Google’s Performance Max updates arrived quickly in October 2026 and several of them change how your campaigns spend money and what your ads show, whether or not you touch a setting.
Google announced new channel controls on October 14 and switched on automated promotions by default on October 12. On October 21, it told developers that image extraction will become the default for new campaigns from December 4. Add a few features still in testing, and it is easy to lose track of which changes need action and which are only worth watching.
This guide covers the Performance Max updates that matter most this month, what each one does, and what to do about it. It also covers what UAE and GCC advertisers should check, especially on bilingual accounts. Where possible, details come from Google’s own announcements and help pages, and anything still in testing is labelled as such.
What Are the Latest Performance Max Updates?
Five areas stand out this month. Automated promotions and the language change are already live, the channel controls are rolling out, image extraction has a December 4 deadline, and a couple of promising features are still tests. Here they are in order of urgency.
1. Automated Promotions Are On by Default
From October 12, Google began scanning advertiser websites for offers and showing them as promotion assets in Search and Performance Max campaigns that use linked location assets and don’t already have promotion assets of their own. Google’s help page on account-level automated assets describes automated promotions as an AI-powered feature that sources, validates and displays deals and offers from your website and other sources.
The risk is accuracy. An expired banner, a members-only price or an in-store-only deal could end up in a live ad.
What to do:
- Switch it off in the account-level automated assets settings if nobody can monitor it.
- Add your own promotion assets, since campaigns that already have one are skipped.
- If you leave it on, review the generated promotions weekly. They are labelled “Google AI” in the Added by column.
2. Channel Prioritization and Budget Allocation
Google’s official announcement on October 14 introduced two optional controls for Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen, rolling out over the coming months.
Channel prioritization lets you mark channels as High or Low priority. In Performance Max, Search, YouTube, Maps, Gmail and Discover are grouped together as “Google channels”. You can rank that group against Search partners and the Display Network, but you can’t split budget between individual Google surfaces.
Budget allocation then caps a low-priority channel as a percentage of your average daily budget. Google’s help documentation gives an example: 5% of a $1,000 daily budget means aiming to stay at or below $50 a day on that channel. Google calls these caps best effort, and a 0% allocation means it won’t spend on that channel.
Allocation is most useful on Target CPA or Target ROAS campaigns that aren’t limited by budget, because prioritization alone generally changes little there. Advertisers who want to keep their current setup can set the Display Network to Low priority with a 50% allocation.
3. Image Extraction Becomes the Default From December 4
On October 21, the Google Ads Developer Blog said that from December 4, 2026, image extraction will be switched on by default for newly created Performance Max campaigns, as PPC Land reported. With it, Google AI scans your landing pages for high-resolution images to use across Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps.
The key detail is that the new default applies even if Dynamic images is turned off at account level. Existing campaigns keep their current configuration, and the change covers the API, the Google Ads interface and Google Ads Editor.
If you don’t want landing-page images in new campaigns, each one needs an explicit opt-out at campaign level. Agencies and tools that create campaigns through the API should update their templates before December 4. Google also asks advertisers to confirm they hold the rights to use landing-page images commercially, which matters if your site relies on stock photography with limited licences.
4. The Search Language Setting No Longer Applies
Since late September, the campaign language setting no longer works for Search campaigns, AI Max for Search or the Search part of Performance Max. Google now matches on the language of your ads and landing pages, the query and the searcher’s languages. The setting still applies to YouTube, Display, Discover and Gmail inside Performance Max.
It isn’t strictly an October change, but it interacts with everything above, and it matters most if you advertise in more than one language.
5. Still in Testing: Promotion Mode and Banner Uploads
Two features are not yet confirmed rollouts. Promotion mode, reported on October 9 as a test in Performance Max and Search, would let you temporarily loosen your target ROAS and optionally add daily budget during a sale, then revert automatically. Separately, a new option was spotted that lets advertisers upload up to 15 ready-made banners in standard Display sizes such as 300×250 and 336×280.
Reports differ on how far promotion mode has rolled out, and it isn’t clear how widely banner uploads will launch, so check your account before planning around either.
