Google appears to be testing new branded search controls for AI Max campaigns

Advertisers may soon have more control over how AI Max campaigns participate in branded search – addressing a key concern raised by advertisers since the campaign model was launched.

What’s going on. Some advertisers are reporting a new “Product Search” control within AI Max campaigns that allows them to choose how the campaign handles product-related queries.

The setting appears to offer three options:

• Show ads for all related searches (default behavior)
• Manage named searches using inclusions and exclusions
• Show ads only for untagged searches

Why do we care. One of the most common criticisms of AI Max is the ability of campaigns to capture branded traffic that advertisers are already targeting with dedicated product campaigns.

That can create several challenges:

• The high cost of traffic that may have already changed
• Attribute issues for all campaign types
• Reduced visibility for added functionality
• Concerns about AI Max cannibalizing brand search activity

The newly recognized “brandless only” option can give marketers a more direct way to keep AI Max focused on new search and testing opportunities.

Between the lines. Until now, marketers who want to prevent AI Max from working on tagged queries have mainly relied on product release lists.

A native campaign-level setting can represent a more direct approach and can shed more light on how AI Max handles brand intent.

Big picture. Google has been gradually adding more controls to automated campaign types as marketers push for greater visibility and management of AI-driven systems.

If rolled out more widely, this feature could signal that Google is responding to marketers’ concerns about product traffic management while continuing to expand AI-powered campaign automation.

What you can watch. It’s not clear if this is an official launch, a limited beta, or a trial run for specific accounts.

Advertisers should monitor their AI Max campaign settings and watch for announcements from Google about extended search controls.

Bottom line. A new branded search setting seen in AI Max could give marketers one of the controls they’ve been asking for the most – the ability to separate branded and unbranded traffic more cleanly. For now, however, it appears to be an early preview rather than a confirmed global release.

First seen. This update was spotted by Paid Search expert Thomas Eccel, who shared his sighting on LinkedIn.