Dynamic Search Ads had a good run. As of September 2026, they're gone — replaced by AI Max for Search, whether you're ready or not.
Google's announcement is clear: any DSA campaign still alive when September arrives will be auto-migrated. The question is whether you control that migration or Google does it for you. The answer to that question has real performance consequences.
What Changed
DSA is being retired. The technology — which crawled your website and auto-matched queries to your content — is replaced by AI Max for Search, an intent-based model powered by Google's Gemini AI. AI Max absorbs DSA logic, Automatically Created Assets, and campaign-level broad match into a single automated Search layer.
The shift is fundamental: DSA matched based on page content keywords; AI Max matches based on real-time consumer intent signals and search themes you provide. DSA generated headlines from page titles; AI Max generates them from your AI Brief guidelines.
The Migration Timeline
- April 15, 2026: AI Max for Search reached General Availability. Voluntary 1-click upgrade tools went live.
- June 2, 2026: Broader rollout of voluntary migration tools. Official DSA vs. AI Max experiments now available.
- September 2026: Mandatory auto-migration of all remaining DSA campaigns begins.
- End of September 2026: New DSA campaign creation disabled in UI, Editor, and API.
Why Auto-Migration Is Riskier Than Proactive Migration
If Google auto-migrates your campaigns, it may create new ad group structures. New structures reset the learning phase. If your DSA campaigns carry months or years of conversion history, auto-migration can temporarily tank performance while the algorithm relearns.
Proactive migration using the 1-click upgrade tool preserves historical data within existing ad groups, keeping your learning history intact.
What Advertisers Must Do Before September
Use the 1-click upgrade tool now. Migrating yourself gives you structural continuity.
Audit your negative keywords before migrating. AI Max uses broader intent matching than DSA. If your brand exclusions aren't airtight at the account level, AI Max will cannibalize your branded search traffic.
Set URL exclusions immediately. AI Max autonomously selects the "most relevant" landing page. Without exclusions, it will send traffic to privacy policies, blog archives, and legal pages.
Define Text Guidelines (AI Briefs). AI Max uses Gemini to generate ad copy. Without brand constraints, it invents copy. Use Text Guidelines to set tone-of-voice rules, required brand terms, and prohibited phrases.
Run an experiment first. Google's experiment tool lets you run DSA head-to-head against AI Max before full budget commitment. Run for at least 4–6 weeks before migrating everything.
Retail advertisers: know your track. If you run Shopping, your migration path is toward AI Max for Shopping, not AI Max for Search. These are parallel initiatives — don't conflate them.
The Broader Implication
The better your AI Brief, search themes, negative keyword vault, and URL exclusion list — the better AI Max performs. Advertisers who treat this as a "let Google handle it" situation will see disruption. Advertisers who approach it as an asset management problem will come out ahead.
Sources: Google Ads & Commerce Blog · Google Ads Help: Announcements · Google Ads Help: AI Max Guide
