Dynamic Search Ads still work well for the right sites — but Google has set them on a path to retirement and migration to AI Max. This regularly updated guide covers how DSAs work, how to control them with page feeds and exclusions, the best-practice bidding setup, and how to prepare for the AI Max transition on your own terms.

A Performance Max asset group is a themed creative kit — headlines, descriptions, images, logos, video, an audience signal and a URL — that Google’s AI mixes into ads across every channel. Dump everything into one generic group and the mix turns to mush; structure groups by buyer mindset and each one stays coherent. A current guide to asset group specs and limits, how many to run, and why splitting by keyword, intent and competitor themes beats a one-size-fits-all group.

Google Ads account strategists call with confident recommendations — but they usually haven’t studied your account strategy, their advice is often templated, and their measures of success can differ from yours. A current, evidence-based guide to who strategists are, how they’re incentivised, which recommendations are worth testing, and how to handle the call without hurting performance.

Ad Strength rates your Google Ads assets from Poor to Excellent — but it is a diagnostic of variety and relevance, not a score that decides whether your ads run, and it is not used in Ad Rank or the auction. Chasing “Excellent” often tempts advertisers into padding ads with weak, off-theme headlines that dilute relevance. A current, evidence-based guide to what Ad Strength actually measures, why “Good” with tight copy is usually the right target, and when a low rating is worth fixing.

Custom goals let you point a campaign at a tailored set of conversion actions for a non-standard objective — powerful when used deliberately, but they can make Smart Bidding less efficient if you starve the algorithm of data. A current guide to what custom goals are, when to use them, how to set them up, and how to measure them without hurting performance.

Maximise Conversions and Maximise Conversion Value spend your full budget with no efficiency guardrail; add a tCPA or tROAS target and Google bids to your number instead. From 17 August 2026, budget-limited campaigns will deliver to their stated targets rather than overachieving them, so the right setup matters more than ever. A current, evidence-based guide to choosing the best bidding setup for lead generation, ecommerce, traffic and awareness campaigns across Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen.

Responsive Search Ads are the only search ad format Google still lets you build. This regularly updated guide covers the asset limits, what Ad Strength actually measures, when pinning helps and when it hurts, how to write RSAs that perform, and how they sit alongside AI Max for Search.