📰 Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising news

Starting August 17, 2026, Google began rolling out its rewrite of Target CPA and Target ROAS for budget-limited campaigns, with the rollout completing on August 27, 2026. Advertisers are now seeing campaigns trend toward their original targets if left unadjusted. See the updated Google Ads help page for details.

Microsoft Advertising has expanded its Customer Match partner list to include several new customer data platforms (CDPs), effectively doubling the number of available partners to 20 and giving advertisers more options for syncing customer data. New additions include Adobe Real-Time CDP, among others.

Renaming a store in Microsoft Merchant Center no longer disrupts Shopping ads. When a store name is updated, the new name goes into review while ads continue showing the previously approved name. If the new name is rejected, the original store name stays active, and the rejection reason is displayed.

Search Engine Roundtable reported on September 10 that Google Ads has been offering credits to new and existing customers to encourage ad spend, but is then revoking those credits after they've been used, sparking advertiser complaints.

On September 10, 2026, Google unveiled a new Data Strength Uplift Metric estimating recovered conversions from first-party data setups, alongside Data Manager integration into Google Analytics and Display & Video 360, a universal Data Manager API, and global availability of Meridian GeoX.

Google has introduced a new onboarding experience for Google Ads API developers in the Google Cloud Console. The update automates Basic Access applications for developers who have completed brand verification. Among the key changes, developers can now sign up directly through the Google Cloud Console.

Google is testing Google Messages as a new option for Message assets in sponsored search results. Google Messages joins existing messaging options available to advertisers, including WhatsApp, Messenger, Zalo, SMS, and Line, giving advertisers another way to let potential customers reach them directly.

Advertisers using Google Ads are voicing frustration after promotional credits were revoked following being spent. David Melamed reported on LinkedIn that he ran into this issue twice recently. Once spent, the credits were invalidated, leaving advertisers unexpectedly covering the costs themselves.

Microsoft Advertising has published a dedicated help page outlining transparency rules for AI-generated and synthetic content. Advertisers are now required to disclose AI use in their ads, preserve metadata, and avoid deepfakes in order to maintain consumer trust. Read the official announcement, spotted by Hana Ko.

Google Ads is bringing action tasks together onto a single page, making account management simpler for advertisers. The goal is a cleaner account experience, with tasks surfacing in one convenient spot. For instance, a task like "Apply for free desktop software certification" showed up i

Google Merchant Center briefly showed internal AI prompts meant for generating performance insights, instead of just the final summaries. The glitch revealed behind-the-scenes parameters, such as click changes for 20 products and the decision rules used to highlight top items. Users saw instructions like...

In Google's new Digital Markets Act (DMA) booking search widgets, displayed prices are customized based on factors such as device type. The exact factors beyond "device type" aren't fully clear, but location and language could also play a role. This customization applies only in the EU, where the DMA is in effect.

A newly spotted feature in Google Shopping ads adds a countdown timer annotation to product discounts. The update is designed to boost visibility for promotional offers by showing how much time remains before a deal expires. Advertisers will see the "X days left" annotation appear in the shopping...

Merchants can now enrich their product listings in Google Merchant Center with video content. This update lets you upload videos directly at the product level, giving you a way to showcase products beyond static images. Supported video specs include flexible aspect ratios...

Google Ads has rolled out a new AI-powered dashboard creation feature that lets users simply describe the dashboard they want, with Google AI building it for them. Advertisers can use this to quickly summarize account performance, analyze conversion trends, and review Search campaign data.

Bing's latest update integrates shopping ads directly into Bing Copilot results. This enhancement lets users see ads alongside search assistance and specific products, bridging the gap between conversational search and advertising. Advertisers can expect increased visibility for their products within Copilot's AI-driven responses.

Google is testing "sold last week" badges in Shopping ads, showing how many units of a product were sold over the past week. This feature appears alongside other product details in Google Shopping ads and aims to boost social proof by highlighting popularity metrics.

Google Ads will update its Gambling and Games policy specifically for Croatia, effective October 7, 2026. The updated policy will prohibit the promotion of online gambling content targeting Croatia. All existing advertiser certifications for such content will be revoked, and new applications will be required.

