
AI generated content
Sources reviewed September 15, 2026
Prepare for the move from Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max by recording the current setup before reviewing the migrated campaigns. The most useful starting point is an inventory of affected campaigns, their destination rules, and the conversions they are expected to produce. That record will help explain changes after the transition.
In April 2026, Google announced automatic AI Max upgrades beginning in September for eligible Search campaigns using Dynamic Search Ads, automatically created assets, or the campaign-level broad match setting. Google said affected accounts would receive notifications, and it expected eligible upgrades to finish by the end of September. The schedule is an announced rollout plan; confirm the status of each campaign in the account. Read Google's migration announcement.
Google describes different feature mappings for the affected legacy setups. For DSA campaigns, it says dynamic ad groups move to standard ad groups with search term matching, text customization, and final URL expansion enabled, while preserving legacy URL controls. Other affected campaign types have different defaults. Google's migration details.
Create a review record for every affected campaign. Include its purpose, budget, conversion goal, and important destination restrictions. Note who understands the business intent of the campaign and who will investigate unexpected changes.
Record a representative performance baseline. Include spend, conversions, and the available measure of customer quality. Mark major promotions or interruptions so the baseline can be interpreted in context.
Save the current destination rules and representative ad examples. These records will help reviewers distinguish an intentional migration change from an unrelated account edit.
Consider a hypothetical training provider with pages for professional certification, free introductory material, and expired courses. Each page serves a different purpose. A campaign intended to generate certification enquiries should be reviewed against that purpose, even if the website contains many other relevant-looking pages.
Check whether the migrated setup respects the destinations the campaign is meant to use. Also inspect the pages themselves for stale dates, missing eligibility details, or an outdated offer. Accurate configuration cannot compensate for a destination that no longer supports the campaign.
Review the applicable brand and location settings in the same way. Ask whether they express the business requirement clearly, then document any correction and its date.
After the migration, inspect search terms and landing pages where reporting is available. Compare the mix of activity with the campaign's intended audience. A change in volume deserves investigation, but it does not identify its own cause.
Keep a dated change log. If the team adjusts budgets, edits destinations, and changes conversion settings at once, it becomes harder to determine what influenced the result. Prioritize necessary corrections and record them precisely.
Give recent conversions time to mature before drawing conclusions about lead quality. At each review, distinguish confirmed issues from changes that still require more evidence.
No automatic budget increase is justified by the migration itself. Evaluate the campaign against its objective and business economics. If expansion looks promising, use a defined test to assess the next spending change.
Open the account notifications and identify the affected campaigns. Assign a reviewer, preserve the current configuration, and schedule a comparison after the migration. A documented starting point makes the later performance discussion much more useful.