Google Ads News
GA4 Update
Dashboards are now available in Google Analytics. Dashboards are a highly flexible way to help businesses view their KPIs on a single report. This launch features enhanced UI capabilities, such as intuitive data visualization creation, drag-and-drop functionality, and new report visualizations.
API Update
Google is rolling out a new onboarding and access-management experience for the Google Ads API, centered in Google Cloud Console rather than Google Ads Manager accounts. The biggest change is that developer tokens are being phased out.
API access levels are now tied directly to the Google Cloud project used for OAuth credentials. Existing developer tokens can still be sent for now, but they are optional, ignored by the API servers, and Google plans to reject them in a future major API version.
New developers can also apply for Google Ads API access directly through Cloud Console without needing a Google Ads manager account. For new Basic and Standard Access applications, brand verification is now required, while Basic Access approvals can be automated and completed within minutes once verification is finished.
Google is also introducing a new CLOUD_PROJECT_NOT_APPROVED_FOR_PRODUCTION error in API v25 when a project with Test Account Access attempts to call a production account.
Developers should now verify that their Cloud project’s access level matches their previous developer-token access, update project owner/editor contact details, remove developer-token requirements from application code, and reapply through Cloud Console if a pending Basic Access application was closed during the transition.
Format issue
Google appears to have a formatting issue affecting the “Sponsored results” label in desktop search results. In some browsers or searches, the heading is slightly shifted instead of being properly left-aligned.
The inconsistent alignment was spotted across several Google searches, with the label appearing correctly in some cases and noticeably offset in others.
There is no indication that this is an intentional design change or test. For now, it looks more like a temporary Google Search or Ads UI bug than a meaningful change to how sponsored results are displayed.
Thanks for Barry Schwartz & Sachin Patel.
5 days left
Google is testing a new “X days left” label on Shopping Ads in Google Search. The annotation shows shoppers how many days remain before a sale or promotional deal ends for example, “5 days left.” Google confirmed that this is a very early experiment and has not shared further details.
The test may be connected to recent Merchant Center changes that support “deal ends” annotations and promotion-related attributes. The feature appears designed to add urgency and make time-limited offers more visible directly within sponsored Shopping results.
Thanks for sharing Barry Schwartz & Sachin Patel.
ChatGPT Update
🚨 ChatGPT Ads update OpenAI appears to be adding more contextual copy around Sponsored Results. In one example, a line such as “For AI video generation in a YouTube workflow, here’s one option” appears outside the box labeled “Ad,” giving the sponsored placement more context. OpenAI is also prompting users for feedback beneath ads.
That feedback could help improve how relevant and useful sponsored results become over time.
Location update
Google has updated the Location asset requirements in June and September 2026 to improve terminology and enhance readability. The changes aim to provide advertisers with clearer information about managing location assets without altering policy enforcement.
Two weeks to go until The PPC Summit in Lisbon ☀️
On September 24 and 25, the PPC community meets at LX Factory for two days built around one idea: AI is taking over the tactical work, and the specialists who move first get an 18 month head start.
Here is what the two days look like.
📅 Day 1: The Future of Google Ads Management
🔹 Miles McNair, The AI-first shift
🔹 Bob Meijer, The advantage moved
🔹 Frederik Boysen, The algorithm needs a boss
🔹 Danique Bras, Standing out as a brand human when AI makes sameness easy
🔹 Alfred Simon, The client codebase
🔹 Cindy Ebner, A week inside an AI-first agency
🔹 Miles McNair, The dark side of working AI-first
🔹 Mike Rhodes, What do you charge for when the work is free?
📅 Day 2: Become the AI-First Specialist
🔹 Geert Hidding, The Pivot Point: turning potential into performance
🔹 Workshop: Own a bigger problem
🔹 Workshop: Find the constraint (diagnosed live, then on your own account) 🔹 Workshop: Systemize the fix
🔹 Community case studies and the PPC Summit Awards
You leave with your next role on one page and a first move with a date. The earliest, early bird, and regular tickets are gone.
Only the last chance tier is left, and just 19 seats remain.
New Google test
Google is testing “Related searches based on your browsing” within sponsored search results.The feature could encourage users to refine their searches directly from the paid results section, potentially generating additional ad impressions without requiring an initial ad click.
Via Anthony Higman
X sold last week
Google Shopping Ads with “X sold last week” label found by Barry Schwartz.
Merchant Center update
Google Merchant Center’s AI performance report now includes AI Search intent, AI Search terms, and AI attributes, along with an updated help document.Via Brodie Clark & Barry Schwartz.
Revoke
Google Ads can revoke ad credits only after an advertiser has already spent them. The problem: there’s no way to appeal the decision, and the ad spend won’t be refunded.
Via David Melamed & Barry Schwartz.
CDP Update
Google Ads is changing how first-party customer data is processed from October 19, 2026.
The biggest change is that customer data will no longer need to be pre-hashed using SHA-256. Instead, the data will be encrypted before being sent to Google and then decrypted and matched inside a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE).
The data processing terms and purpose remain the same, and this does not introduce a new data category or use case. Consent requirements also stay unchanged: Consent Mode v2, including ad_user_data and ad_personalization, still applies.
