The pros of using AI Max
AI Max has clear advantages, which we have already discussed above.
1. It can help you reach more people and drive more traffic to your site
AI Max can help advertisers appear for searches that are not covered by their existing keywords, which is especially useful as search becomes more conversational and less predictable. No team can manually build every possible variation of a long-tail search query, and the search volume of any individual query is usually 1.
2. Less manual work for your marketing team
Managing ad campaigns takes time, with keyword expansion, ad copy testing, landing page selection, and reporting. AI Max can automate parts of that process, helping advertisers move faster and giving your marketing team a ready-made foundation to work with.
For smaller teams, this time-saving may be one of the biggest benefits.
3. Better alignment with AI-driven search behavior
AI Max is built for a search environment where users are asking more complex questions, especially when shoppers are expressing needs, problems, and use cases rather than simple product terms or keywords that ads are traditionally built around. It gives your ads a boost in the new era of search.
4. More relevant ad copy at scale
Asset optimization can help tailor ad copy to different searches. Instead of relying only on static headlines and descriptions, Google can use existing landing page copy, ad assets, and keywords to create messaging that better reflects the user's query.
5. Useful reporting improvements
AI Max includes reporting updates, including search term visibility, headline and URL reporting, and asset performance reporting. This is important because automation is only useful when advertisers can understand what it is doing.
When you should not use AI Max
AI Max is not without drawbacks, with the biggest issue for ecommerce retailers being control.
1. You want complete control over search coverage
AI Max gives Google more freedom to decide which searches your ads appear for, and gives you less control. This can be great if you're looking for new demand, but it can also lead to expansion into queries that are not commercially useful or aligned with your brand. If you're focused on sales, that difference matters.
2. You want to control your creative assets
AI-generated ad copy can improve relevance, but it can also produce messaging that does not fully reflect your brand, offer, or product positioning, and sometimes AI can get it wrong. This is especially important for retailers with strict brand guidelines, premium positioning, or complex product ranges.
3. You have specific landing pages you want new customers to land on
Final URL expansion can send users to pages Google believes are more relevant, which are not always the ones built by your brand or marketing team to convert. For example, Google may send traffic to a page that is relevant to the query but not ideal in terms of margin, stock availability, product priority, or customer journey.
4. You want to stay on top of decision-making
Google has improved AI Max reporting, but it is still an automated system. Advertisers need to be comfortable with a level of decision-making that happens inside Google's platform, using Google's interpretation of intent, relevance, and performance. This is not always a problem if you want a ready-to-go report, but it lacks the detail that many brands need to make good decisions.
5. You want guaranteed uplift
Google has shared strong early results for AI Max, including higher conversions and conversion value in certain, but not all, campaign types.
Ecommerce retailers should not assume that every account will see the same uplift. As with any campaign, there are always easy wins. Large brands with big budgets, strong data volumes, simple product demand, and easy-to-sell products may see faster gains. Smaller independent retailers, niche stores, and complex ecommerce catalogs may not see the same results.
