Google Is Retiring Dynamic Search Ads: The Updated AI Max Migration Timeline

Important Update: Google Changed the DSA Date

Google has revised the timetable for upgrading legacy Search campaign features to AI Max.

The current official schedule is:

• September 2026: automatic upgrades begin for Automatically Created Assets and campaign-level broad match settings.
• February 2027: automatic upgrades begin for Dynamic Search Ads.

An earlier version of this article grouped all three changes under September 2026. That is no longer accurate. This page has been corrected to reflect Google's updated announcement.

The extra time is useful, but it should not be confused with a reason to ignore the account. Advertisers still need to understand which legacy features they use and how AI Max settings could change reach, copy and landing-page selection.

What Is Being Upgraded

Dynamic Search Ads

DSA uses website content to match searches, generate headlines and choose relevant landing pages without a conventional keyword list for every query. Google says automatic DSA upgrades will begin in February 2027.

Automatically Created Assets

ACA can generate or adapt text assets using information from ads and landing pages. Automatic upgrades for this legacy setting are scheduled to begin in September 2026.

Campaign-Level Broad Match

The legacy campaign-level broad-match setting is also scheduled to begin upgrading in September 2026.

These dates are starting points for automatic upgrades, not a promise that every account changes on the same day. Review the in-account notices for the specific campaigns you manage.

What AI Max Changes

AI Max for Search combines expanded matching and creative capabilities within Search campaigns. Depending on settings and eligibility, this can include:

• broader search-term matching
• text customisation
• final URL expansion
• brand and URL controls
• reporting and controls specific to the feature set

The opportunity is to find relevant demand beyond an exact keyword structure. The risk is that broader automation magnifies weak conversion signals, incomplete negatives, unsuitable landing pages or unsupported copy.

No headline performance average can replace an account-level test.

Why the Split Timeline Matters

An account may contain all three legacy features. That means it can face two different preparation windows.

Create a campaign inventory with columns for:

• campaign and owner
• DSA use
• ACA use
• campaign-level broad match use
• applicable automatic-upgrade window
• current conversion actions
• URL exclusions and page feeds
• negatives and brand controls
• planned test date

Do not label the whole account “February 2027” if ACA or campaign-level broad match settings are due earlier.

Audit Conversion Quality First

Automation optimises towards the conversion signals it receives. Confirm that primary conversions represent real business value and are not inflated by page views, duplicate events or low-quality actions.

Check:

• which actions are primary for bidding
• duplicate web and imported conversions
• enhanced-conversion or CRM import health
• lead-quality feedback
• conversion lag
• value rules and currency

A migration is a poor time to discover that the system has been optimising towards a thank-you page that fires twice.

Control Landing-Page Expansion

Review every page that could become a paid-search destination. Exclude pages that cannot satisfy commercial intent, such as old promotions, careers, login screens, internal search results and irrelevant blog posts.

For DSA, export page feeds, category rules, URL exclusions and performance before changing the structure. Keep the baseline in a durable account folder.

Start with the level of final URL expansion that matches the business's risk tolerance and page quality. Broader is not automatically better.

Review Search Terms, Negatives and Brands

Broader matching can expose the account to new queries. Maintain shared and campaign-level negatives for irrelevant intent, jobs, support, research and other patterns that do not belong in the campaign.

Use brand controls where appropriate and review whether the business wants to include or exclude its own brand in the test. Document the choice so later results are not misread.

Search-term reporting should be reviewed frequently during the early rollout, with material exclusions recorded rather than added ad hoc without context.

Govern Generated Text

Text customisation can improve relevance, but it also creates claims risk. Establish rules for prices, guarantees, superlatives, regulated statements and geographic availability.

Inspect generated combinations in context and keep approved source copy current. A model working from an outdated landing page can produce a fluent version of an expired offer.

Choose Voluntary Migration or Wait Deliberately

Moving early may provide more control over timing and learning. Waiting may be sensible when measurement is being repaired, peak trading is underway or account controls are not ready.

Either decision should include:

1. a baseline period
2. a defined campaign group
3. change log
4. success and guardrail metrics
5. review cadence
6. rollback or containment plan

Avoid changing budgets, creative, landing pages and bidding strategy at the same time if you want to understand the effect of AI Max.

The Updated Action Plan

Now: inventory all affected features and correct any internal plan that still gives DSA a September 2026 deadline.

Before September 2026: resolve ACA and campaign-level broad match decisions, conversion issues and account notices.

Before February 2027: archive the DSA baseline, test voluntary upgrades where appropriate and finalise URL, negative, brand and copy controls.

After each migration: allow for conversion lag, monitor guardrails and compare qualified outcomes—not just clicks or platform-reported conversion volume.

The most important change is simple: there is no single September deadline for all three features. Manage the two timelines separately and verify current in-account notices before acting.

Official Source

• Google: Dynamic Search Ads upgrade to AI Max—updated timeline