TL;DR: Google is officially retiring Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) and automatically migrating all eligible campaigns to AI Max for Search starting in September 2026. There is no opt-out. Advertisers who migrate now maintain control over their settings, campaign structure, and data continuity. Those who wait let Google decide the configuration for them. At Enilon, we recommend beginning your migration today.
What Is Google Doing With Dynamic Search Ads?
On April 15, 2026, Google announced that Dynamic Search Ads will be permanently retired. Starting in September, eligible campaigns using DSA, automatically created assets (ACA), and campaign-level broad match settings will automatically upgrade to AI Max.
Google will stop allowing advertisers to create new DSA campaigns through Google Ads, Ads Editor, and the Google Ads API once automatic upgrades begin, with all eligible migrations expected to be completed by the end of September.
This is not a cosmetic name change or a minor settings adjustment. It is a fundamental shift in how Google’s search advertising ecosystem operates, affecting every advertiser currently running DSA campaigns.
Why Is Google Making This Change?
Search behavior has changed. Users are typing longer, more conversational, and less predictable queries. As consumer searches become more complex and unpredictable, moving beyond landing page data to include broader, real-time intent signals allows advertisers to connect with customers in the moments that matter most.
DSA was built for a different era. It crawled your website, matched queries based on page content, and auto-generated headlines. That approach worked reasonably well when search queries were short and keyword-driven. DSA was built for a search model where coverage gaps were the main problem. AI Max is built for a search model where intent interpretation is the main problem.
Around 37% of users now begin their searches with AI tools instead of traditional Google Search, and AI Overviews are also reducing click-through rates, with Position 1 CTR dropping from roughly 27% to 11% when an AI Overview appears. The old coverage-gap playbook simply cannot keep pace with that reality.
What Is AI Max for Search, and How Does It Differ From DSA?
AI Max for Search is not Performance Max. That distinction matters. AI Max for Search keeps you in the Search channel while layering in AI-driven query expansion. Think of it as DSA’s replacement that uses AI to match against a broader range of conversational and open-ended queries, but without the black-box, multi-channel nature of Performance Max.
At a technical level, the differences are significant:
- How matching works: DSA crawled your landing pages and matched queries based on website content. AI Max uses Google’s Gemini models to combine your landing page data with broader, real-time user intent signals to dynamically generate contextually relevant headlines and descriptions.
- What controls you retain: AI Max offers more advanced controls that allow you to steer the AI with greater precision, including brand settings, location controls, and text guidelines.
- How keywords fit in: Keywords are not going away. Google’s own spokesperson said: “Keywords remain an essential component of a successful campaign strategy, providing the ‘fuel’ for our AI.” Keywords serve as foundational intent signals that guide the algorithm, even if they are no longer the only route to reach new queries.
- The new AI Brief feature: In April 2026, Google introduced AI Brief, a new way to steer AI Max using plain language. Instead of adjusting individual settings, you write a brief describing your business, desired messaging, target audiences, and what the AI should never say. Gemini translates that into campaign parameters across three layers: Messaging Guidelines, Matching Guidelines, and Audience Guidelines.
What Happens if You Do Not Migrate Before September?
This is the question most advertisers are not asking clearly enough. If you do nothing, your DSA campaigns will be automatically upgraded to AI Max in September 2026 with default settings you did not choose. Your ad group structures may be flattened. Your negative keyword lists may not transfer completely. Your carefully segmented page feeds could be ignored in favor of broad Final URL expansion.
Advertisers who waited through the 2022 Smart Shopping to Performance Max migration often experienced two to four weeks of performance instability, whereas proactive advertisers avoided it entirely. The timeline is even tighter this time. The DSA-to-AI Max window is approximately 5.5 months, compared to the 9-month runway advertisers had for the Smart Shopping-to-Performance Max transition in 2022, giving agencies 40% less time.
The bottom line: this migration is mandatory. The only variable is whether you control it or Google does.
What Does the Performance Data Actually Show?
Google’s internal data cites an average 7% performance lift for non-retail advertisers with full-feature AI Max. Independent testing tells a more nuanced story, and advertisers deserve the honest picture.
Independent benchmarks show wide variance: SMEC saw 13% revenue growth with 16% CPA improvement, while Brainlabs reported a 40% success rate. However, one Monk’s case study found that 99% of AI Max search terms drove zero conversions.
Performance depends almost entirely on account data quality: conversion tracking depth, audience signals, and first-party data feed. Strong data accounts see the lift. Thin data accounts lead the AI to make expensive guesses.
This is the most critical factor for most advertisers: AI Max will perform in proportion to the quality of the data you feed it. Before migrating, get your conversion tracking clean, your audience signals robust, and your first-party data in order.
Enilon’s Recommendation: Migrate Now, on Your Terms
Waiting for the September forced upgrade is not a neutral choice. It is ceding control of your campaign configuration to Google’s defaults. Here is how we are guiding our clients through this transition.
Audit Before You Migrate
Before making any changes to campaign settings, export a comprehensive baseline. Pull your DSA campaign performance by search term, by landing page, and by audience segment. Relying on Google’s promise that settings will be ported over is risky. Best practice is to manually audit and apply your negative keyword lists to the new AI Max-enabled campaigns during a controlled test. You cannot optimize against data you do not have.
