Microsoft Advertising Rolls Out AI Max Globally via @sejournal, @brookeosmundson

Microsoft Advertising has started rolling out AI Max for Search campaigns globally, expanding availability after several months of testing.

The rollout follows Microsoft’s April 21 announcement of AI Max and an open pilot that began in May. The feature suite is now becoming generally available across Microsoft Advertising accounts.

Additionally, they’ve provided clearer guidance around how existing campaigns and Google Ads imports will be handled.

The broader rollout builds on the same three AI Max features Microsoft introduced earlier this spring.

AI Max Moves Beyond the Open Pilot

AI Max adds three automation features to existing Search campaigns:

Search term matching can reach queries beyond an advertiser’s keyword list using signals from keywords, ads, landing pages, and user intent. Microsoft says this can help advertisers appear for more complex conversational searches, including those within Bing and Copilot.

Text customization uses existing assets and website content to generate additional ad messaging. Final URL expansion can select a different landing page when Microsoft determines it better matches the user’s intent.

Microsoft is encouraging advertisers to test the three features together, although each can be tested individually through optimization experiments.

One of the more noteworthy updates is that Microsoft is retaining ad group-level settings, giving advertisers more control over where AI Max features are applied.

Brand Controls and Reporting Available From Day One

Microsoft is emphasizing advertiser controls as AI Max moves beyond the pilot.

Brand inclusions and exclusions are available with the rollout, along with term exclusions for text asset generation. Advertisers can also use URL rules to limit where final URL expansion can send traffic.

Microsoft Ads Liaison Navah Hopkins said advertiser feedback played a role in making those controls available at launch:

We heard your feedback it’s a really critical tool to include.

Some advertisers may also notice AI Max settings already enabled in existing campaigns.

Microsoft is moving Predictive matching and autogenerated text assets under AI Max. Campaigns already using either feature will have the corresponding AI Max setting enabled automatically.

The remaining AI Max features will not be activated unless an advertiser opts into them.

What Happens With Google Ads Imports?

AI Max settings can also carry over when advertisers import campaigns from Google Ads.

If a Google Search campaign has supported AI Max features enabled, those settings will be enabled in the corresponding Microsoft Advertising campaign after import.

However, there is an exception for campaigns that originated as Dynamic Search Ads (DSA).

If an imported Google AI Max campaign was previously upgraded from DSA, Microsoft will convert it back into a DSA campaign while it continues building additional AI Max functionality.

The main reason behind this shift is that Microsoft has not announced an official sunset date for Dynamic Search Ads, where Google already has a firm date.

What Comes Next For AI Max

AI Max is moving into general availability at a time when both Microsoft and Google are asking advertisers to give Search campaigns more room to find queries beyond traditional keyword targeting.

Microsoft is starting its broader rollout with many of those controls already in place, rather than adding them later in response to advertiser concerns.

Now that AI Max is reaching accounts globally, the next test is whether advertisers see enough incremental value from that additional automation to keep it enabled.