Hey there, digital marketers!
March has been a whirlwind of Google Ads updates. We’ve seen everything from major auction changes to reporting fixes and exciting new features.
Let’s dive into the most important updates you need to know about to stay ahead of the curve.
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Double serving of ads: Is this why your metrics look different
Have you noticed your impression rates or CTR acting weird lately? You’re not going crazy. Google is running an experiment that allows the same advertiser to appear in multiple positions on the same page (like both top and bottom).
This is a pretty big shift in how Google Ads auctions work. While Google has been using separate auctions for different ad locations for years, they’re now taking it further by potentially showing your ads more than once on the same results page.
What this means for you:
Your Top Impression Rate and Absolute Top Impression Rate metrics might fluctuate
Your CTR could look different than usual
Don’t panic if you see unexpected shifts in your performance data
Keep a close eye on your metrics, but avoid making hasty decisions based on what might just be the effect of this experiment. Find all the details here.
Performance Max gets major upgrades
Performance Max campaigns received a ton of love this month with several important updates:
1. Search Terms now visible
Finally! Google now includes PMax search terms in the standard Search Terms report. This has been a top request from advertisers for years, and now you can actually see what users are searching for when your PMax ads appear.
Even better, you can add negative keywords directly from this report, just like with standard Search campaigns. Talk about a transparency win!
2. Negative keyword limit increased from 100 to 10,000
Speaking of negative keywords, Google has dramatically increased the limit from a measly 100 to a whopping 10,000 for PMax campaigns. This brings PMax in line with Search campaigns and gives you much more control over where your ads appear.
Just remember—with great power comes great responsibility. Adding too many negative keywords could limit valuable conversions, so use this new capability thoughtfully.
3. New asset testing experiment
Retailers using PMax can now test feed-only campaigns against campaigns with additional assets—all within a single campaign. This eliminates the need to run separate test campaigns and makes it much easier to see whether adding creative assets improves your performance.
Once the test concludes, you can confidently apply or discard the changes based on real data.
Google Merchant Center updates
Data loss alert: February conversion data gone
Bad news for Merchant Center users: Google confirmed that some conversion data from February 2025 is permanently lost. The issue has been fixed, but any data missing from that period cannot be recovered.
This serves as a stark reminder to regularly back up your key performance data when possible!
Click reporting alignment coming April 21
Starting April 21, Google Merchant Center will change how it counts clicks to match Google Ads’ methodology. Currently, Merchant Center counts all interactions (swipes, views, etc.) as product clicks, which can be misleading.
After the change, only actual clicks will be counted as product clicks, giving you more accurate and consistent reporting across platforms. Both current and historical reports will reflect this new definition, so expect your numbers to look different.
WhatsApp goals get enhanced
If you’re using WhatsApp messages as a conversion goal, you’ll be happy to see new tabs in your Google Ads interface:
Diagnostics
Store diagnostics
Webpages
The new Conversion Diagnostics tool (currently in beta) helps you regularly check that your WhatsApp conversions are being tracked correctly, making troubleshooting much easier.
This follows Google’s recent addition of WhatsApp integration to Performance Max campaigns, showing Google’s growing focus on messaging-based conversions.
Google Ads Editor 2.9: Packed with new features
The latest Google Ads Editor update (version 2.9) brings a host of improvements:
Support for MCC-owned labels
Vertical video generation for responsive video ads
New “AutoTrim” feature for Demand Gen Video ads
Age exclusions in Performance Max campaigns
New customer acquisition goals for shopping campaigns
Improved Google Sheets integration with multi-tab export/import
Ad preview for responsive search ads and asset groups
There are tons more features in this update—definitely worth downloading the latest version to take advantage of all these improvements.
Demand Gen campaigns get channel control
Google is rolling out channel control for Demand Gen campaigns, giving advertisers more influence over where their ads appear across Google’s platforms.
The catch? Individual channel segmentation isn’t available yet, so performance data is still grouped under “Google-owned channels.” This makes it hard to optimize based on specific platform performance.
As Greg Kholer from ServiceMaster wisely noted, “We won’t be making any changes until we’re able to see channel performance segmented out.”
Gemini 2.0 and AI mode reshape Google search
While not directly an ads update, Google’s rollout of Gemini 2.0 AI Overviews and the experimental AI Mode will reshape how users interact with search results, which ultimately affects advertisers.
Gemini 2.0 AI Overviews are designed to handle complex queries, including advanced math, coding, and multimodal searches. Meanwhile, AI Mode allows users to ask multi-part questions and receive AI-generated responses with follow-ups.
Stay tuned for how these changes might impact search behavior and ad performance in the coming months.
Stay informed, test carefully, and don’t be afraid to experiment with these new features to find what works best for your specific business goals.
Want to brainstorm with our team on new ways to scale your business with YouTube Ads (and other performance video platforms)?
Join us for a free YouTube ad brainstorming session:
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