Dynamic Search Ads AI Max upgrade in February 2027: your migration plan

Summary. Google will start upgrading campaigns that use Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) to AI Max automatically in February 2027. Its developer blog gives the window as 1 to 28 February, with reminder notices on 15 January 2027. On 11 June 2026 Google moved DSA from September 2026 and restored campaign creation from 15 June, while automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match kept September. On upgrade, dynamic ad groups become standard ad groups, DSAs become responsive search ads, and search term matching, text customisation and final URL expansion all switch on with legacy URL controls kept. Page-title and page-content rules turn read-only. Page feeds carry on through custom labels, negative keywords still apply, pinned assets can stop serving once final URL expansion or URL inclusions are on, and search term matching does not work with manual CPC. Google claims 7% more conversions or value at similar CPA or ROAS for the full suite against search term matching alone (internal 2026 data, non-retail). Our verdict: rebuild frozen targets, set URL and brand exclusions, and upgrade each campaign yourself, through a custom experiment where volume allows, by 31 January 2027.

About this article. For advertisers and agencies running Dynamic Search Ads, in India and elsewhere. Checked on 1 November 2026 against Google Ads Help, the Google Ads & Commerce Blog, the Google Ads Developer Blog and the Google Ads API release notes. Google changes ad products often, so read your account notices before committing budget. Worked figures are illustrative and not financial advice; no vendor paid for inclusion. Researched with AI assistance and reviewed by our editorial team.

What changed in 2026, and the dates that matter

On 15 April 2026 Google took AI Max for Search out of beta and said three legacy features would fold into it: Dynamic Search Ads, automatically created assets (ACA) and the campaign-level broad match setting. In June it split the timeline. DSA moved to February 2027, and DSA campaign creation, which had been due to end, came back. The table draws on those posts and a 12 August notice.

Two caveats. Google's developer posts differ on when creation ends: June says January 2027, August lists it under the February window. Plan on January, and treat 31 January 2027 as your working deadline for everything else. The destination also differs. June mentions Performance Max or AI-powered Search campaigns; August describes standard Search ad groups with AI Max enabled, which matches the help pages. We follow the later wording, but read the in-account notice for each campaign.

AI Max is already on by default for new Search campaigns. One difference matters: ACA and broad match campaigns moved with final URL expansion off, while DSA campaigns get all three features on.

What migrates: DSA settings mapped to AI Max

Google says AI Max will mirror your legacy setup after the auto-upgrade. Mirrored settings do not mean mirrored behaviour, because the matching and creative engine changes. The table combines Google's April post with its setup, URL exclusion and final URL expansion pages; the last column is our advice.

Targets that carry over, and targets that freeze

DSA offers 8 target types. Google's setup page names two that freeze: page-title and page-content rules become read-only, so you can delete them but not add or edit them. For other types, the upgrade dialog warns you if a legacy target is not supported and will turn read-only. Rebuild title and content rules before you upgrade, as URL Contains rules where your URL structure is clean or as page-feed labels where it is not.

URL Contains matching is token-based. Hyphens, periods and slashes split tokens; underscores do not; plurals do not match.

            Rule "careers"  -> matches /careers/ and /about-careers/
Rule "career"   -> does not match /careers/   (plural is a different token)
Rule "promo"    -> does not match /promo_page (underscore is not a separator)
          

Page feeds get new jobs

Google keeps the limits of 100 feeds per account and 20 custom labels per URL, and says new or edited feeds take 2 to 14 days on average to crawl. With final URL expansion on, labels power campaign-level URL exclusions or ad-group inclusions. With expansion off, label inclusions at ad group level target only those feed URLs. Because of the crawl delay, label changes belong in December, not late January.

Final URL expansion, text customisation and pins

Final URL expansion can send a click to any page on your domain that Google judges relevant to the query and themed to your ad group. It depends on text customisation: turn that off and expansion goes off too. URL exclusions need both on, and existing inclusions and exclusions are ignored if AI Max settings are off.

Pinned responsive search ad assets are not used when expansion picks a more relevant URL, or when URL inclusions are set. To keep pins, Google says to turn off both. If disclosure text lives only in a pinned headline, it can vanish on upgrade day.

