Google Ads Automated Promotions: What Google Is Adding to Your Ads and How to Turn It Off
Google has started adding promotions to some ads that never had one. If your offer is not a discount, or your pricing is regulated, that is a setting to review today.
By Ads Ninza · Published 17 October 2026 · 4 min read
What is changing
Google notified advertisers that from 12 October 2026 it can automatically create promotion assets for eligible Search and Performance Max campaigns. Reports describe eligibility as campaigns that use location assets and do not already carry promotion assets, which points the change mainly at local and retail businesses. The promotions are built from information Google finds, such as offers on your website or in your Merchant Center or Business Profile data.
Automated promotions sit alongside other automatically created assets Google already adds, such as dynamic sitelinks and callouts. Like those, they are opt-out, not opt-in.
Why it can go wrong
Stale offers. A festival discount that ended last week but is still on an old page can be picked up and shown.
Positioning damage. A premium service that never discounts can look like a bargain brand when a promotion appears beside its ad. If you sell on value, not price, that undercuts the whole message. See positioning to charge more.
Regulated pricing. Healthcare, finance, education and property advertisers often have rules about how prices and offers are stated. An automatically generated offer line is a compliance risk. See healthcare advertising compliance.
Lead quality. Discount messaging attracts price shoppers, the opposite of what high-ticket lead generation needs.
How to opt out
In Google Ads, open the account-level settings for automatically created assets (under Assets or Account settings, depending on the interface version) and turn off automated promotions. Then check each Performance Max campaign, because asset optimisation settings can also be controlled at campaign level. If you want to keep some automated assets, such as dynamic sitelinks, switch off only the promotion type.
If you do run real offers, the better route is usually to add your own promotion assets with exact dates and terms. Google says it only generates promotions where none exist, so a real, accurate asset also keeps the automated one out.
Who should keep it on
Retailers and local businesses that run frequent, accurate promotions and keep their website and feed current may find automated promotions save time. Even then, review the assets report weekly and remove anything that is wrong. Judge on margin and conversion quality, not click-through rate alone, because discount messaging almost always lifts clicks.
The wider pattern
Google, like Meta, is adding automation by default, and each change is small enough to miss. Automated promotions, automatically created assets, AI Max text customisation and the new channel prioritisation controls (see channel prioritisation) all reward advertisers who check settings monthly. That review is part of our Google Ads management in every market we serve, from the USA and the UK to the UAE, Canada and India.
Sources
Search Engine Roundtable: automated promotions from 12 October; Search Engine Roundtable: the original help document. Menu names vary by account; follow Google's notice in your account.
Frequently asked questions
What are Google Ads automated promotions?
Promotion assets that Google generates automatically from offers it finds, shown with your ads without you creating them.
When did automated promotions start?
Google notified advertisers that they can start from 12 October 2026.
Which campaigns are affected?
Reports describe Search and Performance Max campaigns that use location assets and have no promotion assets of their own.
Is it on by default?
Yes. It is opt-out.
How do I turn off automated promotions?
In the account-level automatically created assets settings, switch off promotions, then check Performance Max campaign asset settings.
Can I keep other automated assets?
Yes. You can switch off only the promotion type and keep others such as dynamic sitelinks.
Does adding my own promotion asset stop automated ones?
Google says it generates promotions only where none exist, so an accurate promotion asset of your own takes that place.
Are automated promotions a compliance risk?
They can be for regulated categories where offer wording is controlled. Opting out is safer there.
Will automated promotions improve results?
They often lift click-through rate. Judge on margin and lead quality instead.
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