The deadline has passed. The state of the setting or of the rollout has to be checked against an official source.
Search campaigns · ACA · Broad match
Google Ads migrates ACA and campaign-level broad match to AI Max from 1 September 2026
Progressive migration from 1 to 30 SeptemberDeadline : 1 September 2026Documentation as at : 13 August 2026
Do not lose this date
Add the deadline to your calendar
The date is saved as a full day. The entry remains the source to consult if it is postponed.
Post-deadline finding
Past due — check required
01 · Mechanism
What actually changes
Google is taking AI Max for Search campaigns out of beta. The automatic September migration concerns eligible campaigns that use Automatically Created Assets or campaign-level broad match as standalone features. DSA campaigns are excluded from this phase and their migration is postponed to February 2027.
The migration starts on 1 September 2026 and rolls out progressively until 30 September. 1 September therefore marks the opening of the window, not the simultaneous switchover of every campaign concerned.
After migration, a campaign using ACA activates term search and text customisation within AI Max. A campaign using campaign-level broad match activates term search. Google exposes the ACA and broad match migration dates in the API so that each campaign can be tracked.
02 · Impact
What it changes in the mix
The control surface changes for teams that steered ACA or campaign-level broad match separately. They need to freeze settings and performance before the window, then check which AI Max controls are actually active after each campaign migrates.
The DSA timetable has to stay separate. Through September, tracking should rely on each campaign’s own migration date rather than on the assumption of a general activation on 1 September.
03 · Scope
Who has to reconfigure
Eligible Search campaigns that use Automatically Created Assets or campaign-level broad match as standalone features.
DSA campaigns are outside the September phase: their migration to AI Max is postponed to February 2027. Campaigns with neither ACA nor campaign-level broad match are not affected by this automatic phase.
04 · Settings
What do I reconfigure?
- 01
List the eligible Search campaigns
List the campaigns that use ACA or campaign-level broad match, clearly setting apart the DSA campaigns that are outside the September phase.
- By when
- Before 1 September 2026
- Where
- Google Ads account · Search campaign inventory
- 02
Decide between a voluntary and an automatic migration
For each campaign, consider turning AI Max on before 1 September; otherwise, record the acceptance of the progressive automatic migration.
- By when
- Before 1 September 2026
- Where
- Google Ads · AI Max banner and settings
- 03
Freeze the settings and the performance baseline
Before the window opens, export ACA settings, broad match, exclusions, assets and performance over a comparable period, so as to hold a dated record of the prior state.
- By when
- Before 1 September 2026
- Where
- Google Ads · settings and performance exports
- 04
Track the migration dates campaign by campaign
Query the GAQL fields campaign.aca_migration_date_time and campaign.broad_match_migration_date_time from 1 to 30 September and reconcile those dates with the Google Ads notifications.
- By when
- From 1 to 30 September 2026
- Where
- Google Ads API · GAQL migration date fields
- 05
Check the AI Max features after each switchover
After each campaign migrates, check term search and, for ACA, text customisation; record any subsequent manual change separately.
- By when
- After each campaign migrates
- Where
- Google Ads and Google Ads API · AI Max controls
05 · Correction
What is going around and what is accurate
Every DSA campaign switches to AI Max on 1 September 2026.
The phase that begins on 1 September concerns eligible Search campaigns using ACA or campaign-level broad match. The migration is progressive until 30 September; DSA campaigns are postponed to February 2027.
06 · Evidence
Primary sources
07 · Revisions
Public history
Entry created from two official Google sources; the Google Ads Developer Blog post confirms the 1 September start and the progressive migration through 30 September.