Week of May 18, 2026
32 changes logged the week of May 18, 2026, 5 high impact. Open this week in the change history.
Google Ads
- GML 2026: Conversational Discovery ads and Highlighted Answers introduced as new AI Mode ad formats
Google unveiled Gemini-powered ad formats for AI Mode: Conversational Discovery ads generate a creative response to the user's specific question with an independent AI explainer, and Highlighted Answers let high-quality ads appear inside AI Mode recommendation lists. Both are in testing and require AI Max for Search or Performance Max. Source
- GML 2026: Ask Advisor launched in beta as one Gemini agent across Ads, Analytics, Merchant Center and GMP
Ask Advisor consolidates the separate in-product AI agents into one collaborator that can build campaigns from a plain-language goal, surface cross-product insights and recommend next steps, with shared memory of business goals. Beta for English-language accounts; more features through the year. Source
- GML 2026: AI-powered Shopping ads with Gemini-written product explainers rolling out
A new Shopping ad experience pulls the most relevant products from a retailer's feed and writes a custom explanation of why each product fits the shopper's need. Rolling out over the coming months to AI Max and Performance Max advertisers. Source
- GML 2026: Qualified Future Conversions metric introduced to predict conversions up to six months out
Qualified Future Conversions is a Gemini-powered predictive metric that links follow-on branded searches and site visits to forecast conversions up to six months after exposure, available in Google Ads and Google Marketing Platform. Source
- GML 2026: Product videos at scale announced, serving Merchant Center video libraries dynamically in Demand Gen
Advertisers will be able to connect their whole Merchant Center video library to Demand Gen so product-specific videos are chosen dynamically by user intent, removing the previous five-video upload limit. Source
- GML 2026: 1-click creative testing announced to auto-test new assets against current top performers
From Asset Studio, advertisers will be able to launch an A/B test of newly generated assets against existing top performers across Search, Display, YouTube and Shopping with one click. Global English rollout planned for summer 2026. Source
- GML 2026: 'New prospects' customer acquisition mode added alongside new-customer value and new-customers-only
A third new customer acquisition mode targets people who have never searched for the brand, visited the site, engaged or purchased. Works across Performance Max, Search, Shopping and Demand Gen. Practitioners spotted the 'Only bid for new prospects' beta option in Performance Max in August 2026. Source
- GML 2026: Missed opportunity reporting announced to show growth lost to budget and bid constraints
Interactive weekly charts will contrast actual performance against potential for Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen, YouTube, App and Hotel campaigns, with bid and budget recommendations tied to seasonality and auction conditions. Source
- GML 2026: Message ads with RCS for Business announced to turn Search ad clicks into verified text chats
A new lead-gen format lets people continue from a Search ad into an RCS text conversation with a verified branded profile, with Google AI qualifying leads instantly and responding around the clock. Source
- GML 2026: Leads in Google Ads launched as a built-in lead management dashboard for Google-hosted forms
A new Leads section under Conversions consolidates leads from Google-hosted forms (last 60 days) with contact details, status and funnel progression, and feeds lead-quality signals back into bidding. Reported live in accounts by May 29, 2026. Source
- GML 2026: Google Maps inventory added to Demand Gen with opt-in/opt-out channel control
Demand Gen ads can now reach people in Google Maps Browse, Directions and Place Details modes using non-disruptive formats such as Promoted Pins, with a channel control to include or exclude Maps. Source
- GML 2026: Gemini Omni multimodal video creation announced for Asset Studio (summer rollout)
Google previewed Gemini Omni in Asset Studio, combining Gemini reasoning with generative media so advertisers can go from brief to storyboard to finished horizontal and vertical video in one workflow. Source
- GML 2026: Direct Offers pilot expanded with AI-built bundles, native UCP checkout and travel partners
Google expanded the Direct Offers pilot: advertisers can upload multiple promotions and Gemini assembles a relevant bundle per search, UCP merchants get faster native checkout, and travel partners such as Booking and Expedia can surface offers during trip planning. Source
- GML 2026: Demand Gen uplift experiments launched to measure incremental impact alongside Performance Max
A structured A/B experiment measures the statistically significant uplift in conversions, sales, CPA and ROAS from adding Demand Gen to an existing Performance Max or Search mix. Source
- GML 2026: Campaign type attribution launched to isolate every conversion Demand Gen contributes
Campaign type attribution separates all conversions Demand Gen contributes to, so advertisers can compare it like-for-like with paid social platforms. Source
- GML 2026: Business Agent for Leads adds a Gemini chat experience inside Search ads for lead qualification
