Google begins automatically upgrading eligible Search campaigns to AI Max for Search from 1 September 2026. The window is expected to finish by the end of September. Only campaigns that already use two legacy settings are in this round: text customization (formerly Automatically Created Assets) and the campaign-level broad match setting.
Brandon Ervin, Director of Product Management at Google Ads, said so in an official Ads blog post published 15 April 2026 and updated 11 June 2026. The June update delayed the Dynamic Search Ads sunset and auto-upgrade to February 2027. That DSA move is a later story. The same update is clear on September: campaigns using Automatically Created Assets and campaign-level broad match “will continue to be auto-upgraded starting in September 2026.” Google expects those upgrades to finish by the end of September.
Advertisers also got a direct nudge. PPC Land reported a 5 August 2026 email from the Google Ads Team naming 1 September as the start date for those two settings.
The Help Center matches the blog. On text customization, Google states that campaigns using that setting “will automatically be upgraded to AI Max” starting in September 2026. Text customization generates extra headlines and descriptions from your domain, landing page, existing ads, and keywords. On the campaign-level broad match setting, Google says the same September auto-upgrade applies. That setting converts all keywords in the campaign to broad match.
How AI Max works puts the suite in one place: search term matching, text customization, and final URL expansion. Final URL expansion requires text customization. Features you already had on get upgraded into the AI Max suite.
Defaults after the auto-upgrade matter. Google’s blog says ACA campaigns move over with search term matching and text customization enabled by default. Campaign-level broad match campaigns move over with search term matching enabled by default. Google claims AI Max for Search sees an average of 7% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS when the full feature suite is used, compared with search term matching alone. That figure is Google internal data from 2026 for non-retail advertisers. Google recommends switching now if you want control.
This is not every Jamaican Search account. It is only campaigns that still have one or both of those settings on. Plenty of tourism boards, festival promoters, retailers, professional services firms, and government campaigns turned Automatically Created Assets on months ago and left it there. Small accounts do that often. Then Monday arrives and the media buyer is staring at Ads again.
What this means. If either setting is on, Google will fold that campaign into AI Max during September unless you change course first. For ACA / text customization campaigns, search term matching arrives with the upgrade. That is query expansion, not only new headlines. Doing nothing is still a decision. It just means Google’s defaults win the day you get migrated.
What to do. Open Google Ads today. Check whether text customization (or the old Automatically Created Assets label) and the campaign-level broad match setting are on. If you do not want the auto-upgrade, turn the legacy setting off before the migration reaches the account. If you want AI Max, turn it on yourself and set the toggles on purpose.
Last fact-checked 31 August 2026.
