AI news · Google Ads · AI Max
Google Ads adds a one-click AI Max trial for Search campaigns
A button on the Recommendations page now builds a half-and-half trial of a Search campaign against an AI Max copy, for accounts Google lets in.
Google now lets advertisers pit AI Max, its set of AI controls for Search campaigns, against their existing setup in one click. An updated FAQ in Google’s help centre now describes a one-click button, shown on the Recommendations page to accounts that qualify. One click and Google does the setup: half the traffic stays on your current Search campaign, half goes to a copy running AI Max. Search Engine Roundtable reported the change on 26 October 2026, after the newsletter PPC News Feed spotted it.
AI Max adds two automated features to a Search campaign: search term matching, which widens the queries an ad can appear for, and asset optimisation, which lets Google adjust the ad’s text and landing page. Google calls it an evolution of Dynamic Search Ads.
Building the trial by hand gives finer control. In the Experiments tab, each ad group on the AI Max side can have query matching, text and page changes, or both turned on, while the comparison side runs unchanged. The FAQ gives no length for the trial and no rules on which accounts qualify.
Our creative testing guide, checked 26 September 2026, records a much smaller share on Meta: Meta suggests giving a creative test no more than a fifth of the campaign or ad set budget.
The one-click split puts half the campaign’s traffic on AI Max, two and a half times the share Meta suggests for a creative test, and the FAQ sets no end date, so half of the campaign’s Search budget runs through AI Max until you end the trial.
Sources
- Google Ads Help: Frequently asked questions about AI Max for Search campaigns. Checked
- Search Engine Roundtable: Google Ads 1-Click AI Max Experiment Recommendation. Checked
Alexandre S.
Alexandre S. is a creative ad strategist and copywriter with ten years' experience in digital marketing across multiple channels.