Business Agent for Leads embeds a brand chatbot grounded in the advertiser's website inside Search ads so prospects can ask questions and be qualified before hand-off to sales. Initially tested in education, automotive and real estate. Source
- GML 2026: Asset Studio upgraded to generate and refine on-brand assets from a brief using natural language
Asset Studio now reads a marketing brief, brand guidelines, website and goals to generate a range of image, text and video assets, which advertisers refine conversationally. Google also opened Asset Studio capabilities to design tools such as Adobe and Canva via API. Source
- Help doc was updated: primary conversions not used for optimization may still enhance bidding predictions
Dario Zannoni spotted new documentation language that non-optimized primary conversion actions can be used to enhance Smart Bidding predictions. Source
- A 'Sync columns' option appeared for manager accounts to copy column layouts across client accounts
Vivek Gupta shared a new MCC feature that synchronizes table column configurations across multiple accounts; it was still rolling out. Source
- GML 2026: Demand Gen product feeds extended to tablets, more verticals and a mobile pause option
Product feeds in Demand Gen now serve on tablets, support automotive and additional verticals, and let advertisers pause product ads on mobile. Source
- GML 2026: Creator partnership videos surfaced in the asset picker during Demand Gen setup
Relevant YouTube creator partnership videos now appear directly in the asset picker while building a Demand Gen campaign so they can be boosted as ads without leaving setup. Source
- GML 2026: AI-assisted Demand Gen campaign creation builds a campaign from existing Performance Max settings
A one-click flow combines an advertiser's existing Performance Max settings with Demand Gen best practices to create a new Demand Gen campaign. Source
- GML 2026: Affiliate partnerships boost announced to amplify organic YouTube affiliate content as ads
Advertisers can boost creators' organic affiliate videos featuring their products at scale through Demand Gen. Confirmed generally available in the July 2026 Demand Gen Drop. Source
Merchant Center
- Universal Cart launched and UCP checkout expanded to Canada, Australia, the UK and YouTube
At Google Marketing Live 2026 Google introduced Universal Cart, a cross-retailer cart spanning Search, Gemini, YouTube and Gmail with Google Pay checkout, and said UCP checkout would extend to Canada and Australia, later the UK, plus YouTube in the US, with buy-now-pay-later via Affirm and Klarna. Merchants remain merchant of record. Source
- Six optional conversational attributes added to help AI Mode and Gemini understand products
Google introduced question_and_answer, document_link, related_product, item_group_title, variant_option and popularity_rank as optional attributes that help AI shopping surfaces answer conversational queries. They can be submitted via a supplemental data source (recommended), the primary source or the Merchant API and do not affect approval status. Source
Google Analytics
- Google announced Meridian marketing mix modeling coming to Google Analytics 360
At Google Marketing Live, Google said its open-source Meridian MMM is coming to Analytics 360 to unify first-party cross-channel data, measure causal performance and run predictive scenario forecasts, with Qualified Future Conversion signals from Google Ads to be integrated later. Source
Microsoft Ads
- Import Center launched as a central hub for Google, Meta and Pinterest campaign imports
The new Import Center adds post-import performance tips, step-by-step issue resolution, and search and filtering across imports. Source
- Cross-account portfolio bid strategies launched for Search and Shopping
Portfolio bid strategies can span multiple accounts under a manager account for unified optimization. Source
- Bid strategy report added average target ROAS, target CPA and target impression share metrics
Average target metrics are viewable at campaign, account and portfolio level; Microsoft's August roundup extended them to the campaign overview and grid. Source
ChatGPT Ads
- OpenAI tested a larger-image ad unit with selectable CTA buttons and a stackable e-commerce card format
OpenAI confirmed to advertisers it was testing an upgraded standard unit with a larger image and optional call-to-action button (Shop now, Book now, Sign up, Learn more), plus a dedicated e-commerce format in portrait or landscape that pulls price and reviews from feeds and can stack side by side as a carousel. Source
- Ads Manager added daily budgets, U.S. state/DMA/ZIP geo-targeting and list-view totals
OpenAI told advertisers they could choose a daily or lifetime budget for new campaigns, target by U.S. state, designated market area or ZIP code, and see aggregate totals for impressions, clicks and spend across campaigns, ad groups and ads. Source
Search Console
- Links report showed zero or sharply reduced links for many sites
The Links report broke for many properties in May 2026, showing zero external links or steep drops; Google first reverted the report to an earlier data state, then fully refreshed it with current link data on June 12, 2026. Source
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