Week of Mar 2, 2026
7 changes logged the week of Mar 2, 2026, 3 high impact. Open this week in the change history.
Google Ads
- New 'Sponsored options in the area' label with image carousels appeared on local ad groupings
Anthony Higman posted the new dynamic label and stock-photo carousel on X on Feb 24, criticizing the format; Search Engine Roundtable covered it Mar 2. Source
- Government documents policy dropped authorization requirement for business identifiers in India
Advertisers promoting business identifiers exclusively to India no longer need government authorization but must still apply for a certification exemption; other government documents and services still require certification. Source
- A new recommendation urged advertisers to remove contextual targeting and use audience targeting alone
Anthony Higman found a previously unseen recommendation stating that combining audience and contextual targeting 'restricts your reach' and suggesting audience-only ad groups. Source
Merchant Center
- UCP checkout documentation published; native_commerce attribute required to show the Buy button
Google published the merchant help page for Universal Commerce Protocol checkout, explaining that only listings carrying the native_commerce (checkout_eligibility) attribute display the Buy button in AI Mode and Gemini, that Google Pay tokens are used with the merchant as merchant of record, and that merchants apply for early access. Source
Google Ads API & Scripts
- Google Ads API closed to new adopters of Customer Match from April 1, 2026 in favor of the Data Manager API
Developer tokens that had not uploaded to a Customer Match list between October 2025 and March 2026 receive CUSTOMER_NOT_ALLOWLISTED_FOR_THIS_FEATURE from OfflineUserDataJobService and UserDataService starting April 1, 2026; existing adopters can continue while migrating to the Data Manager API. Source
ChatGPT Ads
- Native Instant Checkout scaled back; purchases moved to merchant apps and websites, per OpenAI spokesperson
The Information reported OpenAI was abandoning native checkout inside ChatGPT to focus on product search and discovery. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed Instant Checkout was 'moving to Apps', with purchases completed inside connected merchant services rather than natively in ChatGPT. Source
- Criteo became the first ad-tech partner integrated with the ChatGPT ads pilot
Criteo announced it was the first advertising technology partner integrating with OpenAI's ads pilot in ChatGPT Free and Go in the U.S., giving its roughly 17,000 advertisers a route to ChatGPT inventory rolling out over the following weeks. Source
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