For years, Dynamic Search Ads allowed Google to select landing pages and generate ad headlines automatically based on a website's content. This solution worked especially well for large e-commerce stores and extensive portals where covering an entire product catalogue with manual keywords was practically impossible.
This model is now being replaced by AI Max. Starting in February 2027, Google will automatically upgrade campaigns that use DSA. This is far more than a simple rebrand. AI Max can expand search matching, generate ad copy, and pick a landing page different from the one specified in the ad. Additionally, several familiar DSA settings will become read-only post-migration.
If you currently run Dynamic Search Ads, it is essential to audit your setup before the automatic migration begins. Pinned headlines, URL exclusions, legacy DSA rules, and tracking templates will require your full attention.
While the naming convention might suggest another stand-alone campaign type, AI Max does not work like Performance Max. Instead, it is a suite of automated features integrated directly into your existing Search campaigns. The campaign keeps its current structure, budget, bidding strategy, and historical performance data.
AI Max expands three core areas of your campaign: query matching, ad creative generation, and landing page selection.
Search matching analyses your existing keywords, ad creatives, and landing page content to capture relevant queries that do not directly match your designated keyword list.
Text customization enables Google to generate additional ad copy tailored to your website content and the user's specific search context.
Final URL expansion gives the system leeway to redirect users to a different URL on the same domain if it deems that page a better match for the search intent.
Final URL expansion requires text customization to be active. When AI Max is turned on, both features are enabled by default within the campaign settings.
Dynamic Search Ads will automatically upgrade starting February 2027
Google has scheduled February 2027 as the start date for the automatic upgrade of campaigns using Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max.
This timeline is notable because the roadmap has shifted. The DSA phase-out was initially slated to start earlier, but Google pushed the rollout back to 2027. Make sure your strategy is built around current official documentation rather than outdated sunset timelines.
Once upgraded, dynamic ad groups will be converted into standard ad groups, and Dynamic Search Ads will transform into responsive search ads (RSAs). Google will use text customization to generate the minimum baseline assets required.
This transition will not happen overnight. Existing DSAs can run concurrently with the new RSAs for an interim period. Once the new RSAs pass review and are eligible to serve, the older dynamic ads will automatically pause.
The biggest shift: how much autonomy Google gets
In standard search campaigns, advertisers retain total control over keywords, ad creative, and final landing pages. While DSA previously shifted some of that control to Google, it still let you define precise page feeds and targeting rules based on webpage content.
AI Max pushes automation even further. The algorithm can target searches well outside your designated keyword set, tailor the ad copy on the fly, and send prospects to whichever page it considers most relevant.
This can significantly broaden campaign reach without the overhead of creating hundreds of ad variations. At the same time, it means you must establish strict guardrails before turning on automation.
Google can send visitors to a different page
One of the most consequential features of AI Max is Final URL expansion.
When this setting is active, the URL you enter in the ad is no longer guaranteed to be the final destination. Google can route the visitor to any alternative page on your domain if it considers it a better answer to the query.
For large online stores, this can prove beneficial. Rather than funneling all incoming traffic to a broad category page, the engine can route the user straight to a specific subcategory or dedicated product detail page.
The problem arises when your website contains pages that should never receive paid traffic: archived products, legal terms, login portals, the checkout funnel, staging environments, or internal informational resources that were never designed to convert.
Before leaving Final URL expansion enabled, compile a comprehensive list of these sensitive pages and set up strict URL exclusions.
Pinned headlines won't always stay pinned
This is a critical consideration for accounts that require strict compliance and precise message matching.
Google has confirmed that when Final URL expansion is enabled, pinned assets in responsive search ads may not be honored if the system selects an alternative landing page. The same caveat applies when using URL includes.
If you pin headlines because specific wording must appear across every single ad variation, you cannot assume that behavior will persist once these features are enabled.
This directly affects mandatory legal disclaimers, promotional terms, supplier-mandated phrasing, and brand guidelines that must never be left to algorithmic generation.
If your pinned assets must be preserved under all circumstances, Google explicitly advises turning off Final URL expansion and avoiding URL includes.
Legacy DSA rules are becoming read-only
Dynamic Search Ads currently let you target audiences based on on-page content—such as targeting pages where the title tag or page copy contains a specific string.
