Since October 12, Google Ads can read the deals on your website and show them in your ads without asking you first. For some businesses that is free extra visibility. For others it is an old coupon showing up in front of new customers.
The short version
Automated promotions is a Google Ads feature that finds offers on your website, such as a discount or a “buy one, get one”, and adds them to your ads as promotion assets.1 Google switched it on by default from October 12, 2026 for Search and Performance Max campaigns that use location assets and don’t already have promotion assets.23 You can turn it off at the account level under account-level automated assets.45 If you keep it on, keep the offers on your site current, because your website becomes your ad copy.
What changed on October 12
Google already offered promotion assets you could set up yourself: a short line under your ad with an occasion, a discount and dates.6 The new part is that Google now creates them for you. It looks for offers on your landing pages and other sources, checks them, and shows them on eligible ads.1
Advertisers got an email ahead of the change, and the setting is opt-out rather than opt-in.23 If you did nothing, it is probably on.
| Campaign | Can show them? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Search, with location assets and no promotion assets | Yes | This is the group Google switched on by default |
| Performance Max, with location assets and no promotion assets | Yes | Same rule as Search |
| Search or Performance Max that already has promotion assets | No | Your own promotions take the slot |
| Search or Performance Max without location assets | No | Location assets are a requirement for now |
| Display, Video, Demand Gen, App | No | Not part of this rