SEO
Google AI Max drives revenue but at a higher cost, according to Smarter Ecommerce’s Mike Ryan, who analyzed 250+ campaigns. Outcomes vary, and much more testing is still needed.
Why we care. AI Max isn’t a minor update. It’s Google’s most significant reimagining of Search campaigns in years, shifting away from keyword syntax toward pure intent matching. For you, that’s both an opportunity (possible growth) and a risk (an efficiency tradeoff).
By the numbers. The result of the analysis:
- Median revenue: +13%
- Median CPA: +16%
- ROAS range: +42% to -35%
Advertisers who activate AI Max typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS, rising to 27% for campaigns still relying on exact and phrase match keywords, Google says.
Turning on AI Max is essentially a coin toss: you may see a lift, but efficiency likely won’t follow, Ryan concluded
What AI Max actually is. Rather than forcing Search campaigns into Performance Max, Google went the other direction — bringing PMax-style automation into classic Search. The result is three core features:
- Search Term Matching (broad match expansion plus keywordless targeting),
- Text Customization (dynamic ad copy), and
- Final URL Expansion (automated landing page selection).
Four pitfalls Smarter Ecommerce identified:
- Broad match cannibalization: Up to 63% of the time, recycling existing coverage rather than finding new queries.
- Competitor hijacking: In one account, AI Max scaled so aggressively into competitor brand terms that it consumed 69% of total Search impressions.
- Reporting overload: Search term and ad combination reports can run to tens of thousands of rows, making manual auditing nearly impossible without automation.
- Search Partner Network blowouts: One campaign saw half a million monthly impressions land on SPN at a 0.07% conversion rate, versus 3.04% on standard Google Search.
Between the lines. Google’s 14% uplift stat conspicuously excludes retail — an omission Ryan flags as significant for ecommerce advertisers. There’s also a deeper irony: you’re most likely to adopt AI Max if you’re already running Broad Match, DSA, and PMax — yet Google says those accounts will see the lowest incremental benefit.
What’s next. In a conversation with Ryan, Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin confirmed that Google plans to deprecate Dynamic Search Ads and migrate the technology into AI Max for Search. No firm timeline was given, though past Google deprecations often run about a year from announcement.
Ryan recommends activating AI Max’s keywordless features in your existing Search campaigns now and beginning to wind down DSA — not migrating it to PMax.
Ryan’s verdict is cautious optimism. About 16% of advertisers are testing AI Max, and few have gone all in. Start small, audit aggressively, and don’t let FOMO around AI Overviews drive your decision.
The report. The Ultimate Guide to AI Max for Google Search
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