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- Paid Media News & Opinion #126
Paid Media News & Opinion #126
🔎 Google announces AI Max for search campaigns 🔎 LinkedIn announces “First Impression Ads” for video 🔎 Up to 50 search themes coming to PMax
Advantage Paid Media
May 12, 2025
Today’s highlights:
🔎 Google announces AI Max for search campaigns
🔎 LinkedIn announces “First Impression Ads” for video
🔎 Up to 50 search themes coming to PMax
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Google announces AI Max for search campaigns
> What’s happening
Google has announced the beta introduction of AI Max, a new set of automation-focused settings designed to simplify and improve Search campaigns. Launching later this month, AI Max brings together Google’s most advanced targeting and creative technologies into a streamlined, single-click solution.
AI Max is built to help advertisers reach untapped high-intent search queries, expand campaign reach, and generate relevant ad creative in real time. Here’s a breakdown of its key features:
Smarter query matching: Using broad match and keywordless technologies, AI Max identifies and targets high-performing queries advertisers might otherwise miss. It learns from existing campaign data including keywords, creatives, and URLs.
Real-time creative customization: Through the new text customization feature, AI Max dynamically generates headlines and descriptions that align with a user’s search intent. Additionally, Final URL Expansion ensures that users are directed to the most relevant landing page.
Granular controls: Advertisers get more control over location targeting at the ad group level based on geographic interest, and Brand inclusions and exclusions to protect brand identity and relevance.
Enhanced reporting: New performance data includes deeper insights into search terms, headline effectiveness, and asset-level metrics such as spend and conversions.
> Why we care
AI Max represents a meaningful evolution in how Google Search campaigns can be built, optimized, and scaled. For advertisers this tool potentially offers a fast, low-effort path to improved performance.
Utilising the advanced automation AI Max can help advertisers break free from traditional keyword limitations, capturing emerging search trends and previously untapped demand. This can be particularly useful in niche markets, or where advertisers are struggling to identify search queries.
With dynamic creatives, ads can be more relevant to each individual query, which boosts engagement and conversions.
The inclusion of brand and location controls also means AI Max doesn’t sacrifice strategic oversight for automation. Marketers can still guide campaign direction while letting Google AI handle the optimization heavy lifting.
LinkedIn announces “First Impression Ads” for video
> What’s happening
LinkedIn has announced a new video advertising format called "First Impression Ads". This feature will allow brands to ensure their video ad is the first one users see during their initial daily session on the platform.
Designed to maximize visibility and impact, this format will be ideal for high-priority campaigns such as product launches and brand awareness initiatives.
> Why we care
In their announcement LinkedIn reported that time spent watching video posts in-app had increased by 36% year on year, with video content generating 1.4x more engagement than other post types. It’s understandable that they’re looking to expand on their video offering for advertisers, in order to capitalise on this demand.
It’s likely the CPM’s for this placement will be pretty high so are likely to be best placed for those looking to run larger campaigns, or those that are fortunate enough to have a relatively low-cost target audience.
Up to 50 search themes coming to PMax
> What’s happening
Performance Max campaigns on Google Ads are rolling out an upgraded 50 search theme limit, doubling the existing limit of 25.
This update is available for some advertisers right now, providing a better level of control and aiding the AI-based system’s ability to find relevant audiences.
> Why we care
Some advertisers with a broad range of product offerings or brands with a wide collection of related terms may struggle with the 25 limit, so 50 is very welcomed. However, the limit is in place to ensure asset groups don’t spread themselves too thin.
Just because there are 50 search themes, you don’t have to use them all! Consider each one's impact and relevance, and whether terms can be broken out into other asset groups.
For smaller advertisers with limited budgets, this means being able to utilise more themes without splitting across asset groups where learnings are diluted.
Our top tip for search themes: take your highest performing phrase and exact match keywords in Search and add them to the relevant PMax asset group. You can thank us later!