Google was going to force everyone running Dynamic Search Ads onto AI Max this month. They’ve pushed it to February 2027 instead. That’s five extra months to get your setup right, not five months to ignore it.
If you’re running Dynamic Search Ads right now to catch the long tail stuff your keywords miss, the switch is coming. You can sit back and let Google flip it for you in February, or you can use this window to move on your terms and actually understand what’s changing.
Here’s what to do.
Check if you’re even affected
Dynamic Search Ads were originally set to auto-upgrade in September but the migration has been moved to February 2027. If you don’t use DSA, you’re fine.
Log into Google Ads. Look at your Search campaigns. If any say "Dynamic" in the type column or you’ve got ad groups with dynamic ad targets instead of keywords, you’re in scope. If you’re running standard keyword campaigns and nothing else, this doesn’t touch you.
Same thing if your ads are all Shopping or Performance Max. If most of your demand capture runs through Shopping and Performance Max already, the DSA change touches the edges of your account, not the core.
You can sit back and let Google flip it for you in February, or you can use this window to move on your terms and actually understand what’s changing.
Take a snapshot of what’s working now
Before anything changes, write down what you’re getting. Before migration, it is worth taking a snapshot of current campaign performance, CPA, ROAS, conversion volume and key landing pages to use as a benchmark.
Go into each DSA campaign. Note the cost per lead or sale, the conversion rate, and which pages are actually getting traffic. Export your search terms report for the last 90 days. Save it. You’ll need it later to compare what AI Max does differently.
Most people skip this step and then three months later they’ve got no idea if performance went up, down or sideways.
Upgrade one campaign manually and watch it
You don’t have to wait for the automatic upgrades. By switching to AI Max early, you can ensure your setup is fully aligned with your business needs from day one.
Pick your smallest or lowest-spend DSA campaign. Use Google’s upgrade tool to move it to AI Max now. All three AI Max features, search term matching, text customisation and final URL expansion, will be enabled with your legacy URL controls preserved.
Run it for four weeks. Check your search terms daily for the first week, then weekly after that. See if AI Max is pulling in rubbish queries or if it’s finding decent stuff your keywords weren’t catching. If it works, upgrade the next campaign. If it doesn’t, you’ve got time to fix the landing pages or tighten your signals before February.
Clean up your pages and your structure now
The quality of the signals supplied to the platform is even more important. Broad ad groups, poorly focused pages or inconsistent assets can make it harder to guide automation effectively.
AI Max reads your landing pages, your existing ads, and your keywords to figure out what to show. If your pages are vague or your ad copy doesn’t match what you actually sell, it’ll guess wrong.
Go through the pages DSA sends people to. Make sure the headline and the first paragraph are specific. If you’re a plumber in Bardon, say that. If you do commercial air conditioning in the CBD, say that. Don’t say "we provide solutions". AI Max doesn’t know what that means and neither does a tradie looking for a quote.
Same with your ad groups. If one ad group has 40 keywords covering three different services, split it. One ad group, one service, one clear page.
Don’t wait until January
February will be here fast. If Google flips the switch for you and your search terms go sideways, you’ll be firefighting in the middle of your busiest season or trying to fix it while you’re on leave.
Use these five months. Upgrade one campaign now, check it works, and move the rest over by Christmas. You’ll have a month of data and you’ll know what to expect before the forced migration happens.
Prompted by RichClicks.