Week of Mar 23, 2026
18 changes logged the week of Mar 23, 2026, 3 high impact; 1 took effect. Open this week in the change history.
Google Ads
- Veo image-to-video generation made available for all campaign types in Asset Studio
Advertisers can upload up to three images and have Veo generate a unique video of up to 10 seconds with natural motion, then drop it into ad templates. Available for all campaigns and for auto-generated Demand Gen campaigns. Source
- An option to generate AI animated video clips from static images appeared in Performance Max asset groups
Nikki Kuhlman of JumpFly spotted a new asset creation option that animates images into short clips inside PMax. Google later documented image-to-animation in its help center (April). Source
- A 'sponsored stores' unit was spotted inside AI Mode product detail panels
Glenn Gabe documented on X (Mar 25) a sponsored stores block placing paid merchant listings above organic results inside AI Mode, alongside a 'Quick results from the web' block. Google had not announced either. Source
- First-party audience exclusions announced for Performance Max so customer lists can be excluded
Advertisers will be able to exclude specific customer lists from Performance Max campaigns to focus spend on new customers rather than re-engagement. Source
- Budget projections and full audience reporting (age, gender) announced for Performance Max
Performance Max is gaining budget reporting with end-of-month spend projections and the effect of daily budget changes, plus audience reporting broken down by demographics such as age range and gender. Source
- YouTube Creator Partnerships in Google Ads and Creator Partnerships Boost reached general availability
Advertisers can discover and connect with YouTube creators from Google Ads and boost authentic creator videos as Demand Gen ads. Google reports a 30% average conversion-lift increase on Shorts when creator assets are used. Source
- Performance Max gained 'asset group theming' to clone asset groups with seasonal AI-generated variations
Advertisers began seeing an option to duplicate a high-performing asset group and apply a seasonal or stylistic theme that generates image variants and suggested text. Bia Camargo shared it on LinkedIn; a help document appeared shortly after. Source
- Competing Search ads were spotted displaying identical automatically generated website statistics
Anthony Higman flagged multiple advertisers' ads showing the same 'website stats' annotations at once. Google did not explain whether it was a test or a glitch. Source
- Performance Max placement reports gained network segmentation in the 'When and where ads showed' tab
Advertisers can segment Performance Max placement reports by network to see exactly where ads served, supporting brand-safety reviews. Source
- YouTube engagements goal and follow-on views optimization became GA in Demand Gen
Demand Gen campaigns can now optimize for YouTube channel engagements and follow-on views to grow watch time alongside an organic channel presence. Source
Merchant Center
- Loyalty features expanded to 14 countries and to local, regional and AI Mode/Gemini surfaces
Google expanded Merchant Center loyalty features so member pricing and member shipping benefits show on standard Shopping ads, local inventory ads, regional Shopping ads and AI surfaces (AI Mode and Gemini) across 14 countries. Customer Match lists in Google Ads are required for member shipping and green strikethrough member pricing. Source
- Shopping ads expanded to 15 additional European markets in two phases
Google announced Shopping ads availability in 15 more European countries (including Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia, Serbia, Moldova, North Macedonia, Liechtenstein, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro), rolled out in two phases aligned to seasonal shopping periods. Source
- Vehicle ads made available to all vehicle advertisers in Spain, Italy and Germany
Google opened Vehicle ads to all vehicle advertisers in Spain, Italy and Germany, who can upload vehicle data sources to Merchant Center and run Performance Max campaigns. Source
Google Ads API & Scripts
- Google Ads API v23.2 released with VideoEnhancement resource, AppTopCombinationView and ad-level scheduling
v23.2 added the VideoEnhancement resource (Google-generated vs advertiser-provided video info), the read-only AppTopCombinationView for App campaign asset combinations, HotelSettingInfo.disable_hotel_setting for Demand Gen, a biddable_indirect_install_first_in_app_conversion_micros metric, ad-level start/end date-times, and ContentCreatorInsightsService and ReachPlanService enhancements. Source
- Offline conversion import backend improved attribution and cross-account authorization (April-May 2026)
Non-breaking backend changes let the Google Ads API attribute some expired GCLIDs and pre-conversion clicks (fewer EXPIRED_EVENT and CONVERSION_PRECEDES_EVENT errors) and relaxed authorization so manager or client accounts can import on behalf of other trafficking accounts (fewer UNAUTHORIZED_CUSTOMER and INVALID_CUSTOMER_FOR_CLICK errors). Source
- BatchJobService.AddBatchJobOperations request size cap quadrupled to about 41.9 MB
The request size limit for AddBatchJobOperations rose from 10,484,488 bytes to 41,937,920 bytes (single operations still capped at 10,484,488 bytes), letting developers batch more image assets per request; the 10,000 operations per request and 1 million per job limits still apply. Source
ChatGPT Ads
- Product discovery revamped; ACP extended to merchant feeds and promotions; Instant Checkout deprioritized
OpenAI launched a richer shopping experience in ChatGPT with visual browsing, side-by-side comparisons and up-to-date product data, and extended the Agentic Commerce Protocol so merchants share product feeds and promotions to be fully represented in ChatGPT. OpenAI said the first version of Instant Checkout 'did not offer the level of flexibility that we aspire to provide'. Source
- Ads pilot hit $100M run rate with 600+ advertisers; Canada, Australia and New Zealand expansion announced
OpenAI said the U.S. pilot reached a $100 million annualized revenue run rate within six weeks and was working with more than 600 advertisers, and that it would begin testing ads for Free and Go users in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Ads began appearing in those markets in mid-April. Source
Took effect this week
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