Google expands AI Max to shopping & travel ad formats

Google has expanded AI Max to Shopping campaigns and travel-specific search formats, while introducing new controls that let advertisers guide how the system matches searches and writes ad copy.

The update broadens what Google describes as its fastest-growing AI-powered search advertising tool since it launched for Search campaigns. The changes are aimed at retailers, travel advertisers and businesses that need tighter control over messaging and compliance.

For retailers, AI Max for Shopping campaigns uses Merchant Centre product feeds to generate Shopping ads that can respond to more conversational search queries. It is designed to capture long-tail searches that standard Shopping campaigns may miss. Google said the same approach will also be added to Performance Max.

Travel advertisers are also being brought into the product. Search campaigns for Travel will bring feeds and formats into one place, replacing a more fragmented setup across different campaign types and interfaces.

New controls

A central part of the update is AI Brief, a Gemini-based feature intended to let advertisers set clearer instructions in natural language. They can use it to specify what ads should and should not say, which searches should be prioritised or avoided, and which audiences should receive particular messages.

The tool includes previews of sample assets and searches before changes are committed, giving advertisers a chance to review and adjust instructions. AI Brief will first roll out in English for AI Max for Search campaigns, with Performance Max and AI Max for Shopping campaigns to follow. Existing text guidelines in campaigns will move to the messaging guidelines section within AI Brief.

Google presented the changes as a response to shifts in how people search for information and products online. As users type or speak more complex, conversational queries, advertisers face a wider range of possible searches than standard keyword and creative settings can manage manually.

Landing pages

Google also updated Final URL Expansion, which uses its systems to choose the most relevant landing page for a search. The feature is becoming more important as queries grow more varied and unique, making manual page selection less practical.

It has also introduced text disclaimers for advertisers in regulated industries. The feature is intended to ensure mandatory text appears in ads even when Final URL Expansion is in use, addressing a previous limitation for marketers that needed legal or compliance wording to appear consistently.

The change could be particularly relevant for sectors such as financial services, healthcare and other tightly regulated categories, where ad copy often requires fixed disclosures. The text disclaimer feature will roll out globally in all languages.

The wider update points to Google's effort to give advertisers more direct ways to shape automated systems, rather than forcing a choice between manual control and AI-driven campaign management. By adding instruction-based settings for messaging, matching and audience selection, it is seeking to reduce some of the uncertainty marketers have raised around automated advertising products.

At the same time, the expansion into Shopping and travel suggests Google is pushing AI Max beyond its original role in Search campaigns and into more specialised ad formats that depend heavily on product feeds, inventory data and vertical-specific campaign structures.

AI Max for Shopping and Search campaigns for Travel are now available in Search campaigns and are rolling out in closed beta globally, in all languages.