Google Shopping Ads data reveals a "reverse crocodile effect" following the rollout of AI Overviews in Google Search. As reported by Mike Ryan, Shopping Ads have seen a decline in impressions alongside an increase in click-through rates, based on data spanning 175 billion impressions from mid-2025 onward.

Advertisers using Google Merchant Center's automatic imports can now add supplemental feeds, a capability some experts hadn't previously noticed. This addition improves data feed management by giving advertisers more flexibility over their product data. Previously, supplemental feeds could only be applied to primary feeds.

A new segment called "Loyalty program members" has been spotted in Google Ads reporting. It lets advertisers analyze performance by targeting users enrolled in loyalty programs using their first-party data. The update was flagged by Arpan Banerjee.

Google Ads is beta testing a new feature called Product Value Optimization, which lets advertisers adjust the value of specific products and feed those values directly into automated bidding strategies. Advertisers can set product-level value adjustments and use product attributes to define them.

Google is rolling out Promotion Mode support for daily budgets in Google Ads, expanding on the total-budget version first announced in September 2025. Still in beta, the feature is available for Search and Performance Max campaigns and is designed for temporary events like flash sales, allowing advertisers to schedule budget boosts in advance.

Microsoft is experimenting with bolding the HTTPS portion of URLs in Bing search results. The subtle tweak to link display highlights secure connections and was spotted by Sachin Patel, who shared it on X.

Google updated its Location asset requirements in June and September 2026 to improve terminology and readability. The changes aim to give advertisers clearer guidance on managing location assets without changing how policy is enforced, and also include new troubleshooting information.

Google is integrating Store Sales into Data Manager within Google Ads, making it easier for eligible advertisers to import in-store transaction data. The feature lets advertisers connect existing sales data—such as from a CRM or Google Sheets—directly within their Google Ads account.

AI performance insights in Google Merchant Center are now rolling out to merchants in Australia, Canada, India, and New Zealand, joining the US. This expansion lets advertisers evaluate how their brand performs for conversational, shopping-intent queries across Google's AI ecosystem.

Google Ads has added a detailed section to its AI Max help documentation addressing changes to keyword prioritization. Previously, broad keywords were treated as exact match under certain settings. The new guidance clarifies that disabling the broad match setting or migrating to AI Max means broad keywords will now behave differently.

Google Ads has updated its help documentation on phone call conversions and offline conversions. Advertisers can now enable call reporting and set conversion actions as primary to ensure calls are recorded correctly. It's also recommended to adjust the 'minimum call length' setting and review the 'Call Details' report.

Google Ads now shows search history for custom search terms, giving advertisers deeper insight into specific queries. Advertisers can access a detailed record of the search terms used, offering a clearer view of consumer behavior in relation to their campaigns. The update was first shared by Anthony Higman.

Google is now inserting 'Related searches based on your browsing' into the sponsored results section. This change could shift user behavior, as users may refine their searches and generate extra ad impressions without clicking. The update was shared by Anthony Higman.

Google has announced new measurement enhancements aimed at driving business growth through better data integration and analysis. Data Manager is now directly integrated with Google Analytics and DV360, allowing advertisers to manage their first-party data more effectively.

Google Ads is releasing Local Customer Optimization and Store Sales in Data Manager for multi-location retailers, as reported on September 9. These tools aim to improve attribution and optimization for brick-and-mortar businesses.

Following the AI Max migration, the Google Ads API introduces three new reporting surfaces: the segments.search_term_match_source segment, the ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view view, and expanded_landing_page_view. Data teams should review pipelines as final URL expansion can silently break URL-based joins.

Google has started showing in-account notices encouraging advertisers to voluntarily upgrade Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max this September. Automatic DSA migration is scheduled for February 2027, when creating new DSA ad groups will also be permanently removed.

Google Hotel Ads has introduced a new "DEAL" badge that automatically displays when a hotel offers a discount of 15% or more. Properties offering discounts of at least 25% receive an upgraded "GREAT DEAL" label. The feature was first spotted in the wild by Thomas Eccel.