What to Do This Week
- Decide how to handle automated promotions: off, your own assets, or weekly review.
- Review your channel performance report before setting any channel to Low priority.
- Update campaign-creation templates before December 4 if you want landing-page images off, and check your image rights.
- Keep each language’s ads and landing pages together, then check search terms by language.
- Revisit Target CPA and Target ROAS on budget-limited campaigns, since Google’s August 17 bidding change pushes them toward the target you set.
If you’d rather have specialists run this review, our Google Ads and PPC management team can audit your account against each of these Performance Max updates.
Expert Insights
Best Practice: Audit your automated assets in one sitting. Automated promotions, site visits and the new image default sit in related settings, and it’s easier to make consistent decisions together.
Common Mistake: Setting a channel to 0% before reading your channel performance report. Top-of-funnel channels often shape demand earlier in the journey, so cutting them blindly can hurt conversions you only notice later.
Professional Recommendation: Keep a dated change log for every account. When performance shifts, you can then tell whether a Google change or your own edit caused it.
Implementation Tip: Build a reusable promotion asset for each sale, with your own terms and dates, so your wording always wins over automatically sourced offers.
Emerging Trend: Google keeps adding automation that is on unless you opt out, from automated promotions this month to image extraction in December. Reviewing defaults is becoming a routine part of account management.
Local UAE Perspective
- Bilingual accounts need a language check. With the language setting gone, the language your ads are written in decides who sees them on Search. Keep English and Arabic ads and landing pages in separate ad groups or campaigns.
- Automated promotions suit location-heavy sectors. Retail, restaurants, clinics and showrooms across Dubai often run location assets, so confirm that any offer Google picks up is valid at every branch and mall.
- Seasonal sales deserve extra attention. Ramadan and Dubai Shopping Festival campaigns are where promotion mode would help, if it reaches your account, and where an outdated automated promotion would do the most damage.
- E-commerce image rights matter. E-commerce stores using supplier or stock photography should check licences before December 4, because new campaigns will pull landing-page images by default.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What are the main Performance Max updates in October 2026?
Automated promotions turned on by default on October 12, channel prioritization and budget allocation were announced on October 14, and image extraction becomes the default for new campaigns from December 4. Promotion mode and banner uploads are still in testing.
2. Can I turn off automated promotions?
Yes. Google provides an account-level switch in the automated assets settings. Campaigns that already have their own promotion assets are skipped.
3. Can I stop Performance Max spending on Search partners?
You can set Search partners to Low priority and reduce its allocation, and Google’s help page says a 0% allocation means no spend on that channel. Google also calls allocations best effort, so keep checking channel reports.
4. Do I need to act before December 4?
Only if you want landing-page images kept out of new campaigns. Existing campaigns keep their configuration, and no action is needed if you’re happy for Google to use your page images.
5. Is promotion mode available to everyone?
Not confirmed. It was reported as a test in Performance Max and Search, so check whether it appears in your account before planning a sale around it.
Key Takeaways
- Automated promotions have been on by default since October 12, so switch them off or add your own assets.
- Channel prioritization and budget allocation let you steer Search partners and Display spend, with best-effort caps.
- From December 4, new Performance Max campaigns extract landing-page images by default.
- The Search language setting no longer applies, so ad language now decides who sees your ads.
- Promotion mode and banner uploads are still tests, so don’t plan around them yet.
The common thread in this month’s Performance Max updates is more automation switched on by default, paired with a few new controls to steer it. None of the changes requires a rebuild, but several reward a quick review this week rather than a surprise next month: decide on automated promotions, check your channel settings, plan for December 4 and confirm your language setup.
If you’d like a second opinion on your account, the team at 2CG can review your Performance Max campaigns against these changes and tell you where action is worth taking. Explore our Google Ads and PPC management services, see our portfolio, or get in touch below.
Get in touch with 2CG:
2CG – Web Development & Digital Marketing Agency (Dubai)
- Email: hello@2cguae.com
- Phone: +971505878691 / +971525392930
- WhatsApp: +971505878691 / +971525392930
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