Google Ads Auto-Upgrades ACA and Broad Match to AI Max on September 1

On August 5, 2026, Google emailed Search advertisers with a deadline that quietly reshapes how a large slice of campaigns will run. Starting September 1, 2026, any Search campaign still using Automatically Created Assets (ACA) or the campaign-level broad match setting will be automatically "upgraded" to AI Max — Google's bundle of AI-driven query matching and ad-text generation. Search Engine Roundtable and Search Engine Land both confirmed the notice.

The word "upgrade" is doing a lot of work here. This is an opt-out change, not an opt-in one. If you do nothing, campaigns that rely on these two legacy settings will start behaving differently on September 1 — matching a wider set of search queries and, for ACA campaigns, generating fresh ad copy on their own. This guide breaks down exactly what flips, who is affected, and the concrete steps to take before the date so the change happens on your terms rather than Google's.

What changes on September 1

AI Max for Search is not a new campaign type — it is a set of features layered onto standard Search campaigns. The auto-upgrade turns on those features for campaigns that were previously running the older equivalents. The two triggers behave differently:

• Campaigns with Automatically Created Assets (ACA) will be upgraded to AI Max with search term matching and text customization enabled by default.
• Campaigns using the campaign-level broad match setting will be upgraded to AI Max with search term matching enabled — but text customization is not forced on, pinned responsive search ad assets are preserved, and final URL expansion is excluded by default.

That second detail matters for regulated advertisers: keeping final URL expansion off and honoring pinned assets means the broad-match upgrade path is the more conservative of the two. Campaigns running both features get both sets of defaults.

What "search term matching" actually does

Search term matching expands the queries your ads are eligible for using AI-based relevance ranking rather than the literal keyword text. Instead of matching on keyword-to-query rules, Google decides which searches are "relevant" to your business and serves against them. In practice it behaves like broad match with a wider, model-driven net — which is exactly why baseline measurement before the switch is so important.

What "text customization" actually does

Text customization generates ad copy by pulling from your landing page content using a mix of extractive and generative techniques, refreshing roughly every 48 hours. It is conceptually similar to the AI-generated descriptions Google has been testing on Shopping ads — the platform writes part of your creative for you. The catch: text customization now requires AI Max to run at all, so ACA campaigns that depended on it are being pulled into AI Max whether or not they want the rest of the bundle.

Who is affected

You are in scope if you have Search campaigns with either legacy setting turned on. The fastest way to know is to check, at the campaign level, whether Automatically Created Assets are enabled and whether the campaign-level broad match setting is active. If either is on and you take no action, September 1 will change how that campaign runs.

Advertisers who have already moved to AI Max deliberately, or who never used ACA or campaign-level broad match, are largely unaffected by this particular notice. And to be clear about scope: this is a separate change from the Dynamic Search Ads migration. As we covered when Google delayed the DSA-to-AI-Max migration to February 2027, DSA campaigns follow their own, later timeline. The September 1 date applies specifically to ACA and campaign-level broad match.

Trigger setting	Search term matching	Text customization	Final URL expansion
Automatically Created Assets (ACA)	On by default	On by default	Follows AI Max defaults
Campaign-level broad match	On by default	Not forced on	Excluded by default
Both features enabled	On by default	On by default	Follows AI Max defaults

Should you let the upgrade happen?

Google's pitch is that AI Max finds incremental, converting queries that keyword-based structures miss, and the company has cited roughly a 7% uplift in conversions or conversion value for advertisers who adopt it. That may hold for some accounts. But the independent picture is more mixed, and it is worth going in clear-eyed.

Third-party analyses have pushed back on the headline numbers. Widely circulated 2025 testing found that a large majority of AI Max impressions produced no conversions across tens of thousands of search terms, and some retail-focused reviews reported meaningfully lower ROAS than traditional match types. The honest read: AI Max can win in accounts with strong conversion tracking, healthy budgets, and quality landing pages — and can quietly bleed spend in accounts that lack those foundations.

There is also a brand-consistency question. When search term matching widens eligibility and text customization rewrites copy from your landing pages, more of your ad's presentation is decided by the model. That is fine when your site content is tight and on-message; it is a risk when it is not. AI Max makes your landing page a live input into your ad copy, which raises the stakes on page quality in a way keyword-based campaigns never did.

