September 2026 is not just another date on Google’s release calendar. It’s the deadline when Google will automatically migrate every Dynamic Search Ads campaign to AI Max for Search — and when that happens, your campaign targeting, creative generation, and delivery decisions will be handled entirely by Google’s AI, with or without your input.
If you run Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) for your small business, this matters directly. Your ad spend, your targeting control, and your cost-per-acquisition are all at stake. This guide tells you exactly what changes, what you need to do before September, and how to migrate on your own terms.
What Is Google AI Max for Search
Google AI Max for Search is Google’s AI-powered upgrade to standard Search campaigns. It replaces the manual, keyword-driven structure of Dynamic Search Ads with a system that analyzes your website, existing ad assets, and user intent signals simultaneously — then decides which searches to match, what headlines to generate, and which landing page to send each visitor to.
AI Max was previously in beta. As of April 2026, it is fully out of beta and available to all Google Ads advertisers globally. Google has confirmed it is the replacement for Dynamic Search Ads.
The core difference: DSA matched ads to searches based on your website’s indexed pages. AI Max interprets your website content broadly — it can match queries to page sections and concepts rather than exact page-level matches. This sounds more powerful, and it is. It also means less manual control.
The September 2026 Deadline — What Changes and When
Google has set a hard migration timeline:
- April 15, 2026: Voluntary migration opens. You can start moving DSA campaigns to AI Max manually today.
- September 2026: Automatic migration begins. Google starts migrating all active DSA campaigns.
- September 2026 onwards: New DSA campaigns can no longer be created in Google Ads, Google Ads Editor, or the Google Ads API.
- End of September 2026: All eligible DSA campaigns are expected to complete migration.
Once automatic migration starts, you lose the ability to create new DSA campaigns. Existing campaigns will be converted whether you’re ready or not.
What Carries Over When You Migrate — and What Doesn’t
Not everything transfers cleanly. Here’s what you need to know before you migrate:
What carries over
- Existing campaign budget and bidding strategy
- Location and language targeting settings
- Ad schedule (if configured)
- Your brand association settings
- Conversion goals and tracking setup
What does NOT carry over
- Keyword lists — AI Max does not use keyword targeting. If you have a list of keywords you’ve been adding as negatives to block irrelevant matches, that list needs to be reviewed and rebuilt in AI Max.
- URL-level targeting — DSA allowed you to target specific pages or sections of your site. AI Max interprets your entire domain and decides dynamically which pages to serve for each query.
- Page-level exclusions — Any page-level exclusions you set in DSA may not transfer automatically. You will need to re-add them as URL exclusions in the new campaign.
- Ad customizer feeds — If you used DSA with ad customizers pulling in dynamic data like prices or inventory, those feeds do not automatically connect to AI Max.
This is the most important migration prep point for small businesses: your targeting logic was built around keywords and URLs. AI Max replaces that with content understanding and intent signals. If you skip the negative keyword audit, you could see your ads appearing for irrelevant queries with no way to stop them quickly.
For example: a small e-commerce store selling running shoes that had been excluding the word “football” from their DSA campaigns will need to add “football” as a negative keyword in AI Max — or their AI-generated headlines may start pulling content from blog posts about football boots, since the system interprets pages broadly rather than matching exact product categories.
Step-by-Step: How to Migrate Your DSA Campaigns to AI Max
Google recommends migrating manually before the automatic migration window opens. Here’s how:
Step 1: Identify all active DSA campaigns Open Google Ads Editor or your Google Ads dashboard and filter for campaigns using Dynamic Search Ads. Make a list — note campaign name, current budget, and bidding strategy.
Step 2: Review your negative keyword list Export your search terms report from the past 90 days. Identify any queries that generated clicks but zero conversions. Add the worst performers to your negative keyword list. This is the single highest-impact action before migration.
Step 3: Create a test campaign with controlled budget Before migrating your main DSA campaigns at full budget, create a new AI Max campaign with a budget cap of 20-30% of your current DSA spend. Run it for 7-14 days and compare cost-per-acquisition and conversion volume against your existing DSA.
Step 4: Add brand keywords as negatives (if applicable) AI Max may show your ads for searches that include your brand name but would have been filtered by your brand bidding settings in DSA. Add your brand terms as negatives in AI Max to prevent unintended spend.
Step 5: Monitor the search terms report weekly after migration In AI Max, the search terms report shows you what queries the system matched to your ads. Review it every 3-5 days in the first month. Add irrelevant queries as negatives immediately. Set a recurring calendar reminder — this is not a one-time task.
The Critical Step Most SMBs Skip: Auditing Your Negative Keywords
Google’s own guidance is explicit: re-auditing negative keyword lists is worth doing before migration, since AI Max decides search matches from site content rather than advertiser-defined keywords.
