Google Merchant Center & Ads AI Updates: Promotions, Insights & AI Mode in 2026
What Is Google Merchant Center and Why It Matters in 2026
Google Merchant Center is the central platform where retailers upload and manage product data for use across Google Shopping, organic listings, and ad campaigns. As of September 2026, it is undergoing significant transformation driven by generative AI, with new features that directly impact how merchants optimize for AI Overviews, AI Mode, and traditional Search.
The key change is this: Google is infusing both Merchant Center and Google Ads with automation and AI-powered insights that were previously limited to Performance Max campaigns. This has practical consequences for advertisers who rely on exact match keywords, promotion management, and international product visibility.
Automated Promotion Assets: What Launching in Google Ads Means for Advertisers
On September 2, 2026, Google Ads launched a new account-level feature called automated promotion assets. Google Ads has introduced a new account-level automated asset that scans an advertiser's landing pages for active promotional offers—such as percentage discounts, buy-one-get-one deals, or free shipping—and automatically creates and attaches promotion assets to eligible Search and Performance Max ads.
How Automated Promotion Assets Work
The system works by crawling landing page content for promotional signals. Once detected, it generates promotion assets—the small text labels that appear below the ad headline (e.g., "20% off" or "Free shipping"). These are then served alongside ads when the system predicts they will increase conversions or store visits.
Advertisers can opt out of the feature at any time via account settings, but by default it is enabled. New Google Ads Automated Promotions reporting from Search Engine Roundtable confirms the feature is available for Search and Performance Max campaigns globally.
Practical Implications
- Time savings: Manually creating promotion assets for every sale or holiday is eliminated.
- Accuracy risk: The crawler may misinterpret landing page text, creating promotions that run longer than intended.
- Control: You can still override or disable specific automated assets.
This feature is particularly relevant for ecommerce merchants who run frequent promotions and maintain product landing pages up to date. It reduces manual management but requires vigilance to prevent mismatches.
Google Ads Testing Restrictive Match Types in AI Mode: What It Means
Starting September 4, 2026, Google began testing a "small experiment" that allows traditional Search campaigns using exact match and phrase match keywords to serve text ads in AI Mode. Google Ads Testing Serving Restrictive Match Types In AI Mode was first reported by Search Engine Roundtable, and Google tests traditional Search campaigns in AI Mode from Search Engine Land on September 7 confirmed the details.
How the Experiment Works
AI Mode, Google's conversational search interface powered by Gemini, previously only served ads from AI Max or Performance Max campaigns. This experiment changes that by allowing standard Search campaigns with restrictive match types to enter AI Mode when the user query demonstrates "explicit and direct intent."
Comparison table: Ad eligibility in AI Mode before vs. during the experiment
| Campaign Type | Before Experiment | During Experiment (Limited) |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional Search (exact match) | Not eligible | Eligible for high-intent queries |
| Traditional Search (phrase match) | Not eligible | Eligible for high-intent queries |
| Traditional Search (broad match) | Not eligible | Not eligible |
| Performance Max | Eligible | Eligible |
| AI Max | Eligible | Eligible |
What This Means for Advertisers
- If the experiment goes permanent, advertisers can manage AI Mode exposure without launching a separate AI Max campaign.
- It rewards precise keyword targeting—advertisers with well-structured exact match campaigns may see performance gains.
- It may prompt a shift back toward restrictive match types in some accounts, reversing the industry trend toward broad match in Performance Max.
The test is small and there is no public timeline for a full rollout. Advertisers should monitor their Search campaign performance and consider whether their existing exact match keywords align with high-intent conversational queries.
Google Merchant Center AI Prompts Leaked Accidentally
On September 8, 2026, a brief but revealing glitch occurred in Google Merchant Center. The platform temporarily displayed the underlying AI prompts used to generate its insight reports, rather than the summarized information. [Google Merchant Center Showing AI Prompts For Report](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-merchant-center-ai-prompts-42023.html
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