Last updated: October 18, 2026. Google Ads settings and rollouts change often, so confirm the current options in your own account and in Google’s Help Center. This guide is informational and is not affiliated with Google.
Since October 12, 2026, Google Ads has been switching on a setting called Automated Promotions for some advertisers. In short, Google reads your website, finds discount offers that look valid, and attaches them to your ads as promotion assets, without you setting anything up. That can add useful extra text to your ads. It can also show an offer you did not intend to advertise if your site is not tidy.
This guide explains what the feature does, who is affected, how to check whether it is running on your account, and how to turn it off if you need to. The details below come from Google’s notice to advertisers as published by Search Engine Roundtable and from trade coverage; Google has not published figures on results, and some questions are still open.
What Google Ads Automated Promotions does
According to Google’s notice, the system will “automatically identify and extract high-quality promotions” from an advertiser’s website and show them with ads. Google’s own example is a “20% off” offer on a product category such as sweaters. The offer then appears as a promotion asset, the small line of extra text that can show under a search ad.
Key points reported so far:
- Start date: October 12, 2026, with the setting on by default for eligible accounts.
- Eligible campaigns: active Search and Performance Max campaigns that have location assets linked.
- Excluded campaigns: campaigns that already have manual promotion assets attached are skipped.
- Short lifespan: trade coverage reports each extracted promotion serves for less than 24 hours and is shown again only while Google can still see the offer on your site.
- Policy: offers must still comply with standard Google Ads policies.
Google’s email went to “some advertisers” and does not list countries or languages, so you may or may not see it in your account yet.
Why this matters for small advertisers
Promotion assets can make an ad more noticeable without extra work, which is the upside. The risk is that a machine is now deciding what your ad promises. A discount in an ad works like a statement to customers, and customers can hold you to it.
Situations where automated extraction can go wrong:
- Expired banners. If an old “Summer Sale” banner is still on your homepage, Google may still see it as a live offer.
- Conditions that do not carry over. Minimum spend, member-only prices, app-only codes or limited stock are hard to fit into a short asset line.
- Online-only deals in local ads. A multi-location business could end up advertising an online discount to people who want to visit a branch.
- Regulated businesses. Clinics, financial services and similar businesses usually need compliance review before an offer goes live, and automated assets skip that step.
Google’s terms, updated July 1, 2026, restate that advertisers are responsible for reviewing automatically generated assets. Trade coverage notes it is unclear how that applies to extracted offers, so treat the account as yours to audit.
How to check whether it is running on your account
- In Google Ads, open Assets and filter by asset type Promotion.
- Look at the Added by column. Promotions that Google created automatically are labeled “Google AI”.
- Compare each one with what your website says today. Check the percentage, the dates and any conditions.
Note that assets with zero impressions do not appear in the report, so an offer may have been attached without ever being shown.
How to turn Automated Promotions off
The control is account-wide. Based on the steps reported by trade sites:
- Go to Assets and open the three-dot menu in the filter bar.
- Choose Account level automated assets.
- Open the three-dot menu, select Advanced settings, and set Automated promotions to Off.
Google may ask for a reason. You can switch it back on later. Menu names can change, so if you do not see these exact labels, search the Help Center for “account level automated assets”. It is also not yet clear whether accounts that opted out of similar automated assets before keep that choice, so check the setting rather than assuming.
Keep it on or switch it off?
| Your situation | Reasonable approach |
|---|---|
| Simple store, clear sitewide offers, someone checks the site weekly | Keep it on, audit the “Google AI” promotions regularly |
| You need exact wording or dates | Upload manual promotions; campaigns with manual promotions are skipped |
| Legal or brand sign-off required, member-only or app-only offers | Turn it off |
| No time to audit assets | Turn it off until you can |
If you keep it on, the best protection is a clean website. Remove expired banners quickly, put conditions (minimum spend, exclusions, end date) right next to the discount, and avoid leaving old promotional pages live.
How to measure whether it helps
Reports suggest Google says performance “often improves significantly,” but no figures have been published. Test it yourself: compare impressions, click-through rate and conversions on affected campaigns for a few weeks before and after October 12, and segment by asset where the report allows. Holiday traffic will distort the comparison, so note the dates of your own sales as well.
Do not confuse it with Merchant Center’s feature
Merchant Center has a separate Automated Promotions feature that pulls offers from product pages for free listings and Shopping ads. Per Google’s Merchant Center help page it is in closed beta in a limited set of countries, and in the US only percent-off and amount-off offers with codes qualify. It has its own opt-out in Merchant Center, separate from the Google Ads switch above.
What to do this week
- Check Assets for “Google AI” promotions and compare them with your live site.
- Remove expired sale banners and old promo pages.
- Agree internally on who approves promotional wording before it goes into ads.
- If you run holiday campaigns, build your manual promotions first. Our Black Friday email marketing send plan and the holiday ecommerce forecast for your marketing calendar show when demand peaks.
- If your Search campaigns changed recently, also review what Google’s AI Max upgrade changes for your Search campaigns.
Frequently asked questions
Does Google charge extra for promotion assets?
Google’s notice does not describe any separate fee. Assets are part of how ads are shown, and you pay under your normal bidding and click model. Check your own billing reports to confirm.
Can I edit an automated promotion?
Reports say sourced promotions can be managed like other assets in the Assets section, but because they refresh from your site, the dependable fix is to correct the offer on the website or use a manual promotion.
Will it work for my country or language?
Unknown. Google has not published a list of countries or languages, and extraction quality for non-English pages has not been documented.
Is it available for every Google Ads account?
No. Google described it as applying to some advertisers, to Search and Performance Max campaigns with location assets, and to campaigns without manual promotions.
Bottom line
Automated Promotions can save time, but it hands part of your ad copy to an automated reader of your website. Check what it has attached, fix your site so it cannot misread you, and switch it off if you need tight control over offers.
Sources: Search Engine Roundtable, “Google Ads To Automated Promotions For Search & PMax Campaigns Soon” (October 2026); PPC Land coverage of the October 12 rollout; Relevant Audience, “Google Ads will switch on automated promotions by default on 12 October”; Google Merchant Center Help, “Manage automated promotions.” Details were checked against trade coverage of Google’s advertiser email; we could not open Google’s own help article for the Google Ads feature.
