Google Ads News
GA4 Update
Google Analytics conversions now support custom integer lookback windows for click-through conversions (CTC) and engaged-view conversions (EVC).
This update allows Google Analytics to align conversion attribution lookback windows more closely to your unique business cycles.
This update introduces the following custom options:Engaged-view conversion (EVC) windows:
Edit EVC conversion windows to any integer from 1 to 30 days (previously fixed at 3 days).
Click-through conversion (CTC) windows: Set CTC conversion windows to any integer from 1 to 90 days (previously limited to preset values of 1, 7, 14, 30, 60, or 90 days).
Update Merchant Center
Google Merchant Center for Agencies now supports up to 1,000 linked accounts. Found by Search Engine Land.
New design
Arpan Banerjee & Sachin Patel discovered that Google Ads just got a new design with reviews on the right!
Campaign Manager 360 update
You can now use the reportData.query endpoint in the Campaign Manager 360 API to synchronously query your campaign performance data and retrieve structured JSON data directly in the response!
Thanks for sharing Arpan Banerjee
Google is updating VTC optimisation in Demand Gen
Key changes:
*VTC bidding will apply to video assets only
* VTC optimisation will be on by default for new campaigns
* Display inventory will be supported
* Display video billing will shift from CPC to CPM
The main takeaway: advertisers should pay closer attention to the extent to which reported performance is driven by view-through conversions, especially as VTC optimisation becomes the default.
Thanks for sharing Arpan Banerjee.
Google Ads form
Arpan Banerjee discovered that Google support now gives the option to choose the campaigns in its form.
Political update
Make sure to put your Ads on not political or Google will put it on yes for you and limit you…
Thanks for sharing Denie Geertzen 🟢.
Language settings
Arpan Banerjee just texted me that Google is going to remove language targeting settings for search and Pmax!
Expanding AI features
Google is expanding AI features in Google Ads and Analytics, including AI-powered insights, Ask Advisor, visual reporting, performance summaries, and benchmarking to help marketers spot opportunities and act faster.
Political update New Zealand
Google is updating its Political Content policy in New Zealand to allow election and official government ads in supported languages, including contextually relevant Māori words or phrases, as long as they comply with other Google Ads policies.
Google contacting clients
Google Ads is contacting agency clients directly with optimization offers, raising concerns about bypassing agencies and undermining their role in managing strategy and bidding decisions.
Thanks for sharing Bia Camargo.
Non-clickable Sitelinks
Sachin Patel discovered that Google’s AI Mode ads are now displaying non-clickable sitelinks.
Ads migration
Google Ads is retiring Campaign-level Broad Match and standalone Automatically Created Assets (ACA) in favor of AI Max for Search campaigns. September 1–30, 2026: Google will automatically migrate eligible Search campaigns using Campaign-level Broad Match or standalone ACA to AI Max, rolling the change out throughout the month.
Migrated campaigns are updated in place to minimize disruption: Broad Match campaigns: Search Term Matching ON; Text Customization and Final URL Expansion OFF; existing brand inclusions/exclusions preserved.
ACA campaigns: Text Customization and Search Term Matching ON; Final URL Expansion OFF.
Since August 3, 2026, advertisers can no longer create new legacy Campaign-level Broad Match or ACA configurations in the UI, Editor, or API.
New Google Ads API versions released after September 1, 2026 will remove the old Broad Match/ACA entities entirely. Existing API versions will retain temporary support until their normal sunset, roughly through September 2027.
Dynamic Search Ads are not part of the September migration.
Their migration has moved to February 2027:
September 2026: UI migration warnings begin.
January 15, 2027: reminder notification.
February 1–28, 2027: remaining DSA campaigns automatically migrate to standard Search ad groups with AI Max enabled, and creation of new DSA ad groups ends.
What developers should do
Audit integrations for legacy Broad Match/ACA usage, move campaign creation and management to standard Search campaigns using AI Max settings, and make integrations resilient to errors when attempting to modify legacy DSA/eDSA entities.
Bottom line: Broad Match + ACA migration is happening September 2026; DSA migration is delayed until February 2027. Developers should start moving API integrations to the AI Max model now.
ChatGPT Ads update
OpenAI Tests Descriptive Headings Above ChatGPT Ads
OpenAI is testing a new ad format in ChatGPT that shows a descriptive heading directly above sponsored ads.
The test was spotted by Brodie Clark, who shared a screenshot on X. The heading appears to be generated based on the surrounding ChatGPT response, although OpenAI has not confirmed whether AI creates it automatically.
Google is testing something similar with its ads, but many advertisers prefer using their own ad copy rather than AI-generated messaging.
Thanks for sharing Barry Schwartz.
tCPA & Roas change
VIVEK GUPTA reminded me that you only have a few days left for the upcoming changes to Target-Based Bid strategy campaigns!
YouTube & Discovery change
Google updated its YouTube and Discover Feed ad requirements to make the policy documentation clearer and easier to read.
The changes are editorial only.
Google says there are no new requirements and no changes to enforcement, so advertisers don’t need to make any immediate campaign changes.
The revised wording is intended to help advertisers better understand the existing rules and assess whether their ads comply.
Key takeaway: Google has clarified the language of its YouTube and Discover Feed ad policies, but the underlying requirements and enforcement remain unchanged.
Local Pmax update
Google has added Local customer optimization to Performance Max campaigns with store goals, allowing advertisers to prioritize nearby users who show strong intent to visit or contact a business.
The feature targets people actively navigating, planning trips, or searching for nearby businesses across Google Maps, Waze, and local Search formats. It optimizes toward offline actions such as store visits, directions, and store sales.
