Choice OMG

09/02/2026

The AI Max evidence splits along a predictable line. More than 250 retail campaigns measured a median +13% conversion value at +16% CPA; a five-location franchise test posted +97% to +720% conversion lifts. Expansion helps where coverage was weak and struggles where humans already optimized hard. The independent record, read together in the field guide: https://choice.marketing/blog/google-ai-max-field-guide/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=aimax-evidence-split

09/01/2026

Google's AI Max auto-upgrade window opens today and runs through September 30. Eligible Search campaigns get the forced changes in place, paused ones included; nothing in the migration language exempts them. A paused campaign takes the forced change silently and wakes up months later carrying settings nobody chose. We audited all 19 accounts we manage, and the queries to audit yours are published. The audit story: https://choice.marketing/blog/ai-max-september-audit/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=aimax-window-open

08/31/2026

Google stopped sending clicks, and most agency dashboards still pretend otherwise. AI Overviews answer in place, AI assistants read your site without visiting, and the click-based funnel undercounts all of it. What agencies should measure now: https://choice.marketing/blog/what-agencies-should-measure-now/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=measure-now-refresh

08/30/2026

A guide only humans can use is half a product. Our AI Max field guide ends with a machine-readable appendix and four runnable GAQL queries, built to be pasted into whatever AI agent helps run your Google Ads account. It separates verified product mechanics from our own operating framework, so your agent can check our work: https://choice.marketing/blog/google-ai-max-field-guide/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=aimax-agent-appendix

08/29/2026

The Google Ads job changed in 2026. Bidding, matching, and creative assembly moved into the platform, and the work that pays moved to the signals you feed the machine and the guardrails you keep on it. What we rebuilt across the accounts we manage: https://choice.marketing/blog/google-ads-2026-operating-model-shift/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=gads-operating-model-refresh

08/28/2026

One API flag almost nobody discusses decides how much control you keep under AI Max: bundling_required. Where it reads REQUIRED, component settings like text customization cannot hold without the campaign-level umbrella, and it reads REQUIRED on 13 of our 18 enabled Search campaigns. Containment moves to the ad-group and list level. The controls map, with API field names: https://choice.marketing/blog/google-ai-max-field-guide/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=aimax-bundling

08/27/2026

We audited all 19 Google Ads accounts we manage for September's AI Max auto-upgrade. Zero enabled campaigns use campaign-level broad match, 25 still carry the legacy asset setting that triggers conversion, and exactly one enabled, spending campaign sits in the forced-change path. The panic reads fleet-wide; the real exposure was one deliberate decision. The audit story: https://choice.marketing/blog/ai-max-september-audit/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=aimax-audit-story

08/26/2026

AI Max matched our vehicle-wraps client to a competitor's brand name by default. No keyword, no setting we chose. It sits in the served-combinations report almost nobody pulls, down to the exact search term, headline, and landing page. Brand exclusions are a decision you make, not a default you inherit. The operator's field guide covers the report and the controls: https://choice.marketing/blog/google-ai-max-field-guide/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=aimax-conquest

08/26/2026

Google decides your queries, your ad copy, and your landing pages under AI Max. Three separate grants, each with its own off switch and its own failure mode. From September 1, Google makes the first grant automatically on any Search campaign still running campaign-level broad match or legacy automatically created assets.

We audited all 19 Google Ads accounts under our management a week ahead of the window, then wrote the operator's field guide: the placement spectrum, the seven readiness gates, the four API queries that audit any account, and a machine-readable appendix built for the AI agent that helps run yours.

Google AI Max field guide: the placement spectrum, seven scored gates, runnable GAQL audits, data from 19 accounts, and an appendix your AI agent can use.

08/25/2026

ChatGPT Ads is six months old and the platform planners evaluated in May no longer exists. Since then: a conversion-optimized objective, custom audiences, state and DMA targeting, advanced matching, view-through reporting, self-serve Ads Manager in Canada, and 31 European markets opening August 24.

What has not changed is who sees the ads: Free and Go users only. We ran our own test in June (8,940 impressions, 58 clicks, 0.65% CTR, no lead) and learned that the buyer we wanted was on a paid, ad-free plan.

We rewrote the field guide against OpenAI's current documentation and dated every change:

https://choice.marketing/blog/chatgpt-ads-2026-field-guide/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=chatgpt-ads-field-guide-aug