Answer capsule
Google's official Ads post, published April 15 and updated June 11, says the Dynamic Search Ads sunset and automatic upgrade were delayed to February 2027 while campaigns using automatically created assets or the campaign-level broad match setting remain scheduled for AI Max auto-upgrades starting in September 2026. That is a provider schedule, not proof that a particular account has changed. Before any eligible campaign moves, the CMO should preserve its exact settings, creative, destinations, exclusions, controls, and performance baseline so the team can test what the transition actually changed.
What the source establishes
- Google's official post is dated April 15, 2026 and carries an explicit June 11, 2026 update.
- The update says the Dynamic Search Ads sunset and auto-upgrade will begin in February 2027, while campaigns using automatically created assets or the campaign-level broad match setting will continue to be auto-upgraded starting in September 2026.
- The post says automatically created asset campaigns will receive search term matching and text customization by default, while campaign-level broad match campaigns will receive search term matching by default.
- The provider page does not establish that a specific account or campaign is eligible, notified, upgraded, configuration-equivalent, reversible, or producing a buyer outcome.
Freeze the campaign before the scheduled change
For every Search account and campaign that may use automatically created assets or a campaign-level broad match setting, export the account, campaign and ad-group identifiers; eligibility and notification state; budgets and bidding; goals and conversion actions; keywords, match types and negatives; audiences; locations and languages; schedules; brand controls; text guidelines; ads and assets; landing pages and URL exclusions; feeds; experiments; user roles; API and editor workflows; and recent change history. Capture the effective timestamp, UI evidence, API output and a buyer-owned copy before accepting a banner or provider default. This is a configuration snapshot, not a campaign approval chain.
Separate the two provider timelines
Treat the June update as controlling the schedule described on the page: Dynamic Search Ads sunset and auto-upgrade begin in February 2027, while automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match remain scheduled to start auto-upgrading in September 2026. Ask Google or inspect the account for the exact eligibility rule, geography, account notice, start time, completion state, feature mapping, exception path and later changes. Record planned, notified, in progress and observed-complete as different states. The word September does not establish that rollout began on September 1, reached every eligible account, or changed this buyer's campaigns.
Diff the post-change campaign against the snapshot
After an observed upgrade, compare the enabled AI Max features, search-term behavior, text customization, destinations, URL controls, brands, locations, negatives, assets, budgets, goals, audience treatment, reporting and automation interfaces with the signed snapshot. Use synthetic and low-risk searches to inspect unexpected queries, generated text and landing-page selection. Name who can pause spend, disable a feature, restore a setting, create an experiment, escalate an incorrect mapping and approve continued operation. Provider language about mirroring legacy setup is a claim to verify at campaign level, not a substitute for a configuration diff or a tested exception path.
Measure the change without borrowing Google's benchmark
Google reports an internal average for non-retail advertisers comparing the full AI Max feature suite with search term matching alone; it is not an estimate of an automatic upgrade's effect on this account. Predeclare a bounded experiment or comparison with stable conversion definitions, attribution settings, budgets, seasonality treatment, query coverage, landing-page quality, brand compliance, qualified outcomes, complaints, wasted spend and complete operating cost. Segment automatically created asset and broad-match paths rather than pooling them. Keep the option to pause, narrow or reverse buyer-controlled settings when configuration integrity or customer and commercial evidence falls outside the agreed range.
Turn this source into a reviewable decision
For AI for CMOs, use this briefing as a dated decision record rather than a substitute for the source. Preserve Google Ads: We're upgrading Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max, the exact URL, the September 2, 2026 review date, the supported facts above, the editorial interpretation, the limitations, and any buyer-specific evidence. Link that record to the decisions most directly affected: Media planning and activation; Measurement and performance explanation; Brand, disclosure, and synthetic-media risk; Commerce and conversion assistance. State whether the source changes the scope, evidence requirement, control, sequence, or only the language used to describe the decision.
Before action, name the accountable owner, affected population and workflow, exact offering or configuration, source data and rights, human decision point, exception and appeal path, complete cost, expected benefit, failure and stop conditions, retained evidence, and next review date. Keep official facts, provider statements, buyer observations, representative tests, measured outcomes, editorial inferences, and unknowns visibly separate. Reopen the record when the source, offer, model, integration, data, policy, population, responsible person, or measured result changes.
Limitations and unknowns
Google is the provider and source. Its official post, dated April 15 and updated June 11, 2026, describes a delayed February 2027 Dynamic Search Ads transition, a planned September 2026 auto-upgrade start for campaigns using automatically created assets or the campaign-level broad match setting, default feature mappings, notifications, controls and a provider-selected internal benchmark. It does not independently establish a buyer's account eligibility, notice, rollout start, completion, exact before-and-after configuration, reversible settings, query and asset behavior, destination quality, conversion definitions, attribution, brand effect, spend, incremental outcome or cost. Current account and campaign exports, provider notices and help documentation, change history, representative query, creative, destination, configuration, exception and rollback tests, predeclared measurement, and qualified marketing, media, brand, analytics, operations, accessibility, privacy, security, procurement, finance, regulatory and legal review control.
Decision test
Ask whether the source changes the decision itself, the evidence required, the implementation sequence, or only the language used to describe an existing capability. Record which claims are directly supported, which are provider statements, which require an independent test, and which remain unknown. A source-linked review should make uncertainty easier to see, not bury it inside a blended score.
Questions to take into review
- What is the optimization target?
- Which placements and audiences can be excluded?
- Which metric definition and source are authoritative?
- What is observed versus modeled?
- Can the asset's origin and edits be reconstructed?
- Which disclosures apply by market and context?
- Which catalog and policy records ground answers?
- How are sponsored recommendations disclosed?
The publication supports research and executive decision preparation. It does not provide legal, financial, accounting, employment, clinical, cybersecurity, investment, procurement, or implementation advice.