In short, this is mainly a technical change in how Google securely receives and matches customer data, rather than a change in how the data may be used. It is still worth checking with your legal or privacy team whether your privacy policy needs to be updated.
Thanks for sharing Thomas Eccel
Enhanced matching
Google Ads has introduced Enhanced Matching for Customer Match, helping advertisers match customer lists with publisher data more effectively and privately.
The key benefit, especially in Europe, is that it can improve matching for email addresses that aren’t tied to Google accounts, including domains such as Yahoo, Web.de, Live.com, and Outlook.com.
This also makes proper Consent Mode implementation even more important, because the ability to use first-party customer data for advertising depends on collecting and processing that data with the appropriate user consent.
Google Ads Update: New First-Party Data & Measurement Tools
Google just announced a significant set of measurement updates aimed at helping advertisers get more value from their first-party data and better understand incrementality.
A few updates that stood out:
→ Data Manager is coming to Google Analytics and DV360, making it easier to connect and activate first-party data across Google’s ecosystem.
→ Enhanced Conversions are expanding to GA and DV360 to improve conversion matching and measurement.
→ The Data Manager API is now universal, giving advertisers a more standardized way to send audience and conversion data across platforms.
→ Google Ads is introducing a new Data Strength Uplift Metric, showing how many additional conversions your first-party data setup is helping recover.
→ Meridian is getting major upgrades, including AI-assisted model building, support for brand signals such as branded search volume, and faster modeling.
→ Meridian GeoX is now generally available globally, allowing advertisers to run geo experiments and use incrementality results to calibrate their Marketing Mix Models.
And perhaps the most interesting change is the shift away from simply reporting what happened toward trying to prove what actually incremental growth.
Video Merchant Center
Google Merchant Center is introducing product-level video support, allowing merchants to add videos directly to product listings instead of relying only on static images. Key requirements include:
Aspect ratios: 9:16, 16:9, or 1:1
Length: 6–240 seconds
Resolution: Minimum 720p
File size: Up to 500MB
The main benefit is richer product presentations showing fit, texture, features, and functionality, with video now becoming a native product feed asset, not just an advertising format.
Thanks for sharing Arpan Banerjee.
Ads Promotion
Google Ads Promotion Mode is starting to roll out credit to Arpan Banerjee for sharing this update.
Promotion Mode lets advertisers temporarily increase budget and adjust ROAS tolerance for a defined promotional period, with settings automatically reverting once the window ends.
It currently supports Search and Performance Max campaigns in beta, but not Shopping or Display.
The key difference from seasonality adjustments is that Promotion Mode can directly change budget and bidding tolerance, rather than simply telling Smart Bidding to expect a conversion-rate change.
One important limitation: once the promotion starts, you can’t change the underlying ROAS target, so everything needs to be planned in advance.
Best suited for flash sales, seasonal peaks, product launches, and other short-term periods where you want Google Ads to pursue more volume without restructuring campaigns.
Looker update
A useful update for teams working heavily with reporting and dashboards.Google’s Pro offering for Looker Studio brings more enterprise-focused capabilities on top of the standard version, including:
✅ Team workspaces for easier collaboration
✅ Better content management and protection through Google Cloud
✅ Data residency options
✅ Customer-managed storage
✅ Additional enterprise-level controls
For agencies and larger organizations managing multiple dashboards, clients, and team members, these added governance and collaboration features could make a meaningful difference.
There’s also a 30-day free trial available for teams that want to explore whether the Pro features justify the upgrade.
Credit to VIVEK GUPTA for sharing the update and bringing it to my attention. 👏
Google Ads is testing something pretty interesting
Product value optimization (BETA)Instead of treating every conversion value the same, Google is giving advertisers the option to adjust the value of specific products and feed those differences directly into automated bidding.
From the setup, you can:→ Create product-level value adjustments→ Use product attributes to define which products matter more→ Multiply conversion value for selected products→ Apply adjustments at campaign level instead of account level.
Thanks for sharing Tiago Goncalves.
Deal label
Thomas Eccel discovered that the deal label is live!
LSA optimization
Ahead of the holiday rush, Google is introducing two new features to help multi-location retailers, restaurants, and local services drive and measure in-store sales:
Local Customer Optimization in PMax will prioritize budget toward nearby, in-market customers across Google Maps, Waze, and local Search.
Store Sales in Data Manager will make it easier to connect CRM or Google Sheets data to measure and optimize offline sales.
Together, the updates aim to better connect local intent with in-store revenue.
New segment
Arpan Banerjee discovered that Google Ads just added a “Loyalty program members” segment!
Prompt Merchant Center
Vipul Kumar reports that Google Merchant Center briefly appeared to expose the internal instructions behind one of its AI-generated performance insights.
The visible workflow seemed to include analyzing product click changes, applying rules to determine the most significant product, selecting a response template, generating the insight, and validating it against constraints before displaying it.
His takeaway is that the feature may operate roughly as: Data → Rules → AI → Template → Validation → Insight
He emphasizes that this is not evidence of Google’s broader algorithm or ranking systems, but it offers an interesting glimpse into how a seemingly simple AI-generated Merchant Center insight may be produced.
Thanks for sharing Barry Schwartz & Vipul Kumar.