Run a Parallel Test Campaign
Do not migrate your highest-spend DSA campaigns cold. Set up an AI Max campaign running alongside your existing DSA campaigns and let it accumulate data for four to six weeks before drawing conclusions. This gives the AI’s learning period a clean window and provides a real performance comparison rather than relying on averages that may not apply to your account.
Configure Your Controls Before Turning on Volume
AI Max offers more controls than most advertisers realize. Before scaling, configure the following:
- Text Guidelines: You can exclude up to 25 terms and set up to 40 messaging restrictions. Use these to protect brand voice and prevent irrelevant ad copy from appearing.
- Final URL Expansion: Start with conservative settings. Begin with a restricted set of pages and expand gradually as you see where the AI is sending traffic.
- Brand Controls: Explicitly set brand inclusions and exclusions. Do not assume the AI will make the right call on competitor queries or brand-adjacent terms.
- Location Controls: If your business serves specific geographies, configure location controls before launch, not after.
Do Not Conflate AI Max With Performance Max
One of the most common mistakes we are seeing is advertisers treating AI Max as another black-box, multi-channel format and either over-trusting it or avoiding it out of PMax fatigue. AI Max stays in the Search channel. It gives you query reports. It responds to your negative keyword lists. It is a meaningfully different product, and it deserves to be evaluated on its own merits.
Keep Your Existing Keyword Campaigns Running
AI Max does not replace standard keyword campaigns. Your exact-match and phrase-match campaigns should continue running alongside AI Max. Think of AI Max as the layer that captures intent your keyword list does not explicitly cover, while your keyword campaigns handle the queries where you want precision control.
Prepare Your Landing Pages for AI Interpretation
Better headings, stronger service pages, cleaner asset sets, and tighter exclusions are still controllable advantages. AI Max draws signals from your website content, so page quality directly influences where and how your ads appear. If your landing pages are thin, outdated, or structurally unclear, AI Max will have less to work with. This is a meaningful lever you can pull before September.
Is AI Max the Right Call for Every Campaign?
Not necessarily, at least not immediately. AI Max performs best when your account has clean conversion tracking, meaningful audience data, and landing pages that clearly communicate your business’s offerings. If any of those are weak, the AI optimizes toward the wrong signals.
For campaigns where performance is already strong and your keyword structure is tightly controlled, we recommend testing AI Max in parallel before migration rather than replacing your existing setup outright. For campaigns using DSA primarily as a long-tail catch-all, AI Max is a natural and likely improved successor.
The objective is not to migrate fast. It is to migrate smart, with your settings, your data, and your performance baseline intact.
FAQ
What is the deadline for the Google DSA to AI Max migration?
Google will begin automatically upgrading all eligible DSA campaigns to AI Max in September 2026. New DSA campaign creation will also be permanently disabled at that time. Voluntary migration tools are available now.
Is the DSA to AI Max migration mandatory?
Yes. There is no opt-out. Every eligible DSA campaign will be migrated. The question is whether you configure it yourself before September or Google configures it for you using default settings.
What is the difference between AI Max and Performance Max?
AI Max is a Search-only campaign format. It expands query reach using AI-driven matching while keeping you within the Search channel and providing query-level reporting. Performance Max is a separate, multi-channel campaign type that runs across Search, Display, YouTube, and other Google inventory. They are complementary, not interchangeable.
Will my negative keywords transfer automatically when DSA migrates to AI Max?
Google states that settings will be ported over during auto-upgrades, but industry experience from past forced migrations shows that nuanced negative keyword structures and custom page feeds do not always transfer cleanly. Manual review and re-application of your negative keyword lists is best practice.
Will AI Max hurt my campaign performance?
Results vary significantly by account. Performance depends heavily on conversion tracking quality, audience signal depth, and first-party data availability. Accounts with strong data infrastructure tend to see performance gains. Accounts with thin tracking or minimal audience data face higher risk during the transition. Running a parallel test before full migration is the best way to understand your specific situation.
Can I still use keywords with AI Max?
Yes. Keywords remain a core feature of AI Max and provide essential intent signals for the algorithm. Your existing keyword campaigns continue running separately. AI Max does not replace keyword-based campaigns; it extends your reach to queries those campaigns do not explicitly cover.
Should I migrate from DSA to AI Max before September?
Yes. Migrating proactively gives you control over campaign structure, negative keyword configuration, URL settings, text guidelines, and brand controls. Waiting for the forced upgrade means Google sets those defaults for you, and recovering from a poorly configured forced migration costs time and budget.
What is the AI Brief feature in Google AI Max?
AI Brief is a newer control layer that allows advertisers to guide AI Max using plain language instructions covering messaging, matching behavior, and audience targeting. It is Google’s attempt to give advertisers more strategic input without reverting to manual keyword-level control.
At Enilon, we stay ahead of platform changes so our clients do not have to scramble when deadlines arrive. If you have questions about how the DSA sunset affects your specific campaigns, reach out to our team.
Claire Brunner has been in the digital marketing space for over 20 years. Driving customer growth strategies for businesses in industries spanning technology, manufacturing, retail, luxury, fashion and home services. She’s based in Phoenix, AZ, part owner of Enilon where she leads Client Strategy, Marketing and Business Development.