Text guidelines, still in beta, allow up to 25 term exclusions and 40 messaging restrictions per campaign, and they also apply to generated assets that already exist.

What a manual upgrade does to live traffic

The upgrade option in the DSA settings panel starts a handover. Legacy DSAs keep serving while new responsive search ads are generated and policy-reviewed. Once those are eligible, the DSAs are paused and set to view-only. Pick a quiet week.

Manual upgrade or wait for February?

The auto-upgrade switches on all three features on Google's date. A manual upgrade lets you choose features, set exclusions first and pick the week, and Google's developer team recommends it. The experiment rules below come from Google's DSA and experiment pages; the paths are our recommendation.

Experiments are blocked on campaigns with text customisation already on, portfolio bid strategies, shared budgets, bidding exploration or an active experiment. The newer AI Max experiment flow also excludes Search campaigns targeting the Display Network, though custom experiments allow them. When a custom experiment ends, updating the original campaign converts it to AI Max, while converting the experiment to a new campaign pauses the original.

Google has not said how the auto-upgrade treats a DSA campaign with an experiment still running, so do not plan one past 31 January. A 2-week ramp plus 4 weeks of reading is 42 days, so 20 December 2026 is the last start date that finishes by then.

What to do before February 2027

1. Inventory and export

List every campaign with a dynamic ad group and tag it 100% DSA or mixed; Google's June post gives an API query for this. Export the DSA search terms views and 13 months of conversion data. Campaigns that moved in September 2026 show how your account reacts to AI Max matching, but not to final URL expansion, which those migrations left off.

2. Fix bidding, budgets and tracking

Google says search term matching will not work with manual CPC, and that all three features need conversion-based Smart Bidding to function effectively. Move manual CPC campaigns to Maximize Conversions or Maximize Conversion Value at least two weeks before upgrading. Google also says AI Max is not effective when campaigns are limited by budget, so narrow scope with URL rules rather than capping spend.

Check tracking templates. A static tracking URL without {lpurl}, or {lpurl} buried inside another parameter, can send expanded traffic to the wrong page or a 404.

3. Rebuild targets and set controls

• Frozen rules: replace page-title and page-content rules with URL Contains rules or feed labels such as money_page, support or out_of_stock.

• URL exclusions (campaign level): careers, login, legal and thank-you pages, old campaign pages, discontinued products, and pages with prices or claims you no longer stand behind.

• Brand lists: exclusions are campaign-level, inclusions work at campaign or ad group level, and exclusions win when both apply.

• Text guidelines: term exclusions for banned words, and messaging restrictions such as a rule against generating assets with prices.

• Negatives: Google says they are respected with AI Max on, so review lists built for a narrower DSA crawl.

4. Decide expansion and pins, then upgrade

Use full final URL expansion only where you would pay to send traffic to every indexable page. Turn expansion off and target feed labels where a lead form or compliance text must always appear, and move required wording onto the landing page.

Upgrade campaigns outside experiments manually, lowest risk first, in weekly waves.

Search term reporting after the upgrade

Google says to wait at least 2 weeks after enabling AI Max before changes such as adding negatives. The table comes from the same page.

Two quirks. The AI Max match-type filter ignores other search terms, so it can understate volume. Generated assets cannot be removed in bulk in the web interface, only through Google Ads Editor or the API.

If you run scripts or third-party bid tools, warn their owners. Google says to expect API errors if an integration tries to modify, rather than pause or delete, legacy expanded DSAs or criteria after they move to standard ad groups. The AI Max FAQ also warns of errors on requests managing text customisation and brand settings when AI Max is switched on or off, though its line that API support is due later in 2025 looks dated, since the API release notes now list AI Max features.

Measurement and test plan

Google's 7% figure compares the full suite against search term matching alone. Its May 2025 launch post claimed a typical 14% lift, and 27% for campaigns mostly on exact and phrase match; its help page gives the 14% as 2025 data for non-retail advertisers. None of these compares AI Max with a well-run DSA campaign, and all are vendor numbers. Your test asks whether the upgraded campaign produces more qualified business at acceptable cost.

