AI Max for Search Campaigns: What you need to know about "Search Max"

By: Jyll Saskin Gales, Google Ads Coach

AI Max for Search Campaigns. What does this mean for your Google Ads?

I'm going to break this down for you very clearly and simply, no hype, just what you need to know.

And my credentials to do that for you are I'm a Google Ads coach, ex-Googler, and I actually spoke with the people who developed this product to answer the burning questions I knew you'd have. So let's get into it.

I'm recording this video in early May 2025. This feature has been in a private beta for a while under the name Search Max. It's now called AI Max and it's going to be in open beta soon.

The way it'll work is there'll be a part of the search campaign setup process called AI Max where you can opt into or out of a set of features.

The most noteworthy thing about AI Max is this keyword-less technology. And I know that sounds like "keywords are dead," "the future of search"... No, no, no, this is stuff that already exists. If you're familiar with DSA or dynamic ad groups, that's keyword-less technology that's been around for more than a decade.

(And if you've used broad match keywords before, you know that sometimes that feels like keyword-less technology.)

So that's really all AI Max is. It's bringing together broad match and DSA so that you can advertise on the most relevant searches for your business.

Importantly, this does not replace keywords and it does not replace DSA. You use whatever kind of targeting you're already using in your search campaigns. And then if you opt into AI Max, this adds a layer on top. If, for example, you're already using broad match keywords, then from a targeting perspective, you probably won't notice a huge difference here.

Importantly though, AI Max is not just about keyword-less technology. There's also some creative differences.

First is this thing called text customization. Think of this like the evolution of automatically created assets. Google can review your other ads, your landing page, et cetera, sprinkle in some AI magic to write new headlines, descriptions, and assets for you.

And then final URL expansion is something you may be familiar with from Performance Max. You can opt into this or out of this, and it gives Google permission to pick any part of your website as a landing page rather than just your final URL. In AI Max, as with Performance Max, you can put rules around that final URL expansion, for example, to only target certain kinds of pages or to not target certain kinds of pages.

And that's a really important takeaway here; AI Max will probably be the default soon, but for now, it is opt-in. There are different pieces you can pick and choose from, and you, as the advertiser, do have control.

Speaking of which, there are some other new features coming to search campaigns that it looks like will only be available if you use AI Max. For example, location and brand controls. What does that mean?

Well, you're going to able to use ad group level location interest targeting. Still TBD exactly what this looks like in practice, but basically, let's say you have a campaign that targets the United States and you run a hotel in Los Angeles, so you want people who are searching for hotels in Los Angeles, but they can be anywhere in the States. Your campaign would target the United States. And at the ad group level, you'll be able to turn on this interest targeting for Los Angeles. And then instead of your keywords all having to mention Los Angeles or Calabasas or Beverly Hills, or anything to do with that idea, you could just have keywords to do with hotels, places to stay, and then have your ad group location settings set to Los Angeles - it'll take care of that intent matching for you.

I'm especially excited about changes to the search terms report. Right now in your search terms report, you can see all your different search terms and what keyword they match to. With these new insights, you'll also be able to see the headlines that served with those search terms, and then the URL, the landing page people went to from that search. So this is way more detail than we're used to seeing there.

More information about AI Max will be coming at GML 2025. Google Marketing Live is Google's annual event where they share what's coming next in Google Ads. And I will be attending in person, so I am really looking forward to sharing everything you need to know about what's coming for your Google Ads account.

If you don't already, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you'll be notified when my GML recap goes live on Thursday, May 22nd, 2025.

So to recap, what do we know is true about AI Max for search campaigns?

• It's called AI Max
• It is not a new campaign type. It is a feature within existing search campaigns.
• It is not a new keyword match type. It's something that sits on top of your existing broad phrase or exact keywords or dynamic ad groups.
• It is not some huge revolution. It is for the most part, every packaging of existing features.
• It's going to bring more control to your search campaigns, not less.
• It's going to bring more transparency to your search campaigns, not less.

In a nutshell, AI Max for search campaigns is a bundle of three features:

1. expanded query matching
2. final URL expansion
3. text asset customization

In addition, Google is launching a few little new transparency and control features, for example, increased search term report transparency and new ad group level location intent settings.

My most succinct way to explain what this is:

• it's like DSA with RSAs
• it's like DSA and broad match on top of your existing keywords
• it's like optimized targeting for your keywords