Google's AI Mode is now serving ads from standard Search campaigns using restrictive match types, based on multiple tests reported by Anthony Higman on LinkedIn. Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin confirmed that exact match and phrase match keywords in regular Search campaigns are eligible to show in AI Mode results.

Google is piloting a Prefill feature for Demand Gen campaigns that uses Google AI to help advertisers get campaigns up and running faster. The tool pulls settings and assets from an existing campaign, letting advertisers select a source campaign as a template to streamline the setup process.

Google appears to be experimenting with a collapsible format for additional assets in Search ads. Rather than displaying all assets upfront, the extra assets are hidden behind a "+2" indicator, keeping the initial ad appearance more compact. The indicator sits alongside a callout-style asset in the ad layout.

Starting September 17, 2026, Private Auctions will respect publisher-level blocks for specific advertisers, brands, and buyers by default. Advertisers should review active deals to avoid unintended delivery interruptions.

The Google tag gateway for advertisers has exited its beta phase with Akamai and Fastly, expanding first-party infrastructure options to improve measurement signal quality.

Google Ads has launched an account-level automated asset that scans advertiser landing pages for active offers and attaches them to ads as promotion assets. The feature was spotted by PPC News Feed's Hana Kobzova and reported on September 7, 2026, with no official Google blog post.

A federal judge has rejected the DOJ's requests to remedy Google's monopoly in ad tech by forcing it to divest assets, mirroring a previous ruling on Chrome. The decision is a significant relief for Google's advertising ecosystem.

Google is expanding LSA direct booking to more than 500 partners, making it easier for customers to book services directly from an ad. Advertisers with an active booking partner linked to their Google Business Profile will benefit most from this update.

The Google Tag Gateway for advertisers has exited its beta phase with Akamai and Fastly, providing a more robust first-party tagging option. This change strengthens server-side measurement for advertisers seeking greater tracking accuracy.

Google has globally released Meridian GeoX, an open-source geo experimentation library now available to all marketers. First announced at Google Marketing Live earlier this year, it supports geo-based incrementality experiments that integrate directly with Marketing Mix Models (MMM), making causal measurement more accessible for advertisers of all sizes.

Google Ads has rolled out a pre-fill asset groups feature for Performance Max campaigns. Advertisers can now automatically pull AI-generated assets from Asset Studio directly into their asset groups, saving time during campaign setup. The update was first spotted by Barry Schwartz.

Starting October 30, 2026, Google will update its personalized advertising policy to allow alcohol ads on YouTube inventory where locally permitted. The change reflects increased advertiser demand and improved data privacy safeguards, enabling more targeted personalized ads for alcohol brands within applicable legal frameworks.

Google Ads has added an "Audiences" tag beneath video assets in the Asset Library, allowing advertisers to associate specific audience segments directly with their YouTube video content. This makes it easier to identify which audiences are linked to each video asset when building or reviewing ad campaigns.

Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin confirmed that AI Max is now the default setting when creating new Search campaigns, citing tests showing campaigns achieved their first conversion faster in the first two weeks after launch.

Google Ads has added Klaviyo as a native integration for Offline Conversion Import and Customer Match. Advertisers can now sync their CRM data with Google Ads directly through Klaviyo without any custom development, streamlining first-party data activation for bidding and audience targeting.

Google is now displaying Shopping ads within AI Mode results, with two different ad formats spotted. This represents a significant expansion of ad placements into the new AI-powered search experience.

The Google Tag Gateway for advertisers has exited its beta phase with Akamai and Fastly. This change has direct implications for tag setup and conversion data collection for advertisers.

Google Ads is testing a new variation of expandable sitelinks where they are collapsed by default and a number indicator shows how many more are available. Additionally, Google Ads is now pushing notifications to advertisers for recommendations they had previously dismissed.

Google has started testing restrictive match types for standard Search campaigns within AI Mode. This limited experiment allows exact match and phrase match keywords to trigger text ads, but only when there is clear and direct user intent. AI Mode — which is separate from AI Max and Performance Max — is designed to capture more straightforward search intentions.

