, and empty hostnames are blocked. Source Group and Source Platform are separate reporting fields.

  • GA4 Insights appear on the homepage

    Google Analytics 4 is now surfacing Insights directly on the homepage, providing immediate visibility to automated observations about account performance. Brais Calvo Vázquez expressed scepticism about the value, noting that GA4 Insights have historically generated more noise than actionable signals.

  • GA4 launches Tasks checklist for admin setup best practices

    Kyle Rushton McGregor and Nichelle Halstrom have flagged a new "Tasks" feature in GA4, appearing above the admin navigation link. It presents a checklist of best practices for settings, including custom insights, audiences, key events, measurement protocols, and more.

  • GA4 audience exports to Mailchimp appear in an early preview

    Brais Calvo Vázquez shared an early look at a GA4-to-Mailchimp audience connection, describing daily audience updates and a requirement to enable user-provided data.

  • GA4 adds native dashboards to Reports

    Google confirms native GA4 dashboards. Current limits exclude segments, API support and card-level comparisons; scorecards can still compare date ranges.

  • GA4 rolls out a new Source grouping dimension and updates the Source platform

    Tamás Geiger has flagged two related GA4 updates landing this week. A new Source grouping dimension is rolling out across Google Analytics properties: a slow rollout that may take weeks to appear in individual accounts.

  • Gambling & Games: Australia resumes certification applications on April 21

    Google will resume certification applications for online gambling advertisers targeting Australia on April 21, 2026, after a pause since August 2025. The update follows Google's March 2026 eligibility changes, which impose stricter account and domain verification standards.

  • Gemini 3.1 Flash Live launches with lower latency voice across Search and enterprise

    Google has released Gemini 3.1 Flash Live, described as its highest-quality audio and voice model, now powering Search Live, Gemini Live, and Gemini Enterprise for Customer Experience. The model delivers faster response times than its predecessor, can follow the thread of a conversation for twice as long, and has improved tonal understanding: dynamically adjusting to user frustration or confusion.

  • Gemini adds agentic video analysis through its developer tools

    Google launched agentic video understanding for supported Gemini Flash and Flash-Lite models via the Gemini API, Google AI Studio, and the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform.

  • Gemini app discloses human review of some saved chats

    Thomas Eccel spotted a new notification bar appearing inside the Gemini app stating that some saved chats may be reviewed by humans to improve Google AI. The disclosure is a standard practice across AI platforms, but its visibility in the interface signals that Google is increasing transparency around data use: potentially in response to regulatory pressure or to user expectations following GDPR enforcement actions elsewhere.

  • Gemini gains ground on ChatGPT

    Vladimir Hanzlik has flagged Similarweb data showing Gemini's share of combined Gemini and ChatGPT website visits rising from under a quarter in December 2025 to more than a third by June 2026. ChatGPT still leads on total visits.

  • Gemini generates fully interactive images with clickable explanations

    Gemini can now produce interactive images where you can highlight any region and receive a detailed explanation. The feature turns static visuals into explorable learning tools.

  • Gemini in Chrome evolves from assistant to agentic browsing

    Google announced that Gemini in Chrome is shifting from a conversational assistant to an agent that can navigate, reason, and execute multi-step tasks across the web. The update includes an "auto browse" feature to handle workflows such as comparing listings or scheduling across multiple sites.

  • Google brings Lyria 3.5 music generation to Gemini

    Google has released Lyria 3.5 in the Gemini app and the Gemini API, adding more flexible options for vocal or instrumental tracks and for shorter or longer output.

  • Gemini Spark and Gemini Omni introduced as next-generation models

    Google introduced Gemini Spark and Gemini Omni at I/O. Gemini Omni is the unified multimodal model that natively handles text, images, and video in a single workflow: flagged by Endrit Restelica as a step change in generative AI capabilities.

  • German court rules Google liable for its AI Overviews

    A German regional court has ruled that Google is directly liable for false claims in its AI Overviews, treating them as Google's own content rather than a list of search results. The Regional Court of Munich issued a temporary injunction (case 26 O 869/26) barring Google from spreading false claims about two Munich publishers, after its AI wrongly linked them to scams and made claims that appeared in none of the cited sources.

  • German industry rejects Apple's ATT Framework remedies

    Six German umbrella associations representing publishers, broadcasters, advertisers, and ad-tech intermediaries have called on the Bundeskartellamt to reject Apple's proposed remedies for its App Tracking Transparency Framework. The Bundeskartellamt informed Apple in February 2025 that it considers ATT an abuse of dominance designed to boost Apple's advertising business.

