Google Ads automated promotions now pull deals off your website

As of October 12, Google Ads is set to read the deals on your website and turn them into promotion assets on its own. Google Ads automated promotions are now on by default for many local advertisers, which means a "15% off" banner you forgot to take down could show up under your search ad. The setting is easy to turn off, but only if you know it exists.

Here is what changed, who is affected, and how to decide whether to keep it.

What changed on October 12

The feature first surfaced in early September. PPC News Feed reported on September 2 that Google Ads had added a new account-level automated asset called automated promotions, crediting Hana Kobzová with spotting it. Search Engine Roundtable covered Google's help document a few days later, which used the example of a 20% discount on black sweaters lifted from a landing page.

Then, on October 5, Search Engine Roundtable published an email Google sent to some advertisers. It said that starting October 12, 2026, Google Ads would automatically identify and extract promotions from advertisers' websites and apply them to campaigns. No manual setup is needed, and enrollment is automatic.

Google's help page on account-level automated assets describes the feature as AI that sources, validates and displays deals and offers from your website and other sources. It sits alongside other automated assets you may already have, such as dynamic sitelinks, dynamic callouts and dynamic image assets.

Which campaigns get Google Ads automated promotions

This is not every campaign in your account. Based on Google's email and the help documentation, a campaign is eligible when:

• It is an active Search or Performance Max campaign.
• It has location assets linked, which is common for businesses that connect a Google Business Profile.
• It does not already have a promotion asset of its own. Campaigns with manual promotions are skipped.
• The offer complies with standard Google Ads policies.

The location-asset requirement is the key detail. Google's help page says the feature is aimed at both online and offline conversions, so the target is clearly businesses that want store visits and calls as well as online sales. That describes most local service businesses, restaurants and retailers running Performance Max campaigns or local Search ads.

According to PPC News Feed, each promotion Google sources is eligible to run for less than 24 hours before it has to be re-verified on your site. So, in theory, an offer stops showing once it disappears from your pages.

Your website is now part of your ad copy

The appeal is obvious. Promotions draw the eye on a crowded results page, and plenty of small advertisers never get around to adding promotion assets by hand. If your site already lists a real, current deal, Google putting it in front of searchers for free is a reasonable bonus.

The risk is just as obvious. Google is reading pages that were written for visitors, not for ads:

• Stale offers. A seasonal banner, an old coupon page or a blog post about last year's sale may still be live somewhere on your site.
• Missing fine print. "New customers only," "minimum purchase" or "one location only" can matter as much as the discount itself.
• Multi-location confusion. If one location runs a deal the others don't, you need to know how that shows up in ads for every location.
• Limited visibility. PPC Land notes that promotion assets with zero impressions don't appear in the Assets view, so you can only see what Google used after it served.

PPC Land also lists questions Google has not answered, including the criteria for a "high-quality" promotion and which regions and languages are covered. Until those details are clearer, assume anything that reads like an offer on your site can become an ad.

When Google can turn any banner on your site into ad copy, your website's fine print becomes your ad's fine print.

How to check it and how to turn it off

Google's own guidance, as reported by Search Engine Roundtable, is to keep promotional details on your website current, or to upload specific promotions manually if you need exact control. In practice, that gives you three options.

1. See what Google has added. Google's help page explains how to review automated assets: open Campaigns, go to Assets, add the "Added by" filter and choose Google AI. Look for promotion assets in that list.

2. Turn the feature off. The opt-out is account-wide. Google's email did not mention a campaign-level control, according to PPC Land. The help page's general path for turning off an automated asset is Assets, then the Associations tab, then the three-dot menu, Account level automated assets, the three-dot menu again and Advanced settings. Find automated promotions there and switch it off. Google's menus change often, so if the path looks different, search the help center for "account level automated assets."

3. Add your own promotion asset. Because campaigns with manual promotions are skipped, adding a real promotion asset to a campaign keeps Google from writing one for you there, and you control the wording, dates and terms.

OnlyaClick tip: Do a 15-minute promo sweep before you decide. Search your own site for words like "off," "%," "free," "coupon," "special" and "expires," and check every landing page your ads point to. Delete or update anything stale. Then look at the Assets report with the Google AI filter once a week for the next month so you see exactly what Google is pulling.

Should you keep it on?

There is no single right answer, and it depends on how tidy your website is.

Keeping it on makes sense if you run genuine, ongoing offers, your site is updated whenever they change, and you don't have time to maintain promotion assets yourself. In that case, Google Ads automated promotions are a free way to make your ads more prominent.

Turning it off makes sense if you are in a regulated industry, if your offers have conditions that must appear alongside them, if your site has old promotional content you can't easily remove, or if different locations run different deals. In those cases, a manual promotion asset you write yourself is the safer choice.

Either way, don't confuse this with Merchant Center. PPC News Feed points out that Google Merchant Center has a separate feature with a similar name that works differently. This change concerns promotion assets in Search and Performance Max campaigns.

If you would rather have someone audit your account-level automated assets and set them up on purpose, that is part of everyday PPC management.

The bottom line

Google Ads automated promotions switched on by default on October 12 for Search and Performance Max campaigns that use location assets and don't have their own promotion assets. Google now treats your website as a source of ad copy. Spend a few minutes this week cleaning up old offers, checking the Assets report for Google AI additions, and deciding whether to leave the setting on, turn it off, or replace it with promotions you write yourself.