Google Ads transfers ACA and Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max: timing and consequences of migration

On April 15, 2026, Google announced changes to automation in Google Ads Search campaigns. Google plans to phase out separate Dynamic Search Ads (DSA), Automatically Created Assets (ACA), and campaign-level broad match capabilities, bringing their functionality into AI Max for Search.

Google originally planned to migrate all three features in September 2026. On June 11, however, the company revised its timeline following advertiser feedback. The migration of ACA and campaign-level broad match began in September 2026, while the migration of Dynamic Search Ads was postponed to February 2027.

How ACA and AI Max work

Automatically Created Assets (ACA) allowed Google Ads to generate additional headlines and descriptions for Responsive Search Ads (RSAs). Advertisers supplied their own ad copy, while Google could create extra text assets based on ads, keywords, and landing pages. ACA was an additional campaign-level RSA optimization setting, not a separate ad type or ad group.

AI Max for Search adds an automation layer to existing Search campaigns. It is not a standalone campaign type like Performance Max. It brings together three capabilities:

• Search Term Matching: Extends query coverage beyond existing keywords using broad match and keywordless matching technology.
• Text Customization: Automatically generates and adapts RSA headlines and descriptions, evolving the former ACA capability.
• Final URL Expansion: Selects a relevant landing page on the advertiser's site instead of always using the predefined final URL.

How Search automation worked before the migration

Before the transition, Google Ads offered multiple mechanisms that advertisers could configure independently.

Automatically Created Assets worked within standard ad groups

An advertiser could create a regular Search campaign with standard ad groups, keywords, and RSAs containing manually written headlines and descriptions. Enabling ACA in campaign settings allowed Google to add automatically generated copy to those RSAs without creating a new ad group or changing existing keywords.

For example, one campaign could have the following structure:

• Ad Group 1: Exact Match Keywords + RSA.
• Ad Group 2: Broad Match Keywords + RSA.
• Ad Group 3: Phrase Match Keywords + RSA.

If ACA was enabled at the campaign level, eligible RSAs across these groups could receive additional generated text assets. The ad groups remained standard ad groups.

Dynamic Search Ads used dedicated dynamic ad groups

Dynamic Search Ads reached relevant searches without requiring a predefined set of positive keywords. Advertisers configured dynamic targeting based on website content, page categories, or individual URLs. A Dynamic Ad Group contained DSAs, with Google generating relevant headlines and choosing landing pages while the advertiser supplied descriptions.

Dynamic and standard ad groups could coexist within the same Search campaign, for example:

• Ad Group 1: Exact Match + RSA.
• Ad Group 2: Broad Match + RSA.
• Ad Group 3: Dynamic Ad Group + DSA.

This structure combined keyword-controlled traffic with additional search opportunities identified from the website.

Campaign-level broad match expanded keyword matching

A separate campaign-level broad match setting expanded keyword matching without requiring an advertiser to edit the match type of each keyword individually. In short, ACA generated ad copy, DSA used page-based dynamic targeting, and campaign-level broad match extended keyword matching.

How the migration changes existing campaigns

Google is consolidating these mechanisms within AI Max, but the migration affects settings and ad groups differently depending on which legacy features a campaign used.

ACA migration enables text customization and search term matching

Consider a Search campaign with three standard ad groups using Exact Match, Broad Match, and Phrase Match keywords alongside RSAs, with ACA enabled at the campaign level.

Starting in September 2026, campaigns configured this way became subject to automatic AI Max migration. Under the announced migration configuration:

• AI Max is enabled for the Search campaign.
• The previous ACA feature is replaced by Text Customization.
• Search Term Matching is enabled by default.
• Final URL Expansion is not automatically enabled solely because ACA was previously active.

The existing ad groups remain standard ad groups. Their RSAs and keywords are not converted into DSAs or removed merely because of ACA migration.

However, enabling Search Term Matching means that automation can now affect query coverage as well as ad copy. Search Term Matching is controlled separately for each ad group. Advertisers who want to preserve the targeting behavior of a particular group should review this setting and disable it where appropriate. This also matters for groups originally intended to rely on Exact Match or Phrase Match targeting.

Campaign-level broad match migration changes query matching

Search campaigns using campaign-level broad match also became subject to automatic migration starting in September 2026. Google enables Search Term Matching by default, replacing the previous campaign-level mechanism.

Migration of this setting alone does not necessarily turn on Text Customization or Final URL Expansion. Standard ad groups remain intact, but advertisers should inspect their Search Term Matching settings and evaluate how query coverage and traffic distribution change after migration.

Dynamic Search Ads migration begins in February 2027

Consider a Search campaign containing two standard RSA ad groups and a third Dynamic Ad Group with DSAs. Although Google initially planned to migrate DSA in September 2026, its June 11 update postponed the start of this transition to February 2027.

Google described the following changes for the DSA migration:

• Existing Dynamic Ad Groups are converted into standard ad groups.
• Dynamic Search Ads are converted into Responsive Search Ads.
• Google creates the minimum required static text assets for converted ads.
• Dynamic query coverage moves into AI Max functionality, including Search Term Matching.
• Search Term Matching, Text Customization, and Final URL Expansion are enabled as part of DSA migration, while existing URL restrictions are retained.

Standard ad groups elsewhere in the campaign are not themselves recreated as dynamic groups. AI Max, however, is enabled at the campaign level. Advertisers should therefore check both the migrated dynamic group and their previously existing standard groups.

If the same campaign had both DSA and ACA, the two migration schedules matter independently: ACA may already have activated AI Max in September 2026, ahead of the Dynamic Ad Group conversion planned for February 2027.

What advertisers should verify after migration

These changes affect advertisers using ACA, DSA, or campaign-level broad match, particularly those operating mixed Search campaigns with multiple targeting methods. Reviewing the campaign-level AI Max switch alone is not enough. The relevant ad-group settings and their effects on actual traffic should also be checked.

• Confirm whether AI Max has been enabled following automatic migration.
• Identify the ad groups where Search Term Matching is active.
• Check whether existing keywords and match types were preserved.
• Review Text Customization and the additional headlines or descriptions Google generates.
• Check whether Final URL Expansion is active and which landing pages may be selected.
• Confirm that brand restrictions, URL exclusions, and other relevant controls remain in place.
• Compare search queries, traffic distribution, and performance metrics before and after migration.

With Final URL Expansion, Google may not honor RSA headline and description pinning if it selects a different landing page for which it considers the pinned text unsuitable.

What the migration means for Google Ads management

Moving ACA, DSA, and campaign-level broad match into AI Max is more than a change of feature names. It brings query matching, ad copy generation, and landing page selection closer together within Search campaigns.

The practical risk is the automatic adjustment of settings in campaigns that are already running. For example, a campaign that previously used ACA only for text generation may acquire broader query-matching automation after the transition. Even when Google retains the same keywords, ads, and ad groups, those settings can influence search traffic composition, spending, and performance.

Affect Group recommends auditing Search campaigns that used ACA, DSA, or campaign-level broad match, reviewing AI Max controls at both campaign and ad-group levels, and comparing performance over equivalent periods.