AI Max for Google Ads: My Takes as a Digital Marketer

Note: We're about to get off the rails, and I want to state that I am not recapping news, but these are my professional opinions on AI Max to help you understand it. If you want the news, we covered this on Barry Schwartz’s “It’s New” show and will talk more about it on Marketing O’Clock Monday (make sure to subscribe!) I’ll also add some context at the end of this post on some of the ins and outs of AI Max.

So here are my honest takes on “AI Max,” the “one-click feature suite” for search campaigns that Google Ads announced today. 

I’ve been very positive on Google Ads changes lately, and there will be a good bit of that in this post. But before someone thinks that I was kidnapped and held hostage, I’ll get the bad out of the way. Then we'll dive into the meaty center of AI Max.

AI Max: The Bad

Keywords

No, keywords aren’t dead, but we all know they will be. AI Max and keywordless matching for “search” is absolutely a leap in that direction.

We saw the ball move in that direction with PMax, but this is an enhancement for traditional search, and we’re all in our keywordless era now, whether we like it or not.

If you're still an exact/phrase match advertiser, this sentence from Google's announcement on AI Max should send chills down your back:

“With search term matching, you can expand upon your existing keywords using broad match and keywordless technology to nd more relevant and high-performing search queries.”

The Name

The name AI Max just doesn’t make sense to me. When you have a campaign type called Performance Max, maybe don’t make a feature suite that isn’t a campaign type with the same “Max” naming convention. It's just so confusing to clients and marketing teams everywhere to have to report on how the exact match keywords performed in the search campaign and because the keyword didn’t match exactly, the PMax campaign would have taken precedence over the search campaign, but now because the AI Max feature was turned on, the Search campaigns with AI Max enabled are now prioritized over the PMax campaigns.

I get it, Google, you like the term Max, but help us out here. Here are a half dozen better ideas:

• IntentMatch AI
• DeepIntent
• AI Sense
• CoreIntent
• AIQ
• AIntent

That said, I’ll take this over Gemini Max, so I’ll shut up now.

Max vs. Mode

Dear God, AI Max sounds so similar to AI Mode. I am just going to mix them up so badly. This is a true Shopify/Spotify situation.

Ts & Ps appreciated.

Future-Minded

While marketed as an enhancement for campaigns today, this, in my eyes, is really a move for when AI Mode will become monetized. I know they can’t just come out and say it, but, sorry, keywords don’t work in my eyes for things like ChatGPT, AI mode, and Google Lens.

Even if it doesn’t work for you today (cough, OG broad match, cough), it could work whenever we see the AI overview/AI Mode ads that were touted back at GML 2023.

Related note: It's 2025, and there are still no ads.

Other Notable Negatives

• Everything released by Google as of late is touted as the next best thing, whether it be Demand Gen or PMax. I mean, look what they say about Optimized Targeting. If you have lightweight ToFu conversions, AI Max is likely going to go Search Partners all over your performance.
• The location control is stupid to limit only to ad groups with AI Mode turned on; it should be for all campaigns. Google, why are you making Google Ads literal rocket science to explain?
• Same with brand control. Also, what the heck are brand exclusions/inclusions for? Gimme a break, guys.
• SearchMax was a better name, but it honestly doesn’t fit what I think this is trying to go as it reads as legacy “search campaigns” to me. So I still would have preferred one of my above ideas.

OK, now that you know it really is me, let’s talk about the good, then add some more detail to the picture.

AI Max: The Good

Stepping into the Future

This type of matching is the future.

Don’t believe me? Here's what I said when it leaked that ChatGPT may be planning for ads in 2026:

This was recorded back on 4/26. I firmly believe that AI-driven search is the future (lol, it ain’t those ratty AI Overviews, it is AI Mode though.) I also believe that keywords just won’t work in those situations, and I have the receipts in the video above.

Honestly, as an advertiser, I don’t even want to just target AI Mode users with keywords, as there's so much more nuance. I want to target on intent. People use AI search differently, and we need to as advertisers as well. I like the fact that we have the option to add keywords and have Google expand on them based on what they are likely looking for or interested in.

I know most of the audience dropped off in anger after reading this positive point, but they're just stuck in prehistoric times while we’re moving forward faster than Marty McFly and Doc Brown in Back To The Future 2.

I REALLY LIKE THIS FOR THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING ON GOOGLE, BUT CAN’T BRING MYSELF TO SAY THAT “I LIKE AI MAX”, SO I’LL JUST SAY I LIKE IT.

Don't Like It? Don't Use It

You don’t have to use it. Hate it? Good. You can AbstainMax from this feature.

I’ll be out there testing on behalf of clients and leaning into it if it works. Guess what, it probably will, that's typically what happens when Google wants something to work (ex: RSAs over Expanded Text Ads.) Sometimes Google will just brute-force make fetch happen.

But this is a choice, and thankfully, you have free will.

Other Notable Positives

• You have control over the creative with asset removals. I know, if you're in a regulated industry, there is nothing I can say here, but if not, at least you can control asset creation using asset removals. Or, it seems like you can even opt out, though Google shockingly doesn't recommend that.
• Ditto the above, but for Final URL expansion.
• Sorry y'all, the year is 2025, and broad match* and PMax* work. I actually believe that AI Max will, too.
  • *DISCLAIMER: Only with down-funnel conversions and smart bidding.
• I’m going to say it one last time. I believe that intent-based matching is the future. I can’t say this strongly enough. The new Broad match was a great first step, and I’m hopeful that AI Max will further the journey.

AI Max: The Other

• DSA campaigns are still available.
  • *Narrator Greg voice*: “They won’t be for long…”
• With AI Max, drafts and experiments are available, and A/B testing is on the roadmap.
• Location control is a new unique “keyword” setting, not a location setting at all. It controls keywords with locations in the query, no actual locations. This update is about keywordless matching though, and I can’t figure out why we are now bringing keywords into it. What are we doing? Honestly. Location control still needs to adhere to campaign location targeting. Ugh, I hate the thought of having to explain this to people.
• When opted into AI Max, your campaign will be opted into text customization, final URL expansions, and keywordless matching. You'll be able to opt out of text customization and final URL expansion, or both, at the campaign level. The ability to opt out of search term matching can happen at the ad group level. That seems messy though and I would guess that AI Max ad groups would spend more than traditional search ad groups.

AI Max: Final Grade

I think that this will end in the range of an A to a B- for advertisers, but we won’t know until it rolls out.

With AI Search as the future, Google needs to monetize outside of just the keyword, and I can see a scenario where AI Max can solve it. There are other goofy items like brand control and ad group location control (nobody asked for this) baked into the update.

As stated in the disclaimer, most of this post is just speculation, and the speculation is mostly what I would do. Please do not take this as fact, but rather more of a brain dump on why I can see this working.

I'm very bullish on AI Max, but not for the reasons they’ve stated in today's environment… my rationale is based on the future of (AI) Search.

Have questions about AI Max and how it might impact you? Get in touch!