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Google just rolled out a new campaign type to Google Ads that **they claim** could either grow your leads by nearly 30% …. it could simply burn through your entire marketing budget.
It’s called AI Max, and it’s active in Australia and New Zealand Google Ad accounts right now – but most business owners have no idea it’s even happening.
But first, for context, let’s zoom out.
AI Max isn’t just a new feature in Google Ads; it’s another signal of the much larger shift.
We are watching the slow death of keywords as we know them.
Think about how people search now.
Five years ago, you typed “Auckland plumber”. But, today, you might ask your phone, “my toilet won’t stop running and it’s 11pm, who is open near me?”
It’s a conversational search.
And you can’t plan for a “keyword” for that.
But an AI can understand the intent behind it.
The old strategy of “find 50 keywords and write ads for them” is becoming less effective by the day.
Success is shifting towards having genuinely helpful content on your website that an AI can understand and serve up as the answer to someone’s problem.
So this means that the question to ask is no longer “what keywords should I target?” but “what problems do my customers have, and is my website the best place to solve them?”
What is AI Max Mode?
Alright, let’s get into it.
Google has a habit of making things sound more complex than they are.
However, AI Max isn’t a brand-new type of ad campaign you have to learn from the ground up.
It’s literally a single switch you can flip in your existing search campaigns that turns on three powerful AI assistants.
These assistants work together to find you customers you’re currently missing.
The Three Things It Actually Does
First, Keyword-less search. This is the most significant change.
Right now, you tell Google which keywords to target.
With AI Max, Google’s AI starts looking at the intent behind a search, not just the words.
So, if you’re a plumber targeting “plumber Auckland” the AI might see someone search for “urgent toilet repair near me” and understand they need the same service.
Your ad shows up for a search you never even thought to target. It finds the customers you didn’t know you were looking for.
Second, Ad Customisation. The AI rewrites your ad headlines and descriptions on the fly to match what the person searched for.
If someone searches “emergency plumber,” your ad might lead with “24/7 Emergency Plumbers.”
If they search “affordable plumber,” the same ad might automatically highlight your pricing.
It’s like having a copywriter creating thousands of ad variations in real-time, for each individual search.
Third, Final URL Expansion. Instead of sending every person who clicks your ad to the one landing page you set, AI Max scans your entire website.
It then sends the searcher to the most relevant page for their specific query.
The search is “how do I get my heat pump installed” – instead of sending that enquiry to a plumbers homepage that then requires the user to find the heatpump page and contact details – the AI Max sends the users direct to the landing page.
Do You Need to Do Anything to Test This?
Yes, but you need to get your house in order first.
If you just turn it on without the right foundations, you’re basically giving the AI money to learn from a broken strategy.
Three Things You Need Sorted Before You Touch AI Max
- Your conversion tracking must be accurate. This sounds basic, but so many businesses get it wrong. The AI makes decisions based on what you tell it a “conversion” is. If you’re only tracking contact form fills, but the real value is in qualified leads that turn into sales, the AI will just find you more low-quality leads. That’s your first job.
- Your website can’t be a mess. Because AI Max sends people to different pages on your site, those pages need to work. If you have outdated content, broken links, or confusing navigation, the AI will send potential customers straight into a dead end and you’ll be paying for it.
- You must be using Smart Bidding. This is Google’s automated bidding system. AI Max is built on top of it. If you’re still manually setting your cost-per-click for each keyword, you can’t use AI Max anyway.
How to Set Up a Proper Test
Don’t just flip the switch on your main campaign.
That’s how you blow your budget.
Head to the ‘Experiments’ section within Google Ads and then select the “+” button and select “Custom Experiment”.
Choose the existing Search campaign you want to test AI Max with.
Allocate a percentage of your traffic to the AI Max experiment (e.g., 50%) and the remaining to your current campaign setup.
It takes about 15 minutes to set up, but you need to watch it closely for the first few weeks. And ensure that you give it a good month of testing to actually see if it will deliver results.
So, Should You Even Spend the Time in Testing This?
The answer isn’t yes for everyone.
When AI Max Makes Sense
You should seriously think about testing AI Max if you’re already getting good results from Google Ads but feel like you’ve hit a ceiling. You know there are more customers out there, but you can’t figure out what they’re searching for.
It’s a good fit if:
- You’re already maxing out your impression share on current keywords.
- Most of your keywords are very specific (exact match).
- You have a solid website with multiple, useful pages.
Businesses with e-commerce stores or service businesses with multiple offerings are seeing the best results because they have more pages and products for the AI to work with.
When to Hold Off
Don’t touch AI Max if you’re in a highly regulated industry like finance, law, or healthcare. The AI writes ad copy automatically and it goes live without your approval. That’s a compliance risk you can’t take.
If you’re on a razor-thin budget where a sudden increase in ad spend would be a problem, wait. The AI needs budget to experiment.
And honestly, if your website is a bit of a disaster, fix that first.
Sending more traffic to a broken website won’t fix the underlying problem.
Key Takeaways
So, what should you do to start looking at AL Max?
- First, verify your conversion tracking. Log into your Google Ads and make sure it’s accurately tracking the actions that matter to your business. If you’re not sure, ask your marketing person or agency (cough, Done By Nine) to confirm it for you.
- Second, if you fit the criteria, set up a small test. Use the “Drafts & Experiments” feature on a single campaign. Don’t bet the farm on it.
- Third, be patient. Give the test at least a month before making a call. And keep your core, proven campaigns running separately.
Look, AI Max is a real opportunity to find customers you’re currently missing. But it’s not a magic button.
It requires a solid foundation and careful management.
The bigger picture is that AI-driven marketing is here to stay. This is just the start. The businesses that learn how to work with these tools, rather than ignoring them, will be the ones that are better positioned for what comes next.
The question isn’t whether AI will change how people find your business – it already has.
The question is whether you’re going to adapt before your competitors do.