Worked example: a ₹1 lakh-a-week DSA campaign

These figures are hypothetical, chosen to show the arithmetic. They are not benchmarks.

An Indian B2B software company spends ₹1,00,000 a week on a DSA campaign. It runs a 50/50 custom experiment and reads 4 weeks after the ramp. Each arm spends ₹50,000 a week, or ₹2,00,000 over the window.

On the platform view, AI Max wins: 16% cheaper leads and 9% cheaper SQLs. Remove brand queries, which the company's brand campaign would have captured anyway, and it loses: non-brand cost per SQL is about 19% higher (6,133 / 5,158). Non-brand leads are flat at 152 per arm (160 - 8 and 190 - 38); the extra leads came from the company's own name.

The rule was to adopt at or below 110% of control, or ₹5,674 (₹5,158 × 1.10). The treatment fails. Next: add the brand to the AI Max campaign's exclusions, use the Selected by column to exclude pages with clicks but no SQLs, and rerun for 3 weeks. If January runs out, upgrade manually with those fixes.

India, US, UK and EU notes

India. Where a site runs English and Hindi or regional-language pages, note that text guideline term exclusions are language-specific, so excluding cheapest in English does not block a Hindi equivalent, while messaging restrictions apply across languages; write must-avoid claims as restrictions. Brand settings also shape your exposure on competitor terms, so read our analysis of the Hindware vs Google keyword-ads ruling before setting policy. Importing CRM outcomes means processing personal data; our DPDP Act engineering playbook covers consent. With FY2027-28 starting on 1 April 2027, March is your read month.

US, UK and EU. Google's DSA pages make advertisers responsible for the final text in their ads, and we would not assume AI Max changes that. In finance, health and legal categories, treat generated headlines as your own copy: set messaging restrictions and review asset reports weekly for the first month.

How this fits with AI Mode ads and other February changes

AI Max is eligible for contextual matching on longer, exploratory questions in AI Mode, which exact and phrase match keywords are not. Our ads in AI Mode playbook covers that surface, and our guide to AI Max control levers covers settings for direct-to-consumer brands.

February 2027 also brings the reset of Display spend inside Search campaigns, covered in our Display Network guide, and the end of call-only ads, covered in our call assets guide. Do not change bidding, channel priorities and DSA structure in the same week.

How eCorpIT can help

eCorpIT is a Gurugram-based technology organisation, founded in 2021, assessed at CMMI Level 5 and MSME certified, with senior-led engineering teams working across AWS, Microsoft and Google platforms. Our performance marketing team runs DSA-to-AI Max migrations, covering target and feed rebuilds, exclusions, text guidelines, tracking templates, custom experiments and offline conversion imports. Talk to us at /contact-us/.

Last updated: 1 November 2026.

References

1. About Dynamic Search Ads — Google Ads Help

1. Migrate campaign-level broad match and automatically created assets to AI Max, 12 August 2026 — Google Ads Developer Blog

1. We're upgrading Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max, 15 April 2026, updated 11 June 2026 — Google Ads & Commerce Blog

1. Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) automigration delayed to February 2027 and campaign creation restored, 11 June 2026 — Google Ads Developer Blog

1. Set up AI Max for Search campaigns — Google Ads Help

1. Frequently asked questions about AI Max for Search campaigns — Google Ads Help

1. About URL exclusions in AI Max for Search campaigns — Google Ads Help

1. About Final URL expansion in Search — Google Ads Help

1. About targets for Dynamic Search Ads — Google Ads Help

1. Use a feed to target Dynamic Search Ads and Performance Max — Google Ads Help

1. Use text guidelines with Performance Max and Search campaigns (beta) — Google Ads Help

1. About AI Max experiments — Google Ads Help

1. About reporting in AI Max for Search campaigns — Google Ads Help

1. How AI Max for Search campaigns works — Google Ads Help

1. About brand settings for Search and Performance Max — Google Ads Help

1. Google Ads API release notes — Google for Developers

1. Introducing AI Max for Search campaigns, 6 May 2025 — Google Ads & Commerce Blog

1. About AI Max for Search campaigns — Google Ads Help

1. About ads in AI-powered experiences in Google Search — Google Ads Help