The keyword loses control.

What changed in 2026

For twenty years, paid search rested on a simple principle: choose keywords, write ads, set bids. Google has gradually automated each of these steps. 2026 marks a threshold.

AI Max for Search, introduced in 2025 as an option for Search campaigns, becomes their foundation. In April 2026, Google announced that Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) would be absorbed by AI Max. In response to advertisers’ reactions, the automatic migration of DSA was pushed back to February 2027, and the creation of new DSA campaigns allowed again until then. The other parts of the transition, campaign-level broad match and automatically created assets, stayed on the September 2026 timetable.

At Google Marketing Live, in May 2026, Google presented new ad formats for AI Mode, notably ads built into the conversational answer (Conversational Discovery ads) and ads highlighted in recommendation lists (Highlighted Answers). It also introduced AI Brief, which lets advertisers frame in natural language how AI Max writes and targets, rolled out first in English. On 28 October 2026, Google extended ads in AI Mode to ten new countries, including Canada, Australia and India, with the United Kingdom, Brazil and Mexico planned by the end of the year. Switzerland is not part of this announcement.

The landscape is no longer limited to Google. In August 2026, OpenAI extended ads in ChatGPT to 31 European countries, for users of the free and Go plans.

From keyword to intent

AI Max brings together three mechanisms. Search term matching makes it possible to serve on queries absent from the keyword list, but which the AI judges relevant. Text customisation generates headlines and descriptions from the site and existing assets. Final URL expansion lets the system choose the landing page it considers most suitable.

This shift follows that of usage. According to Google, queries in AI Mode are on average three times longer than classic searches. A keyword list, even a long one, poorly covers questions phrased as complete sentences and strung together over a conversation.

The potential gain is real: reaching intents an advertiser would not have anticipated. So is the risk. Advertisers have reported very precise product queries sent to generic pages, where DSA correctly targeted the product page. Automation never works better than the signals it receives.

Advertising inside an answer

Integrating ads into generated answers changes the nature of paid visibility. On a classic results page, the ad sits next to the results. In AI Mode, it slots into a conversation where the user has already specified their need, and where Gemini may write part of the message shown. The advertiser gains contextual relevance, and gives up a share of editorial control.

These placements are reserved for campaigns that rely on Google’s AI mechanisms: AI Max, Performance Max or Shopping. Staying on a structure strictly based on exact-match keywords means gradually giving up these surfaces.

For Swiss brands, the gap in timing is an opportunity. The formats are visible elsewhere before arriving here, which leaves time to prepare accounts, data and content, and to observe feedback from pioneer markets.

The control levers that remain

Automation does not remove steering. It moves it to other levers.

• The quality of conversion data. Algorithms optimise what they are given to measure. Conversions that are poorly defined, duplicated or collected without valid consent produce faulty optimisation. With the revised Data Protection Act and consent requirements, setting up measurement is a subject in its own right.

• Exclusions. Negative keywords, brand exclusions, URL exclusions: they define what the system must not do.

• Guidelines. Text guidelines, then AI Brief, make it possible to set rules on tone, mandatory mentions or queries to avoid.

• Analysis of search terms and of the landing pages chosen by the system, to correct drift quickly.

• Experimentation. Test AI Max alongside an existing structure before any switch, comparing cost per conversion, lead quality and the share of irrelevant queries.

What this asks of the website

With final URL expansion and text generation, the website becomes a raw material for advertising. Ads are written from its content, and visitors are sent to the pages the system deems relevant.

A website with precise service pages, up-to-date content and a clear structure sends good signals. A generic website, with overlapping pages or outdated information, sends bad ones. In a multilingual Swiss context, consistency between language versions also becomes a matter of advertising performance.

This is where it converges with organic search. The qualities that make a page citable in a generated answer also make it usable by an automated campaign.

Frequently asked questions

What is AI Max for Search?

A set of AI features that can be enabled on Google Ads Search campaigns: search term matching, ad text customisation and final URL expansion.

When will Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) disappear?

According to the timetable revised by Google in June 2026, the creation of new DSA will be removed in January 2027 and the remaining campaigns will migrate automatically from February 2027.

Are ads in AI Mode available in Switzerland?

Switzerland is not among the markets announced by Google in its latest extension, on 28 October 2026. Preparing compatible campaigns now (AI Max, Performance Max, Shopping) means being ready when they arrive.