5 Lessons from Using AI Max in Google Ads

If you’ve been running Google Ads lately, you’ve probably heard of AI Max; a new experimental feature (formerly known as Search Max) that’s been quietly rolling out to advertisers.

Over the past four months, I’ve been testing AI Max across multiple accounts. In this blog post, I’ll share five key lessons I’ve learned from using AI Max.

🎥 Want the full breakdown, including examples and deeper insights? Watch the full video below:

What is AI Max?

In a nutshell, AI Max transforms your search campaign into something resembling a “maximum reach” mode. It essentially treats your existing keywords like broad match, while also pulling in traffic based on your landing page content even if there are no keywords involved.

Sounds powerful? It is. But it also comes with trade-offs.

1. AI Max Spending Varies Based on Account Structure

In accounts that already use broad match keywords or Performance Max, AI Max barely spent any budget. Why? Because those accounts were already casting a wide net.

However, in campaigns using exact or phrase match, AI Max did start to spend, and sometimes accounted for 20-30% of total campaign spend.

2. Performance Can Be Misleading

At first glance, the ROAS from AI Max looked decent. But once search term data became available, I noticed something important:

Most of the revenue attributed to AI Max would’ve likely been captured by regular keywords anyway.

In short, the incremental value wasn’t as strong as it appeared on the surface.

3. AI Max + Search Partners = 🚨 Trouble

Here’s a quick tip: If you’re enabling AI Max, turn off Search Partners.

In my testing, combining these two led to a spike in irrelevant traffic and poor-quality clicks.

While Search Partners can work well on their own, pairing them with AI Max opens the door to a lot of noise.

4. Landing Pages Matter. A Lot.

AI Max doesn't just rely on your keywords; it also considers the content of your landing page.

If you're using a generic page across multiple ad groups or campaigns, AI Max might ignore your keyword structure and serve ads based solely on your page content.

This can lead to mismatched search intent and poor user experience, especially if your ad copy doesn’t align with the search query.

5. Keywords Still Win

AI Max captures search queries in two ways:

• Through your keywords (called expanded search term matching)

• Through your landing page content (called landing page and URL inclusions)

The result? Keyword-based matching performs much better; at least when your keywords are well-researched and organized.

The landing page-based, keywordless matching? Not so great.

Final Thoughts

Google seems to be moving toward AI-powered ad placements; possibly to support ad placements in AI Overviews or AI Mode.

Whether we like it or not, features like AI Max may soon become the norm. So it’s better to test, learn, and prepare.

-------------------------------

Do you need help running your Google Ads campaigns? Connect with me through this form.