19/06/2026
Google Ads Is Changing Budget-Limited Campaigns
If you run Google Ads, please write this date down: August 17, 2026.
On June 15, Google announced three new changes to how bidding and budgets work. Two of them are good news. One of them is a deadline. If you ignore it, your campaigns could quietly start performing worse.
Let me explain each one in simple words.
Big change for budget-limited campaigns (starts August 17)
This is the most important one. Pay attention here.
Right now, some campaigns are set with a target. For example, you may have set a Target CPA of $10. But your real CPA might be much lower, like $5. This means your campaign is doing better than the goal you set.
Starting August 17, Google will change this. Campaigns will slowly move closer to the target you set, even if they were performing better before. So if your real CPA is $5 but your target says $10, don't be surprised if it moves closer to $10 after this date.
Google will start sending notifications inside your account from July 6. But don't wait for that. Here is what you should do now:
Check the last 90 days of performance for every campaign that uses Target CPA or Target ROAS and has a limited budget.
If your real performance is much better than your target, decide what you want to do. You can either lower your target to keep the good performance, or increase your budget so the campaign can keep spending the same way.
If you manage ads for clients or a team, tell them now. It is much easier to explain this before it happens, not after.
Smart Bidding Exploration is now available in more places
Smart Bidding Exploration lets Google AI try new searches that you may not normally target. You set how much flexibility you allow, and Google tries to find new customers within that limit.
This was only for Search before. Now it is available for all Performance Max campaigns that don't use a product feed. It is also rolling out as a test (beta) for Shopping campaigns and for Performance Max campaigns that do use a product feed.
Google says accounts using this already are seeing more conversions and reaching more types of customers. If you have never tried this feature, this is a good time to test it. Start small, watch it for two to three weeks, and check if you are getting more real conversions, not just more clicks.
New "Promotion Mode" for busy sale periods
This one is helpful if you run sales, promotions, or seasonal offers.
Promotion Mode lets you plan ahead for busy periods like a big sale or a new product launch. You can set a temporary increase in budget and a temporary change in your ROAS target, just for that period. After the sale ends, things go back to normal automatically.
This is good for people who normally do this manually, increasing budget by hand before a big sale and then forgetting to change it back later. Right now, this feature is only available for Search and Performance Max campaigns, in beta.
Other small updates you should know about
Google also updated its Limited Ad Serving policy on June 12. This means some ads may get fewer impressions on Search if Google is not fully sure who the advertiser is or if there have been user complaints. This will roll out slowly until 2028.
Google Ads Terms of Service will change from July 1. This update mainly explains how your account data may be used to improve Google's AI advertising tools.
The simple takeaway
You don't need to worry about everything at once. Just remember this one thing: check your budget-limited campaigns before August 17, and decide if you need to update your targets.
What will you do for the August 17 change? Will you lower your targets, increase your budget, or wait and see what happens? Let me know in the comments.
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