For small businesses running lean ad accounts, this step is often missed. Here’s a fast audit process:
- Go to your DSA campaign → Keywords → Search terms
- Filter for the last 90 days
- Sort by Cost column, highest first
- For any term with high spend and zero conversions: add as exact negative
- Look specifically for: generic terms outside your product scope, competitor brand names (if you don’t bid on them), and geographic terms outside your service area
A 30-minute negative keyword audit before migration can save hundreds of dollars per month in wasted spend once AI Max takes over and starts matching more freely.
What AI Max Means for Your Campaign Targeting
The honest answer: you will have less granular control, and Google wants you to be comfortable with that.
AI Max operates on three core automation layers:
1. Search term matching AI Max expands beyond your keywords to identify queries it determines are semantically related to your products or services. It uses broad match enhancement and keywordless matching technology.
2. Creative generation The system generates headlines from your available landing page content, existing ad copy, and keyword data. It tests multiple combinations and serves the highest-performing variants.
3. Final URL expansion Instead of directing all clicks to a single landing page, AI Max can send different users to different pages on your site based on their specific search intent.
For small businesses without a dedicated PPC manager, this can be a genuine advantage — Google’s AI may find high-intent queries you never targeted. For businesses with specific ROAS targets or tight budget constraints, this automation requires closer monitoring.
Expected Performance: Real Numbers Behind Google’s AI Max Claims
Google reports that advertisers activating AI Max typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA/ROAS, with some campaigns reaching up to 27% uplift.
Independent analyses tell a more nuanced story. A cross-section of SMB accounts shows a median revenue lift of 13% — but that comes with a median CPA increase of 16%. In practical terms: you may get more sales, but you may pay more per sale.
More striking: approximately 84% of advertisers experienced neutral or negative results when looking at overall account performance, not just AI Max campaign performance.
For small businesses, the practical takeaway is this: AI Max is not a set-it-and-forget-it upgrade. Test it with a controlled budget, compare CPA against your DSA baseline, and only scale if the numbers support it.
FAQ
Once automatic migration begins in September 2026, you will no longer be able to create new Dynamic Search Ads campaigns in Google Ads, Google Ads Editor, or the Google Ads API. The deadline for all eligible campaigns to complete migration is the end of September 2026.
Not necessarily. You can upgrade existing DSA campaigns in place through the migration flow inside Google Ads. However, Google recommends testing AI Max in a new campaign with a controlled budget first, to establish a performance baseline before migrating your main campaigns.
Partial transfer only. Budget, bidding, location, and language settings carry over. URL-level targeting and keyword-based exclusions do not transfer automatically. You will need to rebuild your negative keyword strategy for AI Max.
Yes. You can add negative keywords at the campaign level and ad group level. You can also exclude specific URLs. However, the system operates on content understanding rather than keyword matching, so some irrelevant queries may still slip through — requiring ongoing search term monitoring. Think of negative keywords as guardrails, not a complete fence.
AI Max for Search is specifically for Search campaigns — the text ads that appear on Google search results pages. Performance Max is a cross-channel automation product that covers Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and more. If you are currently running DSA within Search, AI Max is the direct replacement. If you are already running Performance Max, AI Max will operate alongside it — they do not replace each other.
It can. AI Max is designed to find more matching queries than DSA, which means it may show your ads more frequently across a wider range of searches. If your budget is capped, this expanded reach is generally positive. If you are using Maximize Conversions bidding without a strict spend ceiling, your costs will likely increase as the system pursues more conversions. Set budget guardrails before migrating.
You cannot opt out of the September migration — all active DSA campaigns will be upgraded automatically. The real choice is whether to migrate on your terms (voluntary, with time to test) or on Google’s schedule (automatic, with less control). Even if you are satisfied with DSA today, running a parallel AI Max test for two weeks gives you real performance data to compare — rather than discovering in October that your CPA has shifted without a baseline to measure against.
Related Resources
- What Is an AI Media Buyer and Why SMBs Need One in 2026
- Facebook Ads vs. Google Ads for Small Business: Which Delivers Better ROAS
- How AI-Driven Ad Creative Testing Works: A Practical Guide for SMBs
Bottom Line
Google’s migration to AI Max is mandatory. Every active DSA campaign will be upgraded — the only question is whether you control the timing or let Google decide for you.
Before September 2026, do these two things:
- Audit your negative keyword list and export your 90-day search terms report
- Create a test AI Max campaign at 20-30% of your DSA budget and run it for two weeks
If the test campaign shows better or comparable CPA to your DSA, migrate on your schedule. If it shows higher CPA without offsetting revenue gains, you’ll have the data to adjust your bidding strategy before going all-in.
The SMBs who lose in this migration are the ones who do nothing and get auto-migrated in September. The ones who win start testing today.
