01
Before migration: identify and document the campaign
Start with the Main guide to confirm whether the campaign is in the September phase. The affected legacy setups are campaign-level Broad Match and standalone ACA; DSA is scheduled separately for February 2027.
- Record the legacy feature that makes the campaign eligible.
- Save spend, conversions, conversion value, CPA/ROAS, CTR and search-term quality.
- Document brand inclusions/exclusions, location controls and key landing pages.
- Avoid making unrelated major account changes immediately before migration when possible.
02
On migration: capture the actual change date
Because the job runs progressively through September, record the date for each migrated campaign instead of using September 1 as a blanket reporting breakpoint.
API users can query the migration timestamp fields exposed by Google Ads API. Teams working only in the interface should document the date from account notifications or change history when the transition appears.
03
Immediately verify the AI Max settings
- Search Term Matching status
- Text Customization status
- Final URL Expansion status
- Brand inclusions and exclusions
- Location controls and any text guidelines or creative guardrails
Do not assume the entire AI Max suite was enabled. Broad Match and ACA migrate to different defaults, and Final URL Expansion is off in both September default mappings.
04
After migration: audit search terms, creative and landing pages
Review whether newly matched queries are commercially useful. Where Text Customization is active after an ACA migration, inspect generated text for factual accuracy, policy compliance and brand fit.
A sudden expansion to different landing pages should not be blamed on the default September migration unless Final URL Expansion was enabled separately, because it remains off by default for both migration paths.
05
Annotate reporting and audit integrations
Compare performance over a meaningful post-migration window rather than one day. Separate migration effects from changes in bidding, budgets, seasonality or creative.
Sources
Primary and supporting sources
Facts were rechecked against the linked sources immediately before publication. Pricing, product availability and rollout status can change.