AI Max is a comprehensive suite of targeting and creative features. Two main features, search term matching and asset optimization, leverage Google AI to optimize your ads in real time and tailor your creative message to reach your customers and drive more value for your business.
This article explains how search term matching and asset optimization works and lists all available features in AI Max.
Search term matching
Benefits
| Incremental reach and performance: With search term matching, you can expand upon your existing keywords using broad match and keywordless technology to find more relevant and high-performing search queries — queries and conversions that you’d otherwise miss. Google AI will learn from your current keywords, creatives and URLs to help you show up on more relevant searches. | |
| More control: AI Max comes with new controls that give you the precision you previously used keywords for. Exclusively in AI Max for Search campaigns, locations of interest helps you reach specific customers based on their geographical intent at the ad group level. And with brand controls at both the campaign and ad group level, you can specify the exact brands you want your ads to be associated with, or prevent your ads from appearing alongside specific brands. | |
| More transparency: Headlines and URLs in the search terms report give you a clearer view into customer ad journeys. And the improved asset reports show you how your assets are performing against KPIs like spend and conversions, not just impressions. You’ll have the option to remove any generated assets with asset removals, or specify where you'd like to send your customers with URL controls. New match type values for AI Max and “source” columns provide insights into why your ads matched. |
Asset optimization
Asset optimization is a panel of campaign-level settings that delivers more tailored creative messaging at scale. It includes text customization (formerly known as automatically created assets) and final URL expansion settings.
Benefits
| Improved performance: Google automatically sends users to the landing page from your domain that is predicted to perform best and serves relevant ad copy customized to user intent. This unlocks new user journeys that can drive incremental performance. | |
| More relevant ads: Asset optimization helps optimize your ad to better tailor your creative message to the user and drive more value for your business. | |
| Drive efficiency: Improve your efficiency with automatically created ads with just a few clicks. Enabling these settings can drive better results with less time and less manual effort. | |
| More Transparency: Gain deeper insights into performance metrics with improved performance and contextual reporting for your assets. |
Features available in AI Max
Exclusively available in AI Max, you'll be able to balance driving better performance and improving flexibility with AI, all while gaining new precise controls for your campaigns. The following list of features and settings are included in AI Max:
| Search term matching |
Search term matching uses broad match, asset-based, and landing page-based technology to improve campaign reach. Ad group level control |
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Text customization (formerly known as automatically created assets) |
Uses text from your existing ads, landing page copy, and assets along with generative AI to create customized ad copy that’s more relevant to specific user searches. Campaign level control |
| Final URL Expansion |
Send traffic to the most relevant URLs on your website when it's likely to result in better performance. Final URL expansion will only send traffic to URLs that are query relevant and themed to your ad group. Requires text customization to be turned on to ensure ad copy matches landing page. When Final URL expansion is turned on for your campaign, pinned assets aren’t used if a more relevant URL is chosen, because they may not match the customer’s intent. Learn more About Asset Optimization. Campaign level control |
| Locations of interest |
Reach specific customers based on their geographical intent even in keywordless matches. Ad group level control |
| Brand settings |
Specify the exact brands you want your ads to be associated with (brand inclusions), or prevent your ads from appearing alongside specific brands (brand exclusions). Brand inclusions: Ad group and campaign level control Brand exclusions: Campaign level control |
| URL inclusions |
Utilize URL inclusions to include URLs that were not captured by final URL expansion. Ad group level control |
| URL exclusions |
Exclude specific URLs from serving as landing pages in your campaign Campaign level control |
| Synthetic keyword |
A new ValueTrack parameter that can be added to Google Ads URLs to help customize the landing page and tracking as a drop-in replacement for {keyword} for AI Max campaigns. {synthetic_keyword} is available in campaigns using AI Max today. The returned value will be similar to a keyword that could match the query. For example: “extra large mens hats” could be the value when a user searches for “find good hats for men with large heads”. To use synthetic keywords, simply add {synthetic_keyword} to your Final URL or tracking template, just like you would with {keyword}. It will then automatically populate with the relevant value for eligible campaigns. You can choose to specify a “default-value” that will be used if the user’s search is too ambiguous, if sensitive information needs to be excluded, or if the parameter is used in a campaign that's not eligible. Learn more about setting up ValueTrack parameters. |
| Updates to reporting |
AI Max includes reporting improvements to help track your campaign’s performance.
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Upgrading existing campaign settings to AI Max
Campaigns that have enabled the following features prior to adopting AI Max will notice a change in how these settings can be managed. To learn more, navigate to the dedicated feature page linked below:
- Text customization (formerly known as automatically created assets): Upgraded into AI Max
- Brand settings: Upgraded into AI Max
- Broad match campaign setting: Upgraded into AI Max.
After AI Max is activated for a campaign, these settings will be fully upgraded.