  • Ginny Marvin: Ads Decoded on feed optimisation for agentic commerce

    Ginny Marvin has published a new edition of the Ads Decoded newsletter, focused on Google Merchant Centre data quality as the foundation for modern retail campaigns. It covers feed enrichment for AI Mode and conversational shopping, shoppable ad enablement in Demand Gen and PMax, advanced measurement, and practical agentic commerce-readiness steps.

  • Ginny Marvin breaks down YouTube Creator Partnerships activation inside Google Ads

    Ginny Marvin has published a detailed walkthrough of how to activate YouTube Creator Partnerships directly inside Google Ads, recorded with Melissa Nikolic, Director of Product Management for YouTube Ads, on stage at the YouTube NewFronts in New York. The conversation centres on lowering the barrier to creator marketing: historically reserved for brands with dedicated influencer resources: and bringing it into the same workflow as standard Google Ads campaign management.

  • Ginny Marvin launches Ads Decoded podcast Season 1

    Google's Ads Product Liaison Ginny Marvin has officially launched Season 1 of Ads Decoded podcast. The show moves past headlines into the mechanics of how Google Ads products actually work.

  • Ginny Marvin on why asset breadth leads to more relevant ads

    In the latest Ads Decoded newsletter, Ginny Marvin interviewed Abby Butler (Product Manager, Ads UI) and Adam Bullock (UX Design Lead, Search Ads) about how Google tests new Search ad designs. Key takeaways include: new "content-forward" ad experiences are coming that use AI to synthesise information from advertisers and third-party sources; Google is experimenting with third-party endorsement badges in ads below the description; and every test follows a "five in the box" protocol with input from product, engineering, UX design, UX research, and data science.

  • Ginny Marvin unpacks GML 2026 in a backstage Ads Decoded special

    Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Product Liaison, has published a backstage edition of Ads Decoded from Google Marketing Live 2026, sitting down with Google's Head of Ads and Commerce Vidhya Srinivasan and product leaders Chris Monkman, Josh Moser, and Christine Turner to unpack the day's biggest announcements. The piece is organised around four themes.

  • GitHub Copilot Pro+ and Enterprise now support Claude and OpenAI Codex

    GitHub has added Claude and OpenAI's Codex as agent options within GitHub Copilot for Pro+ and Enterprise subscribers. You can now choose which AI model powers your coding assistant in GitHub and Visual Studio Code.

  • Glenn Gabe surfaces key takeaways from Google Search Central Live Toronto

    Glenn Gabe has shared the slide deck and Jean-Christophe Chouinard's coverage from Google Search Central Live Toronto (April 2026). Several takeaways are directly relevant to paid media landing page strategy.

  • Global State of PPC 2026 report published

    PPCsurvey.com has published the Global State of PPC 2026 report, featuring responses from over 1,300 practitioners across 60+ charts and 14,000 words. The report includes the first full chapter on AI in PPC with 10 questions on how practitioners actually use AI in daily work.

  • Gmail ads move to the bottom of the Promotions and Social tabs

    Hana Kobzová has noticed that Gmail ads on desktop now appear at the bottom of the Promotions and Social tabs rather than at the top. For years, these ads: which look like ordinary emails with a "Sponsored" label and expand on click: held the top position for maximum visibility.

  • Gmail launches Gemini-powered AI Overviews, suggested replies, and AI Inbox

    Google is bringing Gemini to Gmail with several new features rolling out now. AI Overviews summarise long email threads and answer natural language questions about your inbox.

  • Google 2025 Ads Safety Report: 8.3 billion ads removed, Gemini catches 99% before they run

    Google has published its 2025 Ads Safety Report. Gemini-powered detection tools blocked or removed over 8.3 billion ads and suspended 24.9 million advertiser accounts: including 602 million ads and 4 million accounts associated with scams.

  • Google account sign-up

    New advertisers can now sign up for Microsoft Advertising using their Google accounts, available globally except in mainland China and India.

  • Google Ad Grants ads stop serving on Google Maps after February 3

    Jason King has flagged that Google Ad Grants campaigns stopped serving ads on Google Maps after February 3, 2026, with no official explanation from Google to date. The issue affects all Ad Grants accounts running map-based placements.

  • Google Ad Manager API adds read-only OAuth scope

    Google has added a read-only OAuth scope to the Ad Manager API (https://www.googleapis.com/auth/admanager.readonly), permitting data reading and report running without write access. The scope is designed for reporting dashboards and alerting tools.

