AI Max for Search: A 20-Minute PPC Campaign Management Check for Australian Advertisers

If your Google Ads search terms or costs looked different after September 2026, check whether a campaign was moved to AI Max. Google began upgrading some Search campaigns to AI Max automatically that month, and a 20-minute PPC campaign management check shows what changed and whether to keep it.

PPC (pay-per-click) is advertising where you pay each time someone clicks your ad. PPC campaign management is the regular work of checking and adjusting those ads, so the spend keeps producing enquiries at a cost you can afford.

Star Digital Marketing is a full-service digital marketing agency in Spring Hill, Brisbane, that works as an outsourced marketing department for small and medium businesses across Australia. PPC campaign management is part of our paid advertising service, and this is the check we’d run on any account.

What is AI Max for Search?

AI Max for Search is a group of Google Ads settings that lets Google’s AI widen the searches your ads show for, rewrite your ad text and choose the page a click lands on. At the time of writing, Google Ads Help describes three parts:

• Search term matching shows your ads on searches beyond your keyword list, using your keywords, ads and website as a guide.
• Text customisation writes extra headlines and descriptions, drawing on your website and existing ads. It was formerly called automatically created assets.
• Final URL expansion sends a click to the page on your website that Google predicts will perform best, which may not be the page you chose.

Did Google switch my campaigns to AI Max automatically?

Google may have switched your campaign if it used the campaign-level broad match setting or text customisation. Broad match is a keyword setting that lets your ad show on searches related to your keyword, not only the exact words.

At the time of writing, Google Ads Help states that campaigns using either setting are automatically upgraded to AI Max, starting in September 2026. It also says new Search campaigns have AI Max turned on by default. Step 1 below shows how to see where your account stands.

The 20-minute PPC campaign management check for AI Max

This PPC campaign management check has five steps and takes about 20 minutes for a small account. You need your own login to Google Ads. Menu names change, so treat the paths below as correct at the time of writing and use Google’s AI Max setup instructions if a label has moved.

Step 1: Confirm what is switched on (3 minutes)

Open the campaign’s settings and find the AI Max section. Note whether AI Max is on, and then whether text customisation and final URL expansion are on beneath it. Search term matching is controlled in each ad group’s settings.

Write the three answers down. An upgraded campaign doesn’t necessarily have all three parts on, and each one changes something different.

Step 2: Read the search terms report (7 minutes)

AI Max can change which searches your ads show for, so this step gets the most time. The search terms report lists the actual phrases people typed before your ad appeared.

Add the “Source” column, which shows which searches were matched by AI Max. Then look for four kinds of waste:

1. Searches for services you don’t offer.
2. Searches from outside the area you serve.
3. Job seekers and people after free information.
4. Competitor names you didn’t intend to bid on.

Add the poor matches as negative keywords, which are searches you tell Google not to show your ad for. Google Ads Help confirms that negative keywords are respected with AI Max on.

Step 3: Review the AI-written ad text (4 minutes)

If text customisation is on, open the asset report and look at the “Added by” column. Text written by Google is labelled “Google AI”. Read each line as a customer would.

Check for prices, offers or services you don’t provide, and for promises you couldn’t back up. You remain responsible for what your ads say. Under Australian Consumer Law, businesses must not make false or misleading claims, and that applies whoever, or whatever, wrote the words.

Remove any line you wouldn’t sign off. Google builds this text from your website, so an outdated page can produce an outdated ad. Our copywriting team reviews generated ad text against what a client can honestly claim.

Found something you can’t explain? Call 1300 859 066 or email sales@stardigitalmarketing.com.au and tell us what you’re seeing.

Step 4: Check where clicks are landing (3 minutes)

If final URL expansion is on, open the landing pages report and look at the “Selected by” column. It shows which pages AI Max chose. A landing page is the page someone arrives on after clicking your ad.

Look for pages that shouldn’t receive paid traffic, such as careers pages, old offers or blog posts with no enquiry form. Add those as URL exclusions in the campaign’s AI Max section. This is also where website quality starts to cost money: thin or outdated pages hold back your ads as well as your SEO, the work of improving your site so it appears in unpaid search results.

Step 5: Keep it, limit it or turn it off (3 minutes)

You can turn AI Max off for a campaign, and you can also switch off its parts one at a time. To opt out completely, go to the campaign’s settings, select AI Max, switch the toggle off and save.

Google Ads Help notes that turning AI Max off disables all of its features and may affect campaign performance. Compare your cost per enquiry (ad spend divided by the number of enquiries) before and after the change before you decide.

Should a small business in Australia use AI Max?

A small business should use AI Max only if its conversion tracking is sound and someone reads the search terms report regularly. Conversion tracking records which clicks became calls, forms or bookings, and it is what the AI learns from.

Google reports that advertisers using AI Max typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar cost, based on its own 2025 internal data for non-retail advertisers. That is an average across many advertisers, and it is not a forecast for any one account.

Not sure which option fits your account? Book a free strategy call and quote, or call 1300 859 066. The call runs 30 minutes with no obligation, and you get a written action plan to keep whether or not you go ahead.

If someone else manages your ads

If a freelancer or agency manages your account, ask three questions: was any campaign upgraded, which AI Max parts are on, and what did the search terms report show afterwards. Good paid advertising management means you get those answers in plain English.

If you can’t log in to check for yourself, that is worth fixing first. Our clients own their ad accounts, and our monthly report is a short plain-English summary of what we did, what it produced and what’s next. Our guide to what PPC management includes sets out what regular PPC campaign management should cover.

We tailor the work instead of selling packages, and we say so when something isn’t worth doing. That includes AI Max, and it includes paying for management on an account too small to need it.

Want a second pair of eyes on your account?

We’ll go through this PPC campaign management check with you. The first conversation is diagnostic: what a customer is worth, how many more you can handle and where your enquiries come from now.