Google has rolled out Waze Ads internationally, extending availability well beyond the US to a total of 42 countries. This expansion is reflected in updated Performance Max help documentation in the Google Ads Help Center. Waze Ads, previously restricted to the United States for store goal campaigns bidding on Store visits, are now accessible to a much broader advertiser base.

Google is now testing a "What customers love" section within Search ads on desktop, a feature that had previously only been spotted on mobile. This section displays AI-generated summaries of positive customer review feedback, adding an extra layer of credibility and useful information to ads directly on the SERP.

Google has carried out a comprehensive update to the official Performance Max documentation in the Google Ads Help Center. The revised docs introduce several new topics, including search prioritization, campaign controls, and budget recommendations, while also providing clearer guidance on key concepts such as Search and Performance Max interaction and asset group setup.

At Google Marketing Live 2026, Google announced AI-powered Shopping Ads that include real-time AI-generated summaries explaining why a specific product is the best match for a user's search query. Merchant Center feeds are used to dynamically generate ads that respond directly to conversational search queries, making product listings more relevant and persuasive.

Google is testing new ad formats within AI Mode, powered by AI Max and Performance Max, that adapt their creative and explain why a specific product best answers the user's query. These ads are integrated directly into Gemini-generated responses.

Microsoft Advertising has published its 2026 Holiday Playbook, outlining six key global trends advertisers need to keep on their radar heading into the holiday season. The guide puts a strong focus on AI's growing influence on shopping behavior, with 76% of U.S. shoppers saying they plan to use AI to help with their holiday purchases.

Google Ads API v22 is being sunset on October 7, 2026. From that date onwards, all requests made through v22 will fail, so advertisers will need to migrate to a newer version to keep their API access up and running. You can review your recent usage of API methods and services via the Google Cloud Console. Check the official announcement for full details.

Following Google Marketing Live 2026, Google is rolling out four new ad formats inside AI Mode, including Conversational Discovery Ads and AI-Powered Shopping Ads. Gemini-powered Shopping Ads automatically generate custom explainers describing why each product is the right match for a user's specific query.

Google Ads has updated its guidance to allow Hotel Ads campaigns to target and exclude specific regions and cities. This geographic targeting improvement gives hotel advertisers more granular control over their campaigns.

Google Ads has introduced a new account-level automated asset called Automated Promotions. This feature allows advertisers to automate the display of relevant promotions without manual per-campaign configuration.

Microsoft Advertising has rolled out new average target metrics to help advertisers track performance more accurately as their targets shift over time. These metrics are now available in the Campaign overview, Campaign grid, and portfolio bid strategies, giving advertisers a cleaner way to analyze trends and measure results against fluctuating goals.

Google has officially launched Video campaign groups in the Google Ads interface, following the initial announcement back in July. Advertisers can now select between a Standard campaign group and the new Video campaign group, currently in Beta. The Video campaign group supports both Video and related campaign types, giving advertisers more flexibility in how they organize and manage their video activity.

Some Google Ads advertisers are seeing new recommendations prompting them to apply ROAS targets to their campaigns. The recommendations come with an 'Apply target' button that reinstates targets based on historical performance data. While the one-click convenience is appealing, advertisers should take a close look before accepting these suggestions to make sure the recommended targets actually align with their business goals.

Google is once again experimenting with AI-generated review summaries appearing directly within Search ads. The feature displays a 'What customers love' section followed by testimonial-style text, giving users a quick snapshot of customer sentiment without leaving the search results page. This is not the first time Google has tested this format, with a similar trial spotted just last month.

Google Ads has introduced a new account-level automated asset called Automated Promotions, giving advertisers a new way to surface promotional offers automatically.

Microsoft Advertising is rolling out a Dual-ID requirement to strengthen account security when linking accounts. Advertisers managing multiple accounts will now need to provide two identifiers instead of one. For Manager account (CID) linking, both identifiers must be included to complete the process — reducing the risk of unauthorized account access.