  • Google avoids an AdX sale in the US ad-tech remedies ruling

    A US judge rejected the proposed forced sale of Google’s AdX exchange while ordering changes to its advertising technology business.

  • Google adds AI descriptions to Search ads that advertisers cannot edit

    Google is appending Gemini-written descriptions beneath sponsored results. One flagged example told shoppers the advertiser's mini skid steers "may have lower lift capacity" than heavy machinery.

  • Google adds Checkout Links to Demand Gen for one-tap purchases

    Google has added Checkout Links to Demand Gen campaigns, allowing viewers to go straight to a merchant's checkout page rather than a product or landing page, as Arpan Banerjee flagged. The format compresses the path from ad view to completed order and targets shoppers already in purchase intent, sitting inside Demand Gen's YouTube, Discover, and Gmail placements.

  • Google adds Search Partners and Display selection to Performance Max in alpha

    Google is testing partner selection in Performance Max, flagged by Arpan Banerjee. In an alpha, advertisers can choose whether their Performance Max campaigns serve on Search Partners: third-party search sites and apps beyond Google: and across the Google Display Network.

  • Google adds three new search-coverage columns to Google Ads

    Google has added three new columns to Google Ads reporting, flagged by Arpan Banerjee: Unique Search Categories, alongside related search-term insight metrics that reveal gaps in an account's search coverage. The column surface shows where a campaign is and is not appearing across search categories on Google Maps, giving advertisers a clearer view of unaddressed demand.

  • Google Ads 37-month data retention policy officially confirmed

    Google has officially confirmed the new data retention policy via the Google Ads Developer Blog, providing the canonical source URL that was missing when the change was first flagged in Week 18 via advertiser email. Effective 1 June 2026, Google Ads API, Google Ads scripts, Google Analytics Data API, and the BigQuery Data Transfer Service all transition to a 37-month retention window for granular performance statistics (daily, hourly, weekly).

  • Google Ads 37-month data retention policy takes effect today!

    Google Ads will enforce its 37-month data retention policy starting 1 June 2026, with Arpan Banerjee reiterating the deadline. Hourly, daily, and weekly data will be available for 37 months; monthly, quarterly, and annual data are retained for 11 years.

  • Google Ads Ad Certifications application is now in the account

    Anthony Higman has flagged that the ability to apply for Google Ads Ad Certifications is now available directly inside Google Ads accounts: what was formerly the standalone Google Ads Advertiser Verification Page. The integration removes a friction point in the certification application workflow, with the certification surface now appearing within the account UI rather than on an external page.

  • Google Ads adds a channel selection step at campaign creation

    Vivek has spotted a new step in the Google Ads campaign creation flow titled "Where do you want to run ads?": offering advertisers a choice between all channels or select individual channels before campaign settings are finalised. The control gives upfront visibility over where ads will appear, rather than relying on post-creation opt-outs.

  • Google Ads adds a Connect a data source option for first-party tag integration

    Natasha Kaurra has spotted a new "Connect a data source" option appearing inside Google Ads under Form Submission Conversion Goal, allowing advertisers to feed BigQuery or SQL-level data directly into the Google tag. Govind Singh has confirmed the same option appearing in his accounts.

  • Google Ads adds account-level placement exclusions across all campaign types

    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.

  • Google Ads adds Call Assets to Vehicle Ads

    Google now allows Call Assets to appear inside Vehicle Ads in Search results. Users can call the dealer directly from the ad without clicking through to the website.

  • Google Ads adds campaign eligibility to the Product section Status column

    Google Ads now displays campaign eligibility directly in the Status column of the Products section. This update complements the Product-Level Campaign View introduced in January.

  • Google Ads adds Data Source Diagnostics in Data Manager

    Google Ads has added a diagnostics tool in Data Manager to help identify and fix data connection issues. The feature flags problems with linked data sources directly in the interface.

  • Google Ads adds Data Source Integration beta in Conversion Settings

    Google Ads is testing a new beta feature allowing advertisers to connect external data sources like BigQuery or MySQL directly to their Google tag within conversion action details. The feature aims to enhance conversion metrics and measurement signals.

  • Google Ads adds Data Transmission Control settings for granular consent management

    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 adds "Go To" buttons in Change History for faster debugging

    Google Ads has introduced "Go To" buttons within the Change History interface. The new navigation feature allows advertisers to jump directly to the relevant campaign, ad group, or setting from a change log entry.

