Dynamic Search Ads Are Being Retired Into AI Max, And the Clock Starts in September
Google confirmed at Marketing Live that from September 2026, campaigns running Dynamic Search Ads, automatically created assets, and campaign-level broad match will be auto-upgraded into AI Max. This is a scheduled migration, not optional drift, so the advantage goes to teams that test AI Max on their own terms first.
If you run paid search in India, some of your steadiest campaigns are about to change shape. Google has confirmed that Dynamic Search Ads, automatically created assets, and the campaign-level broad match setting will be folded into AI Max starting September 2026. The campaigns keep running, but the engine underneath them shifts.
AI Max is Google’s AI layer that expands keyword matching, generates creative variations, and broadens delivery using signals it infers, all while keeping your existing campaign structure. Until now it has been something you chose to switch on. From September it becomes the default destination for the older formats, which means the question is no longer whether to adopt it, but whether you understand how it behaves before it takes over.
// The Short Version
- From September 2026, DSA, automatically created assets, and campaign-level broad match auto-upgrade into AI Max.
- This is a scheduled migration, so it will happen whether or not you prepare for it.
- AI Max expands matching and generates creative beyond your existing setup, which can widen reach or loosen targeting.
- Teams that test it now, with firm ROAS or CPA limits, keep control instead of reacting in the moment.
Why this matters for performance teams
Dynamic Search Ads and broad match have been workhorses for Indian advertisers precisely because they are predictable. You know roughly what they will match against and what they will spend on. AI Max changes that contract. It reaches into queries your keywords would not have captured and generates assets to meet them, which is powerful when it works and expensive when it drifts into loose, low-intent traffic before it has learned your account.
The risk is not the migration itself, it is being migrated blind. A campaign that performed steadily under DSA can behave very differently once AI Max is expanding its reach, and if you discover that only after the automatic switch, you are diagnosing a live problem rather than a controlled test. The teams who come out ahead will have already seen how their own campaigns respond.
The danger is not the upgrade. It is being upgraded before you know how your own campaigns behave under it.
The real shift: control moves to whoever prepared
AI Max does come with controls. You can set target ROAS or CPA limits, and a new AI Brief tool lets you guide the system with your brand tone and messaging so the automation does not stray from your voice. These guardrails matter most in the weeks around the migration, because they are what stop broad matching from turning into wasted spend.
For lean Indian agencies and in-house teams managing many accounts, the practical move is to treat September as a deadline you are working backward from. Every campaign still on the older formats is a campaign that will change on Google’s schedule unless you have tested the new behaviour, set your limits, and decided what good looks like first. Preparation is the difference between steering the change and absorbing it.
DO TODAY Your three-step check this week
- List your exposed campaigns. Identify every campaign still running Dynamic Search Ads, automatically created assets, or campaign-level broad match. These are the ones that will be auto-upgraded in September, so they are your migration list.
- Run a controlled test now. Enable AI Max on one of those campaigns and benchmark it against the existing version over 14 days. Set firm target ROAS or CPA limits before you turn it on so the test cannot run away from you.
- Write an AI Brief and set your guardrails. Use the AI Brief tool to lock in your brand tone and messaging, and decide the limits you will apply across accounts. Use the lead time before September to learn the controls rather than reacting once the switch is automatic.
The bigger picture
This sits inside a clear direction of travel: Google is steadily consolidating its older, more manual ad formats into AI-driven systems, and AI Max is where search is heading. The convenience is real, and for many campaigns the automation will perform well. The teams that benefit most will be the ones who meet the migration on their own terms, having tested the behaviour and set their limits, rather than waking up in September to campaigns that no longer move the way they used to.
The Compass TakeAutomation is moving from a choice to a default, and that is not something to resist, it is something to get ahead of. The teams that test AI Max early, set firm ROAS or CPA limits, and write a clear AI Brief will keep their campaigns aligned to intent and to brand. Convenience should expand your reach, not quietly loosen your control over where the spend goes.