Google’s automation has moved beyond deciding where your ads run to increasingly modifying the creative and measurement behind them.

Google’s automation has moved beyond deciding where your ads run to increasingly modifying the creative and measurement behind them.

Google has reportedly begun notifying Performance Max advertisers that generative AI will automatically create missing video formats – for example, turning a horizontal video into versions suitable for vertical and square placements. Google’s own documentation confirms that Performance Max can enhance existing videos into different formats and shorter versions.

That may unlock more inventory, but it also creates an obvious brand-control question: altered framing, cropped products, disclaimers or creative treatments that nobody explicitly approved. The reported opt-out deadline is 4 September. This deadline has come through advertiser communications rather than a public Google announcement, so we’re treating it as reported rather than officially confirmed. Read the details

Merchant Centre reporting also changes today. From 24 August, YouTube affiliate traffic is being separated from organic traffic, YouTube’s organic definitions are changing, and product-level reporting is expanding across more campaign formats. Google says the YouTube classification changes will also retrospectively affect data back to 1 July.

Translation: you may see organic traffic fall or paid/product metrics rise without the customer doing anything differently. Trend lines need a footnote rather than a victory lap – or a panic attack. Googles announcement

One useful follow-up to last week’s target-bidding change: Google says the rollout is gradual, and forecasts may be inaccurate between 17 and 31 August while the system transitions. For campaigns with longer conversion delays, Google recommends waiting 1-2 conversion cycles before judging the impact. Googles FAQ

Elsewhere, Meta AI can now connect to Meta Ads and business analytics to audit campaign and produce recurring reports. TikTok’s upgraded Smart+ offers more flexibility between automatic and manual control across targeting, budgets and placements.

And The Trade Desk has simplified conversion-lift setup. Its new closed-beta workflow can automatically apply a 20% holdout group, select a primary pixel and configure the study – reducing the friction involved in testing incrementality.

Useful improvements certainly, but every platform is also volunteering to analyse, modify or judge more of the work it sells.

We’ll keep accepting the useful automation without outsourcing the strategy.

What we’re checking in your account

• Whether PMax video enhancement should remain enabled
• Merchant Centre reporting changes and the impact of today’s reclassification
• Limited-budget campaigns affected by the target-bidding change and forecast reliability
• Whether existing Branded Searches reporting still reflects the current eligibility and attribution rules
• New automation settings before they are allowed to make material changes