Google is continuing to push AI deeper into its advertising platform, with AI Max now expanding into Shopping campaigns.
For ecommerce businesses, this could represent a significant change in how Standard Shopping campaigns find customers, match searches and decide which products, ads and landing pages to show.
Standard Shopping has traditionally appealed to advertisers who want greater visibility and control over their campaigns. AI Max adds another layer, using Google AI to identify additional opportunities without requiring advertisers to move entirely towards Performance Max.
Google now describes AI Max for Shopping as a beta suite of features designed to help Shopping campaigns respond to more complex and conversational searches.
So, what is changing and what could it mean for your Google Ads strategy?
What Is AI Max for Google Shopping?
AI Max uses Google AI to expand how Shopping campaigns understand and respond to customer searches.
Instead of relying solely on the traditional relationship between a search and the information contained within a Merchant Center product feed, Google can use additional context to determine which products and messages best match the person’s intent.
This becomes increasingly important as the way people search changes.
Someone may no longer search simply for:
“men’s waterproof jacket”
They might instead search:
“lightweight waterproof jacket for walking in warm weather”
AI Max aims to give Google more flexibility to interpret searches like these and connect them with relevant products.
Google says the technology can help Shopping campaigns reach high-intent, long-tail searches that traditional Shopping campaigns may otherwise miss.
How Could AI Max Change Your Shopping Campaigns?
AI Max introduces several features that give Google more freedom to optimise how your ads appear.
One of the biggest changes involves text customisation.
Google can use information within your Merchant Center feed, such as product materials, features, durability and fit, to create messaging that better reflects what someone has searched for.
This means your product feed becomes even more important.
Accurate titles, detailed descriptions, strong product attributes and well-structured data can provide Google’s systems with better information to work from.
AI Max can also use Final URL expansion.
Rather than always sending someone to the product URL traditionally associated with an ad, Google can select another relevant page from your website when it believes that page better matches the person’s search intent. Advertisers can choose to disable Final URL expansion if they want to restrict this behaviour.
Could Google Show Text Ads From Shopping Campaigns?
Potentially, yes, another significant part of AI Max for Shopping is Google’s ability to select the format it believes best fits a user’s search.
Google calls this Optimal Format Selection.
Depending on the query, Google may decide that a traditional Shopping ad or a text-based format provides the more relevant experience.
That creates a more flexible Shopping campaign, but it also means businesses need to think beyond individual products.
Your product feed, landing pages, website content and overall ecommerce experience increasingly work together to influence advertising performance.
Does AI Max Replace Performance Max?
No, Google continues to position Performance Max as its cross-channel advertising solution, while AI Max gives advertisers using Shopping campaigns access to additional AI-powered features.
This distinction matters, businesses that prefer the structure and controls available within Standard Shopping do not necessarily need to abandon that approach to benefit from more advanced automation.
AI Max creates a middle ground where advertisers can introduce more AI-led optimisation while retaining existing product targeting and bidding controls.
That could make Standard Shopping more attractive for businesses that have previously been cautious about handing too much campaign control to automation.
Will AI Max Improve Google Shopping Performance?
Google says retailers activating AI Max for Shopping typically see around 5% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA or ROAS, based on its internal global data from 2026. Results will naturally vary between advertisers, so businesses should treat this as a benchmark rather than a guaranteed outcome.
The potential advantage comes from finding demand that conventional Shopping targeting may miss. However, more automation does not automatically mean better results.
Successful campaigns will still depend on strong foundations, including accurate conversion tracking, appropriate bidding, quality product feeds, commercially focused landing pages and clear campaign objectives.
Google’s reporting guidance also recommends allowing AI Max time to learn before making significant changes. Google currently advises waiting at least two weeks after enabling it before making adjustments such as adding text guidelines.
What Should Ecommerce Businesses Do Next?
You should not turn AI Max on simply because Google has made it available.
Start by looking at what your existing Shopping campaigns already achieve.
Review your conversion value, ROAS, cost per acquisition, search terms, product performance and landing pages. You need a reliable benchmark before you can judge whether additional automation genuinely improves performance.
Your Merchant Center feed also deserves attention, if Google is using more product information to understand intent and create relevant advertising experiences, poor product data becomes an even bigger limitation.
The businesses most likely to benefit will combine Google’s automation with strong commercial oversight rather than relying on the technology alone.
What Does AI Max Tell Us About the Future of Google Ads?
The direction is becoming clear, Google Ads is moving further away from campaigns built around advertisers manually predicting every possible search and towards campaigns that use AI to interpret intent in real time.
Google has already expanded AI Max across Search and is developing new AI-led advertising experiences within Google Search.
For businesses, this makes strategy, data and measurement more important rather than less important.
AI can decide when and where to serve an advert, but it still needs accurate information about your products, customers and commercial objectives.
The competitive advantage increasingly comes from giving these systems better inputs and making better decisions about the outputs.
Want More From Your Google Shopping Campaigns?
Google Ads is changing quickly and simply switching on every new automated feature is not a strategy.
At Outrank, we manage PPC and Google Ads campaigns around the numbers that matter to your business, from revenue and leads to ROAS and profitable growth.
We can review your existing Shopping, Search and Performance Max campaigns, identify where budget is being wasted and determine where features such as AI Max could genuinely improve performance.
Want to find out whether your Google Ads budget could work harder? Speak to the Outrank paid media team today.