The past 12 months have brought a steady drumbeat of platform updates as Google and Meta introduced artificial intelligence-led features and automation that change which levers matter day-to-day. Google is leaning into AI-led search experiences (from AI Overviews to an AI-only search mode in testing), while Meta is accelerating full-funnel automation through Advantage+ and a new retrieval engine called Andromeda.

For marketers, it’s critical to understand these changes and how targeting, creative and budget strategies direct the algorithms.

What’s Changing at Google Ads

On Google, AI answers increasingly live above the traditional paid “blue links.” That compresses middle-of-funnel research and changes clickthrough behavior and reporting. However, paid search still drives over 20 percent of last-click revenue for e-commerce brands, and taking advantage of the AI-enabled campaign types will be critical to growth.

Performance Max (PMAX) continues to add controls, creative inputs, and reporting; it’s useful for scale, but still rewards clean product data, media variety, and disciplined exclusions more than micro-tuning knobs. The biggest change is that Shopping now has similar priority compared to PMAX and we’ve seen this feed-only campaign type scale effectively as part of a modern search structure.

AIMax is a new Google Ads campaign type that uses AI to automatically optimize creatives, bids, and placements across all Google networks based on your business goals and assets provided. Unlike PMAX, AIMax focuses more heavily on AI-generated creatives and less on manually supplied assets. We’ve seen this work for brands that are willing to let AI generate assets (and then watch closely for brand guidelines).

The takeaway: PMAX will continue to be core to Google, but Shopping and AIMax are key components for scale this holiday season.

What’s Changing at Meta

Meta’s is also pushing more AI-enabled campaigns and control. Advantage+ (ASC) campaigns (rebranded and expanded from earlier “shopping” versions) push advertisers toward broad audiences, automated placements, and AI-assisted creative. The promise is speed and scale, especially for teams just getting started; the risk is off-funnel spend without the right guardrails.

Andromeda, Meta’s newer retrieval system, promises one-to-one creative targeting at scale. We’ve seen this in action as CPMs have risen compared to last year, but clickthrough rates and ad engagement are steadily increasing.

Meta has also rolled out waves of Advantage+ Creative Enhancements and new generative tools. Some are helpful (format-level variants, text overlays), others require careful brand oversight.  

Our read: Use them as accelerants, not autopilot. Brands that win pair automation with a steady flow of concept-level creative variation — multiple hooks, cuts, and product storylines — so the models have something genuinely unique to target.

Overall: AI is not only changing consumer behavior, but also how marketers can target and serve ads. It’s critical to keep up with product releases and ensure all inputs are tailored to your unique customer and product set.

What to Do Right Now

  • Double down on inputs. On Google, prioritize feed hygiene, semantic titles, and rich imagery/video assets; on Meta, keep three to five strong creatives per ad set and refresh hooks weekly.
  • Stay broad, but with guardrails. Use exclusions, geo and inventory controls, and clear objectives. Broad doesn’t mean boundaryless.
  • Measure for reality, not convenience. Supplement platform return on ad spend with sitewide revenue reads, post-purchase surveys, server-side tracking, and conversion lag annotations.
  • Test Shopping and AIMax in paid search.
  • Run creative variation in Meta and monitor clickthrough rates to ensure they’re keeping up with rising media costs!

What to Prioritize and Why

Across our clients at Belardi Wong, we’ve found that the “new default” rewards fundamentals more than hacks. When Meta rolled out automation and creative enhancements, our execution didn’t flip upside down — we tightened exclusions, documented creative guardrails, and scaled what already converted. On Google, we treat PMAX as a structured portfolio: segment winners, invest in creative and feed quality, and pressure-test results against sitewide revenue and contribution margin. The teams that thrive build creative variation like a product and treat AI features as multipliers.

Google and Meta will keep moving the goalposts, but good marketers will take a proactive approach. The teams that stay unphased pair curiosity with discipline: they test, learn, and keep what actually moves the business. Automation and AI can be a tailwind when the inputs are strong (e.g., clean data, clear exclusions, real creative variety) and performance is still grounded in what’s best for the brand, not algorithms.

Even as AI speeds up data and insights, there’s more need than ever to have strategic and expert opinions and advice on what to do with this information. Forming expert opinions and strategies is where winning agencies will thrive, so keep the bar steady while the platforms evolve. That calm, test-and-verify rhythm is how resilient brands will navigate constant change and come out ahead.

Calla Murphy is senior vice president at Belardi Wong, where she leads digital strategy for premium brands and specialty retailers.