Dynamic Search Ads are being phased out: The roadmap to AI Max

Google is discontinuing Dynamic Search Ads (DSA). Google announced this on 15 April 2026, with an important correction on 11 June 2026: The original plan was that from September 2026, no new DSA campaigns could be created. Google has reversed this decision and re-enabled the option to create new campaigns from 15 June 2026. Currently (as of September 2026), you can still create new DSA campaigns, but only until January 2027. The successor is called AI Max for Search.

As a reminder, if you are not actively using DSA: Dynamic Search Ads automatically generated ads from the content of your website, without a keyword list. Instead, Google crawled the landing pages and created suitable headlines and target URLs itself. This very principle is adopted by AI Max and expanded with generative AI and significantly more signals.

Important for classification: Currently, two different timelines are running concurrently, which should not be confused.

Track 1: Campaign-Level Broad Match & Automatically Created Assets (ACA)

• 15 April 2026: Google announces the DSA discontinuation.
• 1 to 30 September 2026: Campaigns with campaign-wide Broad Match and automatically created assets will be automatically migrated to AI Max. This track is proceeding as planned, without delay.

Track 2: Dynamic Search Ads themselves

• 15 April 2026: Google announces that from September 2026, no new DSA campaigns will be creatable and the automatic migration will also start in September 2026.
• 11 June 2026: Google revises this plan in the Ads Developer Blog. The ability to create new DSA campaigns will be re-enabled on 15 June 2026, with automatic migration postponed to February 2027.
• 15 June 2026 to January 2027: Extended testing and migration window. New DSA campaigns can still be created, and you can voluntarily switch to AI Max and compare both variants.
• September 2026 (now): Initial in-account notifications regarding the upcoming DSA migration appear in the account.
• January 2027: The ability to create new DSA campaigns will end permanently.
• 15 January 2027: Google sends reminders to accounts with still active DSA campaigns.
• 1 to 28 February 2027: Automatic migration of all remaining DSA campaigns to AI Max.

As a reason for the postponement, Google cites feedback from advertisers who needed more time for testing due to planning certainty for the fourth quarter (Christmas business).

AI Max is not a 1:1 replacement for DSA, but an extension with three core components that can be activated within regular search campaigns:

• Search term matching: AI Max no longer solely focuses on the content of your website but seeks to understand the actual intent behind a search query, thereby covering a broader range of search terms than DSA.
• Text customisation: Gemini generates headlines and descriptions from your existing ads, landing page texts, and other website content, tailored to each specific search query.
• Final URL expansion: The AI automatically selects the most suitable landing page from your domain. Essentially, this is the old DSA function, now integrated into AI Max.

Structurally, it also changes: AI Max is controlled at campaign level, and separate ‘Dynamic Ad Groups’ as seen in DSA no longer exist.

DSA and AI Max in direct comparison:

Since the broader rollout, feedback from practice is increasing, which should be taken seriously in the assessment:

• Brand protection: There are reports that the AI misattributes statements, such as clinical information that is incorrectly attributed to another product. Industries with legally sensitive statements (health, finance) should monitor this closely.
• Cannibalisation of brand traffic: AI Max can intercept search queries that actually belong to a dedicated brand campaign, with implications for attribution and cost per click.
• Budget leakage: Several agencies report search budget noticeably flowing into the display network.

The default settings of AI Max prioritise performance, not automatically brand protection. Those who do not configure anything here leave the AI with more leeway than many are aware of. Some agencies have consciously stepped back from AI Max after mixed tests, until the control options are more mature.

Automation does not mean you have to relinquish control. In response to criticism, Google has introduced several adjustments:

• Negative keyword lists at the campaign level to consistently exclude unwanted search terms.
• URL exclusions, so that final URL expansion does not access specific pages.
• Term exclusions for automatic ad text generation: prevents the AI from using certain words or phrases.
• “Branded Searches” switch: a newer setting not yet available everywhere, allowing you to determine how AI Max handles brand-related search queries.

None of these options are enabled by default. Those who do not adjust anything after the automatic migration will adopt Google’s default settings unchecked.

1. Check inventory: Are there still active DSA campaigns running in your account? New ones can be created until January 2027, after which they cannot be.
2. Test voluntarily instead of being surprised: Those who wait until February 2027 will be automatically migrated without a testing phase. A controlled migration on your own allows for A/B comparisons against the existing campaign.
3. Configure brand protection before going live: Set up negative keyword lists, URL and term exclusions, rather than making adjustments afterwards.
4. Monitor brand campaigns separately: Check whether AI Max is diverting traffic from existing brand campaigns, and adjust the budget distribution accordingly.
5. Adjust reporting: Additionally, Performance Max has recently started reporting individual channels (Search, YouTube, Display, Gmail, Discover, Maps) instead of just “Cross-network”. Those who have built dashboards or exports on the old aggregate value should check this now.

The DSA replacement is not isolated. Microsoft Advertising has also rolled out AI Max globally for Search campaigns: the major search engines are synchronously moving towards generative, language model-supported campaign management.

1. DSA is a phasing-out model, but with a longer transition period than initially announced: New campaigns can still be created until January 2027, with automatic migration starting in February 2027.
2. Two timelines, do not confuse: Broad Match/ACA is migrating as planned in September 2026, while the DSA-specific migration has been postponed to February 2027.
3. AI Max is more than DSA: broader keyword understanding, generative ad texts, automatic landing page selection at the campaign level instead of in separate ad groups.
4. Control is not a default setting: Negative keyword lists, URL and term exclusions, as well as the branded searches switch must be actively set.
5. The trend extends beyond Google: Those already using ChatGPT Ads will recognise the pattern: control is shifting from manual settings to AI systems. Clean tracking and good landing page content are becoming more important, not less important.

 
Would you like to migrate your DSA campaigns to AI Max in a controlled manner with clean brand protection settings? On our performance page for Google Ads, we demonstrate what collaboration with Rheinwunder looks like.

Sources: Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Roundtable, Google Ads Help Centre, Google Ads Developer Blog (11.06.2026), PPC Land, Digiday. Status: 24.09.2026.