Your options before September 1

You have three broad paths, and the right one depends on how much you trust automation in a given account:

1. Let it happen. Do nothing and the upgrade applies on September 1 with the defaults above. Reasonable for accounts already leaning into automation with solid tracking — but only if you have a pre-change baseline to compare against.
2. Turn on AI Max manually now. Enabling AI Max yourself before the deadline lets you configure it deliberately — choosing which features to run rather than accepting the auto-upgrade defaults. Google explicitly recommends this: "We recommend transitioning to AI Max now to maintain full control over your campaign setup."
3. Opt out by disabling the legacy features. If you turn off ACA and the campaign-level broad match setting before September 1, the auto-upgrade has nothing to trigger on. This is the path for advertisers who want to stay on their current structure while they evaluate AI Max on their own schedule.

Whichever path you pick, the control layers Google has shipped this year help you shape AI Max rather than accept it wholesale: AI Brief (launched April 30, 2026) lets you steer with natural-language instructions, branded search controls (May 2026) govern how your ads appear on brand queries, and the text guidelines pilot lets you exclude terms from generated copy. Use them; they are the difference between managed automation and a black box.

A pre-September 1 audit checklist

Work through this before the deadline — most accounts can complete it in an afternoon:

1. Flag affected campaigns. Identify every Search campaign with ACA or campaign-level broad match enabled. These are your in-scope campaigns.
2. Capture a baseline. Segment performance by match type and record conversions, conversion value, CPA, and ROAS now, so you can attribute any post-upgrade movement accurately.
3. Check budget headroom. AI Max tends to underperform when campaigns are budget-constrained; confirm budgets are sufficient before widening query eligibility.
4. Review tracking templates. Confirm your lpurl / final URL constructions are compatible with AI Max's supported patterns, since nonstandard setups can break destination URLs.
5. Audit landing page quality. Because text customization draws copy from your pages, make sure the content AI Max will read is accurate, on-brand, and free of claims you cannot support.
6. Confirm pinning for compliance copy. Regulated advertisers should verify pinned assets and mandatory disclaimer language are in place so generated copy cannot override required text.
7. Decide and document your path. Choose let-it-happen, manual-enable, or opt-out per campaign — and note it, so the September 1 change is a decision, not a surprise.

Why this fits Google's 2026 pattern

The AI Max auto-upgrade is not an isolated move. It sits inside a steady 2026 push to make machine-led delivery the default across Search, Shopping, and beyond — the same direction behind the August 17 change to how Target CPA and Target ROAS deliver for budget-limited campaigns. Each individual change is defensible; the cumulative effect is that advertisers steer less and supervise more. The skill that matters now is less about pulling every lever and more about setting guardrails, measuring rigorously, and knowing when automation is helping versus quietly wasting spend.

For September 1 specifically, the takeaway is simple: this change is coming to your in-scope campaigns by default. The advertisers who come out ahead will be the ones who captured a baseline, chose their path deliberately, and used AI Max's control features — rather than discovering the shift in their reports two weeks later.

FAQ

What exactly changes on September 1, 2026?

Search campaigns still using Automatically Created Assets (ACA) or the campaign-level broad match setting are automatically upgraded to AI Max. ACA campaigns get search term matching and text customization enabled by default; campaign-level broad match campaigns get search term matching only, with pinned assets preserved and final URL expansion excluded.

Can I stop the auto-upgrade?

Yes. Turn off the legacy features (ACA and/or the campaign-level broad match setting) before September 1 and there is nothing for the upgrade to trigger on. Alternatively, enable AI Max manually beforehand so you configure it on your terms. Google recommends transitioning now to keep full control of your setup.

Is this the same as the Dynamic Search Ads migration?

No. The DSA-to-AI-Max migration is a separate change on a later timeline (moved to February 2027). The September 1, 2026 date applies specifically to campaigns using Automatically Created Assets or the campaign-level broad match setting.

Does text customization mean Google rewrites my ads?

Effectively, yes for ACA campaigns. Text customization generates ad copy from your landing page content using extractive and generative techniques, refreshing about every 48 hours. It requires AI Max to run, which is why ACA campaigns are pulled into AI Max. You can constrain it with text guidelines and steer overall behavior with AI Brief and branded search controls.

Will AI Max improve performance?

It depends on the account. Google cites roughly a 7% conversion uplift, but independent testing has been mixed — with some analyses reporting large shares of non-converting impressions and lower ROAS versus traditional match types. AI Max tends to do best with strong conversion tracking, adequate budgets, and high-quality landing pages. Capture a baseline before the upgrade so you can judge the impact on your own data.