Week of Sep 29, 2025
17 changes logged the week of Sep 29, 2025, 3 high impact; 3 took effect. Open this week in the change history.
Google Ads
- Message assets requirements policy launched with verification-based serving
Google introduced a Message assets requirements policy: message assets that do not comply or cannot be verified will not serve, with enforcement from October 30, 2025 ramping over about 4 weeks. Source
- Call-only ads to be retired: creation ends February 2026, serving ends February 2027
Google announced that call ads (call-only ads) are being deprecated in favour of responsive search ads with call assets. New call ads cannot be created from February 2026 and existing call ads stop receiving impressions from February 2027. Source
- A 'Labs' section centralising pilot features appeared in some accounts
Vojtěch Audy spotted a Labs hub in Google Ads offering early access to experimental tools such as missed growth opportunities. Google did not announce it. Source
- YouTube and Discover Feed ad requirements reorganized for clarity
Google restructured the YouTube and Discover Feed ad requirements article for readability; no change to enforcement. Source
- Shopping ads carousel tested a blue progress bar showing remaining products
Sachin Patel shared videos of a progress indicator beneath the Shopping ads carousel. Google did not confirm the test. Source
- New Labs section in the Google Ads menu, with a Missed growth opportunities view
Google began testing a Labs section at the bottom of the Google Ads navigation that groups early-stage experimental features, including a Missed growth opportunities tab estimating potential clicks, conversions and value per campaign from recommended bid and budget changes. Source
- Gambling ads permitted in Cross River, Ekiti and Oyo states, Nigeria
From October 16, 2025, operators licensed by the relevant state regulators and certified by Google may advertise sports betting, lotteries, bingo and casino games in three additional Nigerian states. Source
Merchant Center
- Shopping ads and free listings Misrepresentation policy clarified with examples and appeals guidance
Google added examples, compliance guidance and appeals information to the Merchant Center Misrepresentation policy, particularly around non-delivery and faulty refund processes. No enforcement change. Source
- Regional availability and pricing became generally available in 86 countries, 22 at postal-code level
Google announced that regional availability and pricing (RAAP) is generally available in 86 countries, with 22 countries supporting postal-code-level regions, letting merchants override national availability and price by region. RAAP set at the MCA level does not cascade to sub-accounts. Source
- Physical goods subscriptions opened to all eligible US Shopping merchants in eight categories
Merchant Center formally allowed physical goods subscriptions for eligible US merchants across apparel, coffee, healthcare, home and garden, personal care, pet supplies, prepared foods and toys, provided subscription cost attributes are supplied in the feed. Source
- New compact navigation menu finished rolling out to all Merchant Center Next accounts
Google completed the phased rollout of a condensed, compact left-hand menu bar in Merchant Center Next across all accounts. Source
Google Analytics
- GA4 added diagnostic alerts for problematic User-ID implementations
A new diagnostic flags common User-ID implementation problems and provides guidance on fixes. Source
- GA4 Benchmarking expanded to 20 unnormalized metrics such as New users and Total revenue
Benchmarking now supports about 20 additional absolute-number metrics, estimated by comparing active-user counts with peer groups, in addition to existing normalized rates. Source
Google Ads API & Scripts
- Misspelled minimum_bugdet_amount_micros field corrected in v21 on October 15, 2025
The BudgetPerDayMinimumErrorDetails field released in v21 as minimum_bugdet_amount_micros was renamed to minimum_budget_amount_micros in v22 and retroactively in v21 from October 15, 2025; REST users and upgraded client library users must use the corrected name. Source
Google Tag & Tag Manager
- GTM now displays the active status of a Google tag gateway setup regardless of configuration method
Tag Manager shows whether Google tag gateway for advertisers is active for the container even when it was configured outside GTM (for example via a CDN dashboard or manual setup). Source
Microsoft Ads
- Ads for Social Impact nonprofit ad grant program discontinued effective December 2025
Microsoft emailed grantees that the Ads for Social Impact program would end in December 2025, with final grants awarded by November 30, 2025 and 45 days to spend them. Nonprofits keep discounted access to other Microsoft products. Source
ChatGPT Ads
- Instant Checkout launched in ChatGPT with Etsy sellers; Agentic Commerce Protocol open-sourced with Stripe
OpenAI launched Instant Checkout, letting U.S. Free, Plus and Pro users buy from U.S. Etsy sellers inside ChatGPT, with Shopify merchants such as Glossier, SKIMS, Spanx and Vuori announced as coming soon. The underlying Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), co-developed with Stripe, was open-sourced. Source
Took effect this week
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