AI Max and DSA: check the timeline, then check your controls

A platform upgrade is a good moment to review the decisions behind your campaigns. It is a poor moment to discover that nobody knows which landing pages, conversion actions or exclusions are doing the work.

Two timelines need separating

Google updated its AI Max announcement on 11 June 2026. The DSA sunset and automatic upgrade are now due to begin in February 2027. Campaigns using automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match settings remain on a September 2026 automatic-upgrade timeline. Check the latest account notices for the campaigns you manage.

Inventory the account before making changes

List the campaigns using each affected feature. Record their purpose, budgets, landing-page rules and conversion actions. Export a reference view of the current setup so the team can explain what changed later.

That inventory should connect the settings with a commercial reason. A campaign built to generate high-value enquiries needs different scrutiny from one intended to capture demand across a large product catalogue. The platform can automate activity, but it does not set the business’s priorities.

Check the boundaries, then the signals

• Destinations: confirm which pages can receive traffic and which must stay excluded.
• Messaging: document claims, wording and brand rules that need human review.
• Measurement: check that bidding signals reflect useful outcomes rather than every low-value interaction.
• Change control: agree who reviews settings, what gets recorded and how performance will be assessed.

Look at lead quality with the people handling enquiries. A rise in form completions is not enough if the sales team spends more time sorting unsuitable leads. Where possible, bring qualified outcomes back into the measurement conversation.

Make the upgrade a managed change

Agree a review period and resist changing several major variables at once. Keep the baseline understandable, use the controls available to the account and document what the team learns. Our paid search approach starts with that commercial discipline.