If you manage accounts with live Dynamic Search Ads, the most useful news of June 2026 was not a launch but a delay: Google moved the automatic migration of DSAs to AI Max back to February 2027, from the original September 2026.
The stated reason is advertiser feedback, and the argument is hard to dispute: a forced structural change in September would have hit accounts exactly as they began preparing for the quarter that pays for the year.
The dates, in order
- 15 June 2026 The ability to create and edit DSA campaigns is restored.
- September 2026 Automatically created assets and the campaign-level broad match setting transition to AI Max, as originally planned.
- January 2027 The ability to create new DSAs is removed again.
- February 2027 Remaining active DSA campaigns are automatically upgraded to Performance Max or AI-powered Search campaigns.
Do not conflate these. The delay covers only the automatic migration of DSA campaigns. The two September 2026 transitions — automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match — are where they always were. Anyone who reads "delayed" and files the topic away will still meet a change in September.
What changes when DSA becomes AI Max
Dynamic Search Ads and AI Max solve the same starting problem — covering demand you did not put into keywords — through different logic.
| Dynamic Search Ads | AI Max | |
|---|---|---|
| Targeting basis | Site content or page feed, by categories and rules | Multiple signals, with advanced query matching |
| Ad text | Dynamically generated headline, description written by you | Customisable text built from your assets |
| Landing page | Chosen by the system among eligible pages | Final URL expansion, with configurable exclusions |
| Main control | Targeting rules and category exclusions | Brand exclusions, campaign negatives, URL exclusions, text guidelines |
| Where it lives | A separate campaign | A setting inside existing Search campaigns |
The most consequential practical difference is the last one. A DSA is its own campaign, with its own budget and reporting: comparing it to keyword campaigns is straightforward. AI Max instead switches on inside existing Search campaigns, so its performance blends into the campaign hosting it. That detail changes how you must set up the comparison — enable AI Max on the brand campaign and then compare totals, and you are measuring nothing.
How to use the months you have
The extension is only worth something if it produces an informed decision. Here is the order we recommend.
Phase 1 — Inventory (one week)
- List every live DSA campaign with its spend, conversions and share of account total.
- For each, establish whether it covers unique demand or duplicates keyword campaigns. DSAs that overlap existing keywords are the easiest candidates to close, not to migrate.
- Export the last ninety days of search terms: that is your baseline for judging the test.
Phase 2 — Preparation (two weeks)
- Define final URL expansion exclusions: the pages that must not receive paid traffic. If you already had category exclusions in the DSAs, start there.
- Convert brand-related negatives into brand exclusions.
- Write text guidelines with whoever owns the brand.
Phase 3 — Controlled test (eight to twelve weeks)
- Enable AI Max on a representative Search campaign through an experiment, with the DSA still running.
- Compare at equal spend: conversions, cost per conversion, and above all the kind of queries captured.
- Do not judge before eight weeks. The mechanics are the ones described in the operator’s guide to AI Max.
Phase 4 — Decision (by December 2026)
Close the test before the holidays and you reach January with a decision made rather than a migration imposed. Three possible outcomes: migrate voluntarily, close redundant DSAs, or keep the ones covering unique demand until February 2027 knowing exactly what will happen to them.
Why not simply wait for February 2027. An automatic migration hands you a configuration the system chose. A voluntary one gets you there with URL exclusions already set, brand exclusions already configured and text guidelines already written. The technical result is similar; the difference is who decided the boundaries.
What to calendar
- By September 2026: assess the impact of the automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match transitions.
- September-November 2026: controlled AI Max versus DSA test, holding everything else steady through the commercial peak.
- December 2026: a documented decision on every DSA campaign.
- January 2027: last month to create new DSAs, if you still need them.
- February 2027: automatic migration of whatever remains.
If you want to know which of your DSAs are worth migrating and which are simply worth closing, the free account audit starts from the overlap between dynamic and keyword campaigns — which is almost always larger than people expect. See also our services.