News —
Google Ads Is Moving Some Accounts to AI in September 2026: What It Means for Moroccan Advertisers
Since June 11, 2026, Google has officially delayed the scheduled end of Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) by five months, from September 2026 to February 2027 — except for one campaign subgroup that will still move automatically to AI Max this month: campaigns using automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match. For Moroccan advertisers running lead-generation campaigns on Google Ads — especially real estate developers — part of an account may therefore change engines without a manual request.
What exactly is changing, and for whom
AI Max is Google’s new generation of AI-driven Search campaigns, designed to expand keyword matching automatically and generate ad variations on the fly. Google reports an average 7% increase in conversions at a similar CPA compared with traditional search-term matching — a figure that mainly compares two uses of AI Max rather than AI Max against DSA. An independent analysis of more than 250 retail campaigns presents a more mixed picture: +13% median revenue, but also a +16% median increase in cost per acquisition.
In practical terms:
- Most standard DSA campaigns have until February 2027 before the mandatory automatic migration.
- Campaigns using automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match will migrate from September 2026, with no action required from the advertiser.
Aahd Lkandouchi, COO of DARE Communication, responds
For a Moroccan real estate developer using Google Ads to generate calls, what does this change mean in practice?
The risk is not the migration itself. It is not knowing that it happened. A developer who checks CPA once a month may see the cost per lead rise without understanding why. Our job is to monitor this every day rather than only at the end of the month.
Aahd Lkandouchi, COO, DARE Communication
Should advertisers be concerned about the +16% CPA increase found in the independent study?
A rising CPA is not automatically a problem if lead volume and quality follow. What matters is the cost per qualified lead, not the cost per click. We have seen this in our real estate campaigns: the number that reassures a client is not the CPA displayed by the platform, but the contacts that actually arrive in the CRM.
Aahd Lkandouchi, COO, DARE Communication
What is your advice for an industrial SME without the time or team to track announcements like this?
That is exactly why these clients delegate their communication to us: not because they could not learn Google Ads, but because their time is better invested in their core business. Our role is to track these technical changes for them and react before they affect the budget.
Aahd Lkandouchi, COO, DARE Communication
What this means for your lead-generation budget
For real estate and industrial call campaigns running on a tight daily budget, an automatic advertising-engine change during an active campaign calls for a checkpoint: determine whether the account is affected now, compare cost per lead before and after over two weeks, and do not wait until February 2027 if the account belongs to the September group.
FAQ
What is AI Max in Google Ads?
It is Google’s new generation of AI-driven Search campaigns. It automatically expands keyword targeting and generates ad variations, progressively replacing Dynamic Search Ads.
Is my Google Ads account affected from September 2026?
Only if your DSA campaigns use automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match. Other standard DSA campaigns have until February 2027.
Should I migrate voluntarily now instead of waiting for the automatic change?
An early, controlled migration lets you measure the impact on your own account before the deadline instead of undergoing an engine change without a testing period. This is the recommended approach for high-budget accounts.