Google Is Expanding AI Max to Shopping Campaigns

Google is extending AI Max, the AI layer it built for Search campaigns, into Shopping and Travel advertising, moving automated matching into two of its most widely used campaign types.

AI Max is not a separate campaign type. It is an optional setting advertisers switch on inside existing campaigns, broadening what triggers an ad through intent-based matching, generating ad text from an advertiser's own site and keywords, and letting Google choose the landing page it judges most relevant. In an explainer published this month, The Keyword broke down how AI Max works in Search, how it differs from Performance Max, and how much control advertisers keep.

AI Max for Shopping Campaigns

AI Max for Shopping campaigns draws on a retailer's Merchant Center feeds to build dynamic Shopping ads that respond to conversational queries, aiming to capture the long-tail searches that standard Shopping campaigns typically miss.

Google describes it as a one-click upgrade for existing Shopping campaigns. A retailer selling cookware, for example, could surface an induction-compatible pan for a search like "a pan that works on my new stovetop" without having built a keyword for it. Google detailed the changes on the Google Ads blog.

Search Engine Land reported that these features have already begun appearing inside Standard Shopping campaigns, based on screenshots shared by paid-search specialists, though Google has not formally confirmed that specific placement.

Search Campaigns for Travel

Travel advertisers, who previously managed fragmented campaign types across separate interfaces, can now bring their feeds and formats into a single AI Max-driven Search campaign. A hotel group running separate campaigns for rooms, packages, and destinations could consolidate them in one place rather than maintaining each format individually.

AI Brief Adds Plain-Language Controls

Alongside the expansion, Google is introducing AI Brief, a Gemini-powered tool that lets advertisers steer AI Max in their own words. It spans three areas: messaging guidelines that define what ads should and should not say, such as never mentioning prices; matching guidelines that set which searches to pursue or avoid; and audience guidelines that tailor messages to specific groups.

AI Brief previews sample assets and searches so advertisers can adjust before changes go live. It will roll out in English for AI Max for Search first, followed by Performance Max and AI Max for Shopping.

Final URL Expansion and Compliance

Google is also pairing Final URL expansion, which lets its AI choose the landing page for each query, with a new text disclaimers feature. Advertisers in regulated industries that must include mandatory text can now do so while still using Final URL expansion, closing a gap that previously forced them to choose between compliance text and automated landing pages. The disclaimers feature is rolling out over the coming weeks.

Automation Across Every Campaign Type

The Shopping and Travel push continues a pattern Google has followed all year: folding AI-driven matching into campaign types that once ran on manual keywords. In April, Google set eligible Search campaigns to auto-upgrade to AI Max, and in June it extended that migration timeline to February 2027 after advertisers asked for more time.

AI Max has also moved out of beta for Search; on Alphabet's July earnings call, Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler told analysts the format had exited beta. The approach mirrors Meta's Advantage+ automation, and Microsoft launched a near-identically named AI Max for Search in May.