The question is not whether AI Max is available. The question is whether you still own the defaults when September starts migrating your Search campaigns.
AI Max starts deciding for you.
Google will move Search campaigns that use Automatically Created Assets or campaign-level broad match into AI Max in place from September 1 to September 30 (Google Ads Blog, Search Engine Land). Search term matching turns on for both. ACA also gets text customization on by default. Final URL expansion stays off.
That is not a feature launch. That is a control transfer with a calendar.
The Live Rule Is The Migration Window
New legacy ACA and campaign-level broad match setups have already been blocked since August 3. September finishes the job on what is still running.
If your account still carries those toggles, Google will migrate them. The migration is not a polite suggestion. It is an in-place change with search term matching on and ACA text customization on unless you act first.
The same week, Google shipped testing that makes the responsible path clearer: multi-campaign budget and ROI A/B tests rolling out in September, and AI Max experiments that keep brand and location controls on (Google Ads Blog). Performance Planner can apply suggested bidding or budget changes in one click.
Those tools are for teams that choose the upgrade. They are not a substitute for inventorying the legacy path.
Classification Beats Headline
Name every Search campaign with Automatically Created Assets. Name every campaign with campaign-level broad match. Owner. Brand and location constraints. Query themes you cannot afford to invent.
Then pick one of two honest moves before September 1:
- Disable the legacy toggle and keep a Search setup you still control.
- Enable AI Max yourself, set each control, and stand up a guarded experiment while brand and location rails stay on.
Waiting is also a choice. It just hands the choice to Google.
A Default Is Not A Strategy
Paid media fails when a platform notice becomes the plan. AI Max can be the right system for some accounts. It is the wrong system for every account that never audited query coverage, brand exclusions, or location intent before the migrate button fires.
September 1 is not a new baseline. It is the rule until you replace it with a named control set.
Name the owner. Name the campaign list. Name the number that still holds if search term matching invents queries you did not buy.
