Search Marketing News Roundup: 11 Articles I Covered This Week
From Google Ads automation and Performance Max updates to ChatGPT advertising, AI-powered search, ecommerce, and advertiser verification, here are 11 articles I covered for Search Engine Land between October 16 and October 22, 2026.
Google Ads: Performance Max and campaign automation
Google Ads introduced two new asset optimization options for Performance Max: Landing page images and Sourced videos.
These features allow Google to pull creative assets from advertisers' websites and other online sources, including social media and linked YouTube channels. Advertisers can review the settings and control whether automatically sourced assets are used in their campaigns.
Google Ads is expanding its customer acquisition and retention capabilities with additional bidding controls designed to help advertisers reach new customers and re-engage existing ones.
The changes give advertisers more options for prioritizing valuable customer segments within their campaign strategies.
A new A/B testing toggle has been spotted in Google Ads' Performance Max asset group settings.
The feature could allow advertisers to compare different creative messaging and asset combinations within campaigns, providing additional testing capabilities for Performance Max.
AI Max has reportedly been enabled automatically in some Google Ad Grants accounts.
The development has raised questions about campaign control, search term relevance, and click-through rates for nonprofit advertisers using Google's advertising grants.
Google Ads: Demand Gen and Local Services Ads
Google Ads extended the adjustment period for eligible Demand Gen campaigns from three weeks to 60 days.
The change gives eligible campaigns a longer window for cost adjustments during the learning phase.
Google Local Services Ads is removing the featured professionals feature and making professional headshots optional.
According to Google, the changes will not affect ad serving, although advertisers may notice differences in how professional information appears in their listings.
ChatGPT advertising and attribution
ChatGPT Ads introduced additional advertising measurement capabilities, including improved conversion tracking and expanded measurement partnerships.
The updates also include new visual ad formats, giving advertisers more ways to present their products and services within ChatGPT.
A reported change in ChatGPT's handling of UTM parameters raised concerns about how marketers track referral traffic from AI-powered platforms.
The issue was subsequently identified as a bug, rather than an intentional removal of tracking parameters. The incident highlighted potential attribution problems when referral information is not passed correctly to analytics platforms.
Google AI Mode and personalized advertising
Google began testing advertising within AI Mode for users who have enabled Personal Intelligence.
The experiment explores how information from connected Google apps can support more personalized advertising experiences, with user opt-in settings and privacy protections forming part of the approach.
Google Merchant Center and ecommerce
Google Merchant Center introduced a new warranty attribute that allows retailers to provide information about product warranty coverage.
The attribute is designed to help merchants communicate warranty details more clearly and support compliance with local advertising requirements.
Advertising policies and verification
Google announced plans to expand its financial services advertiser verification requirements to the United States and Canada in early 2027.
The policy expansion is intended to strengthen advertiser transparency, reduce financial scams, and ensure that eligible financial services advertisers complete the required verification process.
Read more of my reporting on Search Engine Land.
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