Under AI Max, many of these older rule types will no longer be editable. Google has stated that legacy rules such as “Page Title contains” or “Page Content contains” will shift to read-only status.
You will be able to delete these rules, but you cannot edit them or create new ones using this syntax.
If your existing DSA campaigns depend heavily on content-based rules, audit your architecture now to map those targets using clean URL patterns and new AI Max controls.
Negative keywords are here to stay
More automation does not mean flying completely blind. Negative keyword lists remain fully functional and actively enforced when running AI Max.
You also have access to brand restriction controls. You can enforce brand inclusions and brand exclusions, which is vital when broader semantic matching tries to pull in competitor brand names or trademarked terms you want to avoid.
AI Max also supports URL exclusion lists to ensure sensitive or irrelevant areas of your site are completely cordoned off from paid ad traffic.
While the underlying platform is more automated, configuring it properly is still on you. Leaving default settings untouched will not teach the algorithm your real-world business constraints.
Monitor the “Source” column post-migration
Expanded automated matching would be dangerous without visibility into how each query was triggered.
To address this, Google has added deeper reporting for AI Max. Within the Search Terms report, you can inspect the matching source to distinguish between traffic derived from broad match expansion and traffic driven by keywordless targeting technology.
This is one of the first reports you should inspect closely after migration. Raw conversion figures alone will not tell you if incoming volume is truly aligned with your core commercial goals.
Tracking templates require validation
Because Google can dynamically substitute your landing page URL, your tracking setup must handle dynamic destinations cleanly.
Custom tracking templates require special verification. Under DSA, Google relies on the {lpurl} parameter, dynamically inserting the final destination page.
Hardcoded URLs inside templates that lack the proper parameters will cause all traffic to land on a single static page, ignoring algorithmic choices. Conversely, improperly formatted {lpurl} parameters can trigger broken URLs and 404 errors.
If your campaigns rely on third-party attribution platforms or custom UTM parameters, validate your setup thoroughly before upgrading.
Your pre-2027 audit checklist
There is no need to wait for Google to pull the switch automatically. You can migrate your DSA setups to AI Max manually, giving your team room to test, optimize, and iterate without surprises.
- Audit pinned headlines and assets. Identify which elements are legally or commercially mandatory on every impression.
- Review landing page assets. Build an exhaustive exclusion list of internal URLs that should never receive ad spend.
- Audit legacy DSA criteria. Pay close attention to rules based on titles and on-page content, as they will turn read-only.
- Verify tracking templates. Ensure your attribution syntax cleanly supports dynamically selected landing pages.
- Refine negative keyword and brand lists. AI Max casts a wider net, making negative matching and brand boundaries indispensable.
- Record a performance baseline. Document current DSA metrics: cost, conversions, conversion value, CPA or ROAS, and primary search queries.
This baseline gives you an objective benchmark to measure AI Max against, avoiding decisions based on guesswork.
Don't wait for Google's automatic rollout
The primary advantage of migrating ahead of time is not early feature access—it is control. You get the breathing room needed to run measured tests before you commit budget at scale.
You can selectively enable features, audit landing pages, evaluate incoming queries, and expand automation on your own timeline.
When Google runs an automated migration, the platform tries to map existing setups into the new model mechanically. The algorithm has no context on why an asset was pinned, why a DSA rule was framed in a particular way, or why a specific URL must never get paid traffic.
Fixing those edge cases is work best handled before the change happens.
AI Max brings deeper automation—and requires sharper oversight
The phase-out of Dynamic Search Ads reflects the overarching trajectory of Google Ads. Fewer decisions depend on static lists of keywords, manually drafted ads, and fixed URLs. Increasingly, decisions happen at auction time using page signals, query context, and campaign data.
This shift does not eliminate the media buyer's role; it redefines it. The focus moves to feeding campaigns clean conversion data, enforcing disciplined boundaries, refining landing page experience, and monitoring where budget is deployed.
As part of our Google Ads management and performance marketing, we handle everything from continuous CRO and tracking audits to landing page optimization and platform-level Google updates. The migration from DSA to AI Max should be treated as a strategic architectural upgrade, not a cosmetic settings change.
If you run Dynamic Search Ads and want to know how the February 2027 update will impact your account, get in touch with our team. We can review your campaign structure, highlight areas that need attention, and execute a seamless migration plan.
