Google Ads News for May 2025

Last Updated on: 16th May 2025, 01:18 pm

This month in Google Ads News, we have AI Max expanding over Search, PMax handing over device targeting controls to advertisers, and a quiet expansion to Search Themes that could help your campaigns breathe. 

Let’s take a look at what these changes mean for your ad accounts!

Max What Now? What to Know About Google’s AI Push

“I get it, Google, you like the term Max – but help us out here.” Greg Finn of Cypress North.

Same, Greg. Same. 

I’ve seen Google dress up old features before, but this time they’ve stitched them into something more assertive, and potentially more chaotic, depending on how you use it.

So, what is it? According to Google, AI Max is not a new campaign type. It’s a layered automation package made up of:

• Expanded query matching (yes, that means keywordless targeting),
  
• Dynamic text asset customisation,
  
• Final URL expansion, and
  
• Some “sprinkles,” like ad group-level location intent settings.

They’ve taken features that used to be scattered (or hidden) and put them under one marketable umbrella. 

If you’re not paying attention, it could switch itself on. And suddenly your carefully structured campaign starts behaving like a DSA with too much caffeine.

What You Think You’re Getting with AI Max Google Ads News vs. What You’re Handing Over

Yes, there’s promise here. AI Max can dynamically match search intent, customise ad copy on the fly, and automatically choose landing pages. The idea is to reach users you weren’t explicitly bidding on, and send them to the right place with the right language.

Lovely, in theory.

But as several advertisers, including Georgi Zayakov and Adrienne Shaver, have pointed out, giving up control over your assets and targeting might not be a trade you’re ready to make, especially in regulated industries like healthcare or legal.

And if you build tight, lean campaigns with segmented intent and precise copywriting (i.e. the way I teach all my clients to do it), then toggling on AI Max is risky, to say the least.

Test, but Stay Sceptical

AI Max might scale for some (e.g., eCommerce), but in lead gen or services like law, finance, and trades, you need to know where every penny’s going. 

You can’t afford for Google to guess at intent at $50+ CPCs.

If you try AI Max, test in a controlled environment. Run side-by-side comparisons. Don’t apply it to your whole account until you’ve seen how it handles real intent, real spend, and real conversions.

After all, you’re still responsible for the outcome, even if AI wrote the ad.

PMax Gets Device Targeting, and Not a Minute Too Soon

Well, here we are. Google has finally given us device targeting for Performance Max.

Yes, you read that right. You can now include or exclude specific device types in your PMax campaigns: mobile phones, tablets, computers, and even TVs (though that last one’s just for Display and Video).

This should have been launched with PMax in the first place. We’ve been trying to optimise for performance without knowing if half our conversions came from a desktop, a phone, or someone’s living room telly. 

Now, you can stop wasting budget on low-intent traffic from the wrong devices.

Why These PMax Google Ads News Are Important

For service businesses, especially B2B or local, device intent matters. 

Someone on their mobile at 7:30 am, stuck in traffic, isn’t showing the same intent as people casually browsing on their TV screens. Now, you can treat your users differently (as you should)! 

If you want to exclude TV screens from lead gen campaigns, now you can. Want to double down on mobile where your landing page is optimised and calls convert? Go ahead.

Different devices bring different behaviours and levels of urgency. At last, you can match your targeting to those patterns.

A Word of Caution

Don’t get too excited and start slicing your campaigns by device without checking historical patterns. Always look at what’s realistically converting. Use device controls to tighten the screws, not rip the whole campaign apart.

Also, an important reminder: this change doesn’t make PMax any less of a proverbial black box, but it’s a crack in the casing. 

Google’s starting to listen, or at least respond to the pressure. If enough of us keep asking for control, they’ll keep opening the door.

For now, see where your money’s been leaking, and start building the device-level strategy you always knew you needed.

On Top of That, PMax Became Less Constricting

Google has increased the limit on Search themes to 50. That’s double what we had before, and five times the original cap.

If you’ve ever tried steering PMax without enough Search themes, you know how laughably vague things can get. 

You feed Google 10 signals, and cross your fingers so the automation doesn’t go rogue. Even 25 was a stretch for many advertisers juggling multiple products or services across different customer segments.

Now, with 50 Search themes at your disposal, you’ve got room to breathe.

Even If You Don’t Use All 50, These Google Ads News Are Still Vital

Search themes are not keywords; let’s be clear about that. But they are one of the few levers we’ve been given to influence where our PMax campaigns go sniffing for traffic. 

When they first launched, we were told they’d help with relevance. But when you’re working across a dozen service types or SKUs, 10 themes are far from enough. Let alone an AI engine with your budget.

This expansion is Google finally listening to experts like Pronay Roy, who spotted the update, and Thomas Eccel, who helped spread the word.

However, more isn’t always better. Adding 50 vague or overlapping themes won’t suddenly make PMax behave. If anything, it’ll dilute your signals. So approach this with strategy: group themes smartly and watch for cannibalisation with Search campaigns.

Who’s Behind That Ad? Google’s Making It Obvious Now

Google has recently updated its Ads Transparency policy, and if you’re running ads on behalf of someone else, especially as an agency, you’ll want to pay attention.

The name tied to the payment profile will now be publicly shown as the “payer” in the Ads Transparency Centre. In plain terms: whoever funds the ad is going to be named very visibly, not just the advertiser account name you carefully selected to look polished and brand-safe.

Let me be crystal clear: This is not just for political advertisers. It’s everyone.

So if you’re an agency and haven’t re-verified your setup, your ads might soon say “Smith & Co Digital” instead of “Top Plumbing Services”.

• If your client’s name and payment profile don’t match your current setup, Google will now display the payment name instead.
  
• Agencies using their own billing to buy ads for clients will be in the spotlight.
  
• You have until 31 May to re-verify and clean up your settings.

From June, you’ll be able to manually edit your payer name in the verification settings. As usual, Google rolls these things out and lets you untangle the confusion later. 

Why These Google Ads News Are Important

When transparency is (rightly) being demanded, especially with elections, AI, and ad fraud in the mix, being mislabelled as the funder of 15 client campaigns could get you into legal or reputational hot water.

If you’ve ever seen clients panic over Google’s “why am I seeing this ad?” panels, imagine how they’ll feel when they see your name funding something they didn’t approve.

So get into your account verification settings today. Review everything. If your payment setup doesn’t match your ad narrative, fix it.

What Do This Month’s Changes Mean for Advertisers?

You’re not wrong if you’ve felt like managing Google Ads feels more like dodging curveballs than optimising campaigns lately. Between AI bundling new features under confusing names, PMax finally loosening up, among other things… It’s a lot.

But that’s the job now, isn’t it? Knowing how to make decisions before defaults do it for you, and not letting brand new tools rewrite your whole strategy overnight.

That said, in the hands of someone who knows what to look for, they’re levers worth testing. And knowing when not to pull them is the part Google won’t teach you. 

But I will!

If these updates have left you with more questions than answers, or you just want someone to sort the signals from the “sprinkles”, you know where to find me.

And if you’d rather get back to the fundamentals fast, grab a copy of Rapid Google Ads Success. It’s got my best strategies from 17+ years in PPC, with the techniques I use every day – for my clients’ campaigns and my own.

See you next month!