App campaign advertisers can now view Cost and Conversions metrics at the product level within their reports. Previously, product reports only showed engagement data such as impressions and clicks. This update gives advertisers clearer visibility into which specific products are driving app installs and where budget is being spent.

Google Ads has added Klaviyo as an official integration partner for Offline Conversion Import and Customer Match. The integration allows advertisers to sync first-party customer data directly between Klaviyo and Google Ads, cutting down on manual data uploads and streamlining audience and conversion workflows.

Microsoft has updated its advertising guidelines for the Xbox Dash placement within the Microsoft Audience Network. The revised rules significantly expand the list of prohibited ad categories — including credit cards and other sensitive verticals — and introduce new requirements specifically for non-endemic campaigns running on the placement.

Google has updated its Developer Policies — formerly known as the Google Ads API Policy — with a focus on tightening security standards for developer integrations. Developers are encouraged to review the changes to ensure their integrations remain compliant. The Ads API Compliance team is actively auditing existing integrations and will be reaching out directly where action is needed.

A new feature for Performance Max campaigns enables advertisers to adjust channel priorities, giving them more control over how budget is allocated across Search, YouTube, Display, and other channels. Google warns that adjusting these settings will directly impact overall campaign performance.

On September 3, 2026, YouTube Creator Partnerships launched new Reach metrics under the Analytics tab. These metrics give advertisers greater visibility into the reach of their creator partnership campaigns.

Google has introduced a strict 7-day window for uploading offline conversions. Conversions uploaded after this deadline will still appear in standard reports, but will be excluded from Data-Driven Attribution (DDA) calculations. This is a critical change for advertisers relying on Offline Conversion Import, as late uploads could skew Smart Bidding signals and attribution models.

The Google tag gateway for advertisers has exited its beta phase with Akamai and Fastly. This change impacts how server-side tagging is managed for ad measurement.

YouTube Creator Partnerships has added new Reach metrics in the Analytics tab. These metrics estimate unique viewers, including co-viewers on connected TVs, using a consistent cross-device methodology aligned with YouTube Analytics. This ensures that reach data stays consistent between Google Ads and YouTube Analytics reporting.

The Google tag gateway for advertisers has officially exited beta on both Akamai and Fastly. Setup pages for these CDNs no longer carry the 'beta' label, making them a stable measurement option alongside the already-established Cloudflare integration. Setup instructions for Akamai and Fastly have been updated accordingly.

Google has started serving Shopping ads within AI Mode results. Two formats have been spotted in the wild: a multi-product shopping carousel and a single product unit. This move reflects Google's push to bring more ad formats into AI Mode, which could open up additional click and revenue opportunities for advertisers.

Google will display in-account notices urging advertisers to voluntarily upgrade Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max during September 2026. Full automatic migration won't happen until February 2027, but creating new DSA ad groups is already blocked.

Google's official developer blog confirmed changes to language targeting for Search, AI Max for Search, and Performance Max campaigns starting September 2026, simplifying multilingual campaign management.

Starting in late September 2026, Google is removing campaign-level language targeting from Search and AI Max for Search campaigns. Google's automated systems will determine ad serving based on the language of the ad and user language signals.

Google Ads will update its Gambling and Games policy on September 14, 2026, expanding certification requirements for advertisers in this vertical. Affected advertisers should check whether they need to renew or update their certification ahead of the deadline.

Throughout 2026, Google is transitioning Lookalike segments in Demand Gen campaigns from strict targeting constraints to an AI-driven suggestion mode. Advertisers can opt out and retain the previous behavior as a Targeting Constraint via a dedicated form.

Under Google's new alcohol policy effective September 30, alcohol mixers and specialized accessories such as home brewing kits and distillation equipment move from a gray area to explicitly permitted advertising categories. Advertisers in these niches will have greater regulatory clarity.

Google will implement an updated Alcohol policy on September 30, 2026, introducing a more unified global framework, revising country-specific guidelines, and expanding allowed advertising locations. Advertisers in 0% alcohol regions must apply for new certification before the deadline.