A key limitation is that it doesn’t support Merchant Center product feeds or online conversion goals. Advertisers using those will need to remove the feed or create a separate store-goals campaign.
Key takeaway: Local customer optimization gives brick-and-mortar advertisers a more focused way to reach high-intent local customers through Performance Max, but it’s limited to store-goal campaigns without Merchant Center integration.
360 Update
Google has introduced a new reportData.query endpoint for the Campaign Manager 360 API that lets developers retrieve campaign reporting data in real time with a single synchronous request.
Instead of creating a report, running it, waiting for completion, and downloading a file, developers can now specify dimensions, metrics, and filters directly in the request and receive structured JSON.
Queries can run for up to 60 seconds, making the endpoint especially useful for dashboards, interactive analytics, and ad-hoc reporting.
The existing Reports API is still recommended for large datasets, scheduled reporting, and workflows that require downloadable CSV or Excel files.
Key takeaway: reportData.query makes CM360 reporting faster and simpler for real-time applications, while the traditional Reports service remains better suited to large-scale or scheduled reporting.
Data import GA4
Thomas Eccel discovered that the data import validation report is now live!
1500 Dollar
Google ads is now offering 1500 dollar to try Demand Gen 😅 found by Thomas Eccel.
Financial update
Google Ads is expanding its Financial Services Verification requirements to 13 additional EEA countries.
Applications via G2 open 11 August 2026, with enforcement starting from 15 September 2026.
Affected advertisers in sectors such as banking, loans, investments, trading and insurance may need to complete verification to keep their ads running.If Google flags your account, make sure verification is completed before your deadline.
Google Merchant Center reporting is changing on August 24
Expect some noticeable shifts in your numbers without necessarily seeing a real change in performance.Key updates:YouTube affiliate traffic will be separated from Organic.
YouTube organic reporting definitions are changing.
Google Ads product reporting will include more channels and formats.A new “Network” segmentation is coming to Merchant Center.
Historical data will also be adjusted back to July 1, 2026.
So if Organic suddenly drops or Ads metrics jump: check the reporting changes before blaming performance.
Thanks for sharing Arpan Banerjee.
Merchant Center
VIVEK GUPTA discovered that Google is now showing the ask Advisor in Merchant Center!
New button test
Google has confirmed a limited desktop test that adds new AI-focused buttons beneath the Google Search box.
The test surfaces three shortcuts Create images, Ask about files, and Brainstorm which send users into Google’s AI Mode. Google VP of Product Robby Stein said the goal is to help people discover more things they can do with Search, and emphasized that the traditional search box itself is unchanged.
The features are already available through the “+” menu beside the search field, so the new buttons appear mainly designed to improve their visibility and adoption.
Why it matters: If Google expands the experiment, it could push more users toward AI Mode directly from the homepage, further changing how people interact with Google Search and potentially how they discover websites and information.
Thanks for sharing Barry Schwartz
Migrating
Barry Schwartz discovered that Google will be migrating Travel campaigns to the new Search campaigns for Travel in Google Ads in Q3 2026!
Favicon test
Barry Schwartz discovered that Google Ads is testing favicon/domain at the top of the sponsored results!
New AI-powered solutions
Google is rolling out new AI-powered updates to Google Ads and Google Analytics to make performance analysis faster and easier.
New features include customizable dashboards built with natural-language prompts and competitive benchmarking that provides insights and recommendations based on industry performance.
Google Ads has launched a new Campaign Data Import Validation Report
The new report helps you assess the quality of your non-Google campaign data and imported campaign data. It makes it easier to identify campaigns that are missing important performance metrics such as cost, clicks, and impressions.
You can also use the report to review previously imported campaign data and spot potential issues more quickly.
A useful update for anyone working with campaign data imports and cross-platform reporting.
Thanks to Arpan Banerjee for sharing this update.
Strongest Match
Google is again testing with the strongest match! Found by Barry Schwartz.
DV Update
Google Ads is changing language targeting for Search, AI Max for Search, and Performance Max campaigns starting in late September 2026.
For Search and AI Max for Search, campaign-level language targeting will be removed. Instead, Google will determine language primarily from the language of the ads, alongside signals such as user language preferences.
For Performance Max, campaign-level language targeting will no longer affect ads shown on Google Search, but it will continue to guide targeting across other channels such as YouTube, Display, Discover, and Gmail.
For Google Ads API developers, existing language criteria will still appear in queries, but attempts to add or update CampaignCriterion.language for Search campaigns will return an OPERATION_NOT_PERMITTED_FOR_CONTEXT error. Performance Max campaigns will continue to accept language settings because they remain relevant outside Search.
What developers should do
Stop setting language criteria when creating or updating Search campaigns. Existing criteria can be removed for cleanup, but this is optional. Google recommends focusing instead on making sure ad copy and landing pages clearly use the intended language.
Bottom line: From late September 2026, Search and AI Max campaigns will rely on ad language rather than campaign-level language targeting, while Performance Max will keep language settings only for non-Search channels.
Looker Studio update
Google Data Studio is rolling out several new reporting and visualization features starting August 13, 2026.
The update adds fullscreen chart viewing, allowing users to expand individual charts directly from the chart header. Scorecards and gauge charts are excluded.
Report creators can now rotate text boxes, images, and shapes on non-responsive canvases, with an option to reset rotation back to 0 degrees.
Stacked bar charts also gain improved label positioning, with labels now able to appear centered inside bars when space allows.
Other improvements include the ability to search for settings within the Setup and Style tabs, copy charts as PNG images directly to the clipboard, and customize bubble border colors in bubble charts.
Bottom line: The update focuses on making Data Studio reports easier to design, customize, navigate, and reuse visually.