Deadlines & playbooks
Google Ads deadlines, and what to do about each.
Google's notice windows can be as short as fourteen days, and the announcements rarely arrive as blog posts. This page tracks every dated change worth putting on a calendar, with the concrete move for each. Below the calendar are the full Monday-morning playbooks.
The calendar
Last reviewed August 7, 2026. Dates come from Google's own notices and help documentation unless flagged otherwise.
| Date | What changes | The move |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 5, 2026Passed | Google Ads API requires a passkey for new OAuth refresh tokensAnyone with scripts, dashboards, feed tools or Ads Editor users. Existing tokens keep working; service accounts are exempt. | Ask each vendor whether the connection runs on a service account or one person's authorization. Brief |
| Aug 12, 2026Derived | Working deadline to create a passkeyGoogle documents an activation delay of up to seven days, so this is seven days ahead of the reported account-level date. | Filter the Passkey status column across your full hierarchy, then have each admin test one real sensitive action. Brief |
| Aug 17, 2026 | Budget-limited campaigns deliver to your stated tCPA or tROASSearch, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen and Travel. App and Video keep the old behavior. No opt-out. | Close the gap between stated targets and actuals using the Bid Target Adjustment Tool. Brief |
| Aug 19, 2026Unconfirmed | Passkey required for sensitive actionsWidely reported, but Google's own advertiser email said July 15 and no Google page names a date. Trust the notification in your account. | Retire shared logins and name a second verified admin per account. Brief |
| Aug 31, 2026 | Local inventory ads turn on by defaultStandard Shopping campaigns with the LIA add-on. The Local products setting disappears. | Use the Inventory filter to keep online and local budgets split. Brief |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match auto-upgrade to AI MaxACA campaigns also get search term matching and text customization. Broad match campaigns get search term matching only. | Freeze a reporting baseline before the reports change shape, then decide on search term matching per campaign. Brief |
| Rolling into 2027 |
Local Services Ads migrate to Performance Max pay-per-leadPhased, US first, with as little as fourteen days notice per account. Performance reporting does not transfer. | Export LSA reporting now, before a notice arrives. Brief |
| Feb 2027 | Dynamic Search Ads automigrate to AI MaxMoved back five months from the original September 2026 date on June 11, 2026. DSA only. | Do not migrate early on the strength of a September headline. Run the AI Max conversion-data audit first. Brief |
Two dates that interact. A budget-limited campaign gets a stricter target on August 17 and, if it runs automatically created assets, a wider pool of eligible queries on September 1. Google's own AI Max documentation states the feature is not effective on campaigns limited by budget. If that describes an account you manage, either fund it properly or keep search term matching off until you have.
The playbooks
The full Monday-morning move from each brief, in one place.
Ads · Governance
After the July 2026 Terms of Service update
- Read the updated terms in your account and find the "automated program features" authorization clause, so you can quote it rather than paraphrase it.
- Check client MSAs and disclosures for who answers for AI-generated assets. If your contract is silent on machine-generated creative, it's out of date as of July 1.
- Inventory the AI surfaces live in each account (auto-apply, AI Max, PMax asset generation) and assign a named human reviewer with a written cadence.
- Brief the team: anything typed into Google Ads' conversational tools is contractually usable input. Keep client-confidential strategy out.
- Audit which URLs and accounts you've authorized Google to access and crawl, and prune anything a client hasn't approved.
Ads · Bidding
Before the August 17 bid target change
- Filter every account for campaigns "Limited by budget" on tCPA/tROAS (now or in the last 12 months), and pull the stated-vs-actual delta in the Bid Target Adjustment Tool.
- Export current actuals now as your baseline for the client record when performance shifts.
- Flag campaigns whose target lives in a contract or forecast, and decide deliberately before August 17: apply recent actuals, set a custom target, or switch to Maximize Conversions/Value.
- For overperformers you want to keep, make the actual the stated target. $5 behavior survives only if $5 is what's typed in.
- After August 17, recheck PMax/Demand Gen channel mix and give changed campaigns 1 to 2 conversion cycles before judging.
Ads · Search
Before you opt into AI Max for Search
- Check your conversion values, not just your conversions. Pass real revenue, or AI Max can't tell a good query from a cheap one.
- Turn it on for one non-critical campaign first, then read the search terms report to see what the AI thinks "more of what you want" means.
- Pressure-test your negative keyword list. It's now your main steering wheel.
- Decide brand by brand. Keep brand campaigns out unless you want bleed into competitor queries.
- Set a 30-day review on incremental conversions, not just CPA.
Ads · Performance Max
While the PMax Partners alpha rolls out
- Check Performance Max campaign settings for a Partners (Alpha) section with Search partners and Google Display Network checkboxes.
- Pull PMax channel distribution reporting and quantify Search Partners and Display share of spend and conversions, with CPA/ROAS by channel.
- Act on junk placements today with account-level placement exclusions and content suitability settings.
- Ask your Google rep for the Performance Max Partners alpha by name.
- If you have the toggle: one campaign, one network unchecked, two-week minimum hold, judged against a screenshotted baseline.
Ads · Shopping
Before local inventory ads flip on August 31
- In Merchant Center, check whether the local inventory ads add-on is enabled. If not, stop: this change can't touch you.
- List every linked Standard Shopping campaign and note which are intentionally online-only or local-only.
- Set the Inventory filter before August 31: Channel = Online or Channel = Local. The Local products setting is going away.
- Screenshot settings and drop a dated annotation so September's numbers have an explanation attached.
- In early September, watch for store-visit conversions in campaign totals and budget pacing shifts, alongside the August 17 bidding change.
More playbooks land as new briefs publish. Want them as they go live? Join the list →