Google Ads has launched a new account-level automated asset called Automated Promotions. The feature scans landing pages to detect active promotional offers — such as '20% off black sweaters' or 'Buy one get one free' — and automatically generates a promotion asset that gets attached to eligible campaigns. No manual setup required.

Google Ads has updated its Hotel Ads targeting options, enabling advertisers to target or exclude specific geographic areas including regions, states, cities, and postal codes — not just countries or territories as before. Note that radius targeting remains unsupported for Hotel campaigns.

Google has updated its official help documentation to redefine bumper ad specs: these non-skippable ads must now be between 5 and 6 seconds long, replacing the previous definition of '6 seconds or shorter.' Creative teams producing bumper ads under 5 seconds will need to adjust, as those creatives no longer meet the updated requirements.

Advertisers will continue to pay only for valid leads such as calls, messages, and bookings after the LSA migration, but the standalone dashboard is being shut down. Account admins will receive an advance notification email 14 days before their migration date.

Google has begun automatically upgrading Search campaigns using Campaign-level Broad Match or standalone Automatically Created Assets to AI Max throughout September 2026. Campaigns are migrated in place using equivalent AI Max settings to minimize disruption.

Google is testing a new sitelink design in desktop Search ads featuring black text, a larger font size, and a visual divider between links. For account managers handling large or multi-level campaign structures, this change could meaningfully improve navigation and visibility within ads.

Google has introduced Ask Advisor, a Gemini-based agent that brings together Google Ads, Google Analytics, Merchant Center, and Google Marketing Platform into a single interface. Advertisers can pull insights and optimize campaigns from one centralized access point without switching between platforms.

Google is phasing out language targeting at the campaign level for Search campaigns and the Search Network component of Performance Max. Going forward, the system will automatically determine the ad language at auction time based on the ad content and landing page.

Google Ads is rolling out Lookalike segments to Video campaigns, giving advertisers another campaign type to reach new users who resemble their existing audiences. Previously limited to Demand Gen campaigns, this expansion opens up similar audience targeting to advertisers running Video campaigns.

Microsoft has rebranded its AI Max Text Guidelines as Text Guardrails across both AI Max search campaigns and Performance Max. Advertisers can customize these guardrails by adding term exclusions to keep AI-generated text assets aligned with brand guidelines, with a limit of up to 25 excluded terms.

Google has updated its Business Agent help documentation to allow Shopify merchants to activate the AI-powered shopping assistant directly through the Google YouTube app. Business Agent is a branded AI shopping tool that surfaces when consumers search for a business on Google Search, enabling shoppers to ask questions and get personalized assistance.

Google will automatically migrate legacy Dynamic Search Ads campaigns to AI Max in September 2026, transitioning advertisers to the next generation of AI-powered Search capabilities.

Google is extending the 'Book Online' button integration — powered by Reserve with Google partners — to both Search and Performance Max campaigns. The feature enables users to book directly from the ad, reducing friction in the conversion path for businesses that offer online reservations.

Performance Max campaigns are getting a new Alpha feature that lets advertisers set priority levels for individual channels based on business importance. Using priority sliders, you can control how conversions are weighted across channels such as Search, YouTube, Gmail, and others.

Google Ads has rebranded its payment options in the billing system: 'Automatic payments' is now Postpay and 'Manual payments' is now Prepay. The updated terminology is rolling out across billing screens and approximately 60 help pages, including glossaries and related documentation.

Google is rolling out a revised Alcohol advertising policy on September 30, 2026, moving toward a more unified global framework. The update includes revised country-specific rules, an expanded list of eligible advertising locations, and clearer advertiser requirements. Updated policy language is already available for review.

Google Ads has published new help documentation to assist advertisers in diagnosing and resolving performance drops or unexpected changes across campaign types, including Performance Max, Search, Display, Video, and Shopping. The guides walk through identifying root causes and steps to address them.

While the Cookiebot Shopify app works for most stores, some setups require a manual installation — particularly if you manage multiple domains under one Cookiebot account, deploy tags via Google Tag Manager, or need granular control over which scripts get blocked. This guide covers the manual theme code installation process step by step.