Week of May 25, 2026
12 changes logged the week of May 25, 2026, 4 high impact. Open this week in the change history.
Google Ads
- Standalone Display campaigns to be retired as GDN moves into Demand Gen; migration tool from June
Google announced that Display campaigns are transitioning into Demand Gen, where advertisers can still serve exclusively on GDN. A migration tool appears in Google Ads from June 2026, new standalone Display campaign creation ends later in 2026, and remaining eligible campaigns are auto-migrated with the transition expected to complete by 2027. Source
- Hourly, daily and weekly reporting data to be deleted after 37 months starting June 1, 2026
Under a new data retention policy, Google Ads keeps hourly, daily and weekly performance data for 37 months and reach/frequency metrics for 3 years, while monthly, quarterly and yearly data stays for 11 years. Older granular data disappears from the UI and API. Source
- AI Max campaigns gained a 'Branded searches' setting with all/controlled/unbranded-only options
Thomas Eccel shared a screenshot on LinkedIn of a new AI Max control offering three options: show on all searches, control branded via inclusions/exclusions, or show only on unbranded searches. Google had not announced it. Source
- Ireland gambling advertisers required to hold GRAI licence and re-certify by September 1, 2026
From July 1, 2026, online gambling operators targeting Ireland must be licensed by the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland; existing advertisers must re-certify with GRAI credentials by September 1, 2026 or lose certification. Source
- Shopping ads tested enlarging and expanding on mouse hover to reveal extra copy
Sachin Patel and Anthony Higman observed Shopping ads growing on hover to show additional details. Google did not confirm the test. Source
- '1st order price' label was spotted again on Shopping ads for first-time-customer discounts
Sachin Patel shared a Shopping ad carrying a '1st order price' label. PPC News Feed had spotted a similar 'First order' label in March. Source
Merchant Center
- AI performance insights announced for Merchant Center to show visibility in AI Mode, AI Overviews and Gemini
Google announced AI performance insights in Merchant Center covering share of voice versus similar brands on AI surfaces, shopping-funnel performance, product term insights and product attribute completeness, rolling out over the following months in the US, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand. Source
- Merchant Center Terms of Service updated effective June 15, 2026 to broaden data usage for AI surfaces
Google issued updated Merchant Center Terms of Service (the first since October 2022) effective June 15, 2026, expanding what content Google may access, crawl, analyze and cache, including merchant marketing emails and content linked from feeds, and adding forward-looking language for future products. Continued use constitutes acceptance. Source
- Attribute rules extended to automatically found (crawled) products in Merchant Center
Attribute rules, previously limited to products supplied through feeds, now apply to products Google discovers automatically from a merchant's website. Merchants are being prompted to apply rules to these crawled products. Source
Google Ads API & Scripts
- Reach metrics switched to a Total Co-view definition from June 2, 2026
Campaign-level unique_users, average_impression_frequency_per_user and the unique_users_N_plus metrics now count all co-viewers of connected TV impressions, aligning the API, UI and Editor with offline media measurement; no code changes are required but reported reach and frequency values change from the launch date. Source
ChatGPT Ads
- OpenAI reported to be building conversion-focused, pay-per-performance ads for SMBs with pixel and API
The Information reported OpenAI was developing ad formats that drive purchases, bookings and form submissions for small and local businesses, priced on performance, supported by its ad pixel and conversion API connections. Source
Search Console
- Discover performance report under-reported clicks and impressions for May 21, 2026
Google logged another Discover data anomaly: a logging error caused a decrease in clicks and impressions in the Discover Performance report for May 21, 2026; data logging only. Source
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