Do you remember the feeling of first seeing an ad appear in Google's AI Overviews? You probably wondered, "How do I get my ads in here?" And the only answer back then was: use AI Max, Performance Max, or broad match with Smart Bidding. There were no other choices.
Yet, everything has just changed. A small but significant test is underway right now, and it could transform how you approach AI Mode – Google's fastest-growing conversational search space.
What is happening with AI Mode ads?
On September 4, 2026, Ginny Marvin, Google Ads liaison, confirmed something that sent a buzz through the online advertising community: Google is testing the display of ads from standard search campaigns, using exact match and phrase match keywords, inside AI Mode.
This sounds technical, but keep it simple: Previously, to get ads to show in AI Mode, you had to use Google's automated products like AI Max or Performance Max. Now, Google is opening that door to the most "classic" search campaigns – the type where advertisers maintain tight control over every single keyword.
Anthony Higman, CEO of ADSQUIRE, was the first to spot this shift. He posted on LinkedIn that Google was showing ordinary search campaigns with restricted match types inside AI Mode, and he verified this behavior across his campaigns and tests. Shortly after, Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable corroborated the information, and Ginny Marvin herself spoke up: "This is a small test that just rolled out."
However, the crucial catch is that this test is limited to instances with clear and direct intent from the user. In other words, Google retains control over which ads appear in AI Mode based on how "clear" the search query is.
Why does this shift matter?
Think about this: Exact match has been the primary control tool in keyword advertising for two decades. Square brackets – the exact match symbol – used to be a command ensuring ads only appeared for the exact defined query, not neighboring queries.
But let's look at reality: That boundary has long been eroding. A recent analysis of 383 million impressions in EMEA e-commerce campaigns, published in late July 2026 by Mike Ryan of Smarter Ecommerce, showed that the share of exact match keyword impressions actually matching the query dropped to about 71% – whereas in early 2025, that figure was near 100%. Ryan described current keyword matching technology as essentially "broad match."
So this September test isn't just an isolated experiment. It is the next step in a long sequence where the "fence" advertisers use to budget control is being expanded from the inside. And now, that very fence opens up a new destination: AI Mode.
AI Mode – no longer a "niche market"
You might think AI Mode is still small and not worth caring about. Think again.
Google introduced shopping ads on AI Mode on February 11, 2026, when the platform already had over 75 million daily active users. By Google I/O 2026, that number surpassed 1 billion monthly users, with query volume doubling every quarter since launch. AI Mode searches average three times longer than traditional searches, and 1 in every 6 queries is performed using voice or images.
Data from Similarweb published in August 2026 showed that nearly 30% of AI Mode queries eligible to show ads actually displayed ads. A search space reaching 1 billion users in about 15 months and currently carrying ads on a significant share of eligible queries – that is no longer a position any advertising budget can treat as "negligible."
The thorny problem: Reporting cannot keep up
The worrying part is that Google Ads currently does not allow advertisers to separate AI Mode ad delivery from regular search delivery. A media buyer running Search, Shopping, or Performance Max campaigns can serve inside Google's AI answers without any line in the reporting identifying it.
This measurement gap existed prior to this test. Reports from December 2025 noted that AI Max attributed traffic to exact match and phrase match keyword rows when no corresponding broad match keyword existed, and its matching relied on inferred intent rather than the literal text of the query.
By May 2026, Google's search terms report shifted to show AI-interpreted intent instead of the character string users actually typed. This creates an asymmetric situation: keyword matching grows looser, while negative keyword rules remain as tight as ever. An exact match keyword in a Google Ads account in September 2026 can now aggregate three distinct audience groups: literal match, close variants, and AI Mode impressions. Nothing in current reporting distinguishes them.
The bigger context: The AI Max migration
This test arrives just three days after Google began its mandatory migration of campaigns to AI Max. On August 5, 2026, Google emailed advertisers confirming that campaigns running auto-generated assets or campaign-level broad match settings would transition to AI Max for Search starting September 1.
So two movements are happening simultaneously: Older automation settings are folding into AI Max, and the surface area AI Max was positioned to unlock is opening up to campaigns that never adopted it. The second movement undermines the first as a sales pitch.
Independent tests of AI Max have consistently run counter to Google's claims. An August 2025 test showed 99% of AI Max impressions generated zero conversions across roughly 30,000 search terms. Smarter Ecommerce's analysis of over 250 retail campaigns published in November 2025 measured AI Max return on ad spend at roughly 35% lower than traditional match types.
Even Google has adjusted its claims: from a 14% conversion lift when announcing the beta in May 2025, down to a 7% average in the general release announcement in April 2026.
Microsoft goes the opposite direction
Interestingly, Microsoft has taken a completely opposite stance on the exact same question. On December 18, 2025, the company confirmed that exact match keywords retain absolute auction priority over all other campaign types competing for the same spot – a guarantee no rival from Google offers.
Later, Microsoft rolled out its own AI Max across all accounts globally on August 19, 2026, with brand controls introduced at launch rather than retrofitted later. Agency teams running both platforms currently manage two products with the same name, different controllers, and divergent theories on the purpose of restricted match types.
What Google has not clarified
Google has not specified geographic regions, vertical industry limits, account percentages, or test durations. The intent test as a qualification condition – "clear and direct intent" – appeared only in a LinkedIn comment rather than official help documentation. This leaves advertisers without a public definition of the criteria determining whether their keywords qualify for the AI Mode surface.
Google has also not stated whether reporting will separate AI Mode delivery if the test expands. That question dictates whether the change is treated as new reach or a silent reallocation of paid impressions under another label.
Advice for advertisers in the new landscape
So what should you do ahead of this test? Here are suggestions from the perspective of someone who has lived through countless algorithm and ad policy changes.
1. Closely monitor your reports
Even though Google hasn't separated AI Mode in reporting, pay attention to unusual performance shifts in exact and phrase match keywords. If you see traffic spike but conversion rates drop, it could be a sign your ads are appearing in AI Mode.
2. Don't rush to turn off AI Max
Even if AI Max performance falls short of expectations in certain tests, new ad formats like Highlighted Answers remain exclusive to AI Max and Performance Max. The current test merely expands reach, not the format suite.
3. Reconsider your keyword strategy
If this test becomes permanent, using exact match keywords will no longer guarantee your ads appear solely in traditional search. Consider adjusting your bidding strategy and budgets to adapt.
4. Learn from Microsoft's approach
Microsoft's maintenance of absolute exact match priority shows there is an alternative approach. If you run ads across both platforms, leverage this difference to optimize your strategy.
Final word: No turning back
Google's September 2026 test may be just a small step, but it signals a major shift in how Google thinks about AI advertising. The qualification rule that once made automation the price of admission to Google's fastest-growing search surface no longer holds without exception.
Is Anthony Higman right that this isn't a "small test" but an unfolding policy change? Or is Ginny Marvin correct in calling it a limited experiment? Perhaps the answer matters less than the observable truth: the fence has moved. And in the world of paid advertising, once the fence moves, it rarely returns.
Prepare for a future where boundaries between traditional search and AI search blur increasingly – and where smart advertisers find ways to leverage that, rather than fight it.
Question for you: Have you ever tried running ads on AI Mode or AI Overviews? What were the results? And with this new test, are you ready to let your exact match campaigns "automatically" appear in AI Mode without clear reporting, or will you seek tighter control? Share your thoughts below – because your answers help all of us better understand how to adapt to an advertising landscape changing day by day!
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