  • Google Ads adds the Results tab to Recommendations

    Emirhan Bayutmuş has spotted a new Results tab appearing inside Google Ads Recommendations, surfacing the actual performance impact of changes: budget updates, bid adjustments: that the advertiser has accepted. The tab is rolling out gradually and is not yet available in every account.

  • Google Ads Advisor expands with AI-powered conversion summaries below graphs

    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.

  • Google Ads Advisor now surfaces contextual AI prompts directly on the performance graph

    Thomas Eccel has identified that Google Ads is now displaying AI-generated analysis prompts directly below the performance chart in the account overview: with clickable suggestions such as "Compare top campaigns performance," "Brainstorm ideas to improve results," and "How to improve conversions." Clicking any prompt opens Ads Advisor, Google's Gemini-powered AI agent, which gathers campaign data, browses the web, and scans the advertiser's website before delivering a contextual analysis.

  • Google adds labels for AI-generated and AI-edited ad assets

    Google introduces AI asset labels across Ads, Merchant Center and Ads Editor, including an AI label column in Asset Studio.

  • Google adds AI labelling controls for video ads

    The newsletter reports AI video labelling controls, crediting Felix Duerler's observation on 31 July.

  • Google Ads expands AI performance summaries above the campaign table

    AI-written performance summaries are appearing above the Google Ads campaign table to highlight changes and suggest follow-up questions.

  • Google Ads AI suggests competitor Facebook videos via Pathmatics integration

    Google Ads AI is now suggesting Facebook Ad videos sourced from third-party provider Pathmatics (Sensor Tower) when editing assets. The suggestions appear in both Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns, showing competitor creative that could be uploaded.

  • Google Ads API access moves from developer tokens to Cloud projects

    Google says developer tokens were sunset on 9 September 2026. Google Ads API access now follows the Cloud project behind an application's credentials, making project ownership and access levels…

  • Google Ads API Developer Assistant moves to a plugin architecture

    Version 4.0 of Google's API Developer Assistant replaces the previous standalone project setup with a globally installed plugin architecture for AI coding environments including Antigravity and Claude Code. It adds specialised commands for GAQL validation, schema inspection, conversion troubleshooting, account lookup, code generation, and ad-hoc reports that can be saved to CSV.

  • Google Ads API Developer Assistant v2.0 brings agentic troubleshooting

    Google has released v2.0 of the Google Ads API Developer Assistant, a major upgrade to the Gemini-powered extension. The update includes agentic conversion troubleshooting with a new /conversions_support_data command that analyses your conversion setup and generates diagnostic reports.

  • Google Ads API Developer Assistant v2.3.0 hardens workspace isolation and validation

    Cory Liseno has also released v2.3.0 of the Google Ads API Developer Assistant, focused on security and reliability rather than new functionality. The update introduces hardened workspace isolation via automatic Python virtual environments under a new Rule 4.5, optimised cross-campaign audits for disapproved ads, and "zero tolerance" GAQL query validation that flags common errors: including unsupported OR operators: before the request reaches the API.

  • Google Ads API developer token applications delayed due to increased demand

    Google has acknowledged delays in reviewing applications for Google Ads API developer tokens following the release of Explorer Access, the MCP Server, and the Developer Assistant. Additional reviewers have been assigned to clear the backlog.

  • Google Ads API expands product reporting across campaign types from 15 June

    Google has expanded product reporting in the Google Ads API as of 15 June 2026, as flagged by Loveleen Joao and announced on the Google Ads Developer Blog. Cost and conversion metrics now return at the product level for Video, Demand Gen, and App campaigns, where previously only impressions and clicks were available.

  • Google Ads API requires multi-factor authentication for new OAuth tokens from April 21

    Google has announced that the Google Ads API will require MFA for all new OAuth 2.0 refresh tokens starting April 21, 2026, with enforcement rolling out over the following weeks. Existing OAuth refresh tokens continue to work without interruption.

  • Google Ads API requires multi-party approvals for sensitive actions

    Google is adding multi-party approvals to the Google Ads API for sensitive account actions, announced on the Google Ads Developer Blog. From 27 July 2026, rolling out over several weeks, certain API calls: such as inviting a new user via the access-invitation service: will require a second administrator to approve before they take effect, mirroring a broader change in Google Ads accounts that now require multi-party approval for sensitive actions.

  • Google Ads API simplifies keyword forecast metrics

    Google has simplified the keyword forecast metrics method in the Google Ads API, consolidating previously fragmented forecasting calls into a streamlined GenerateKeywordForecastMetrics method. The change supersedes the prior multi-method approach for keyword and campaign forecasting and aligns the forecasting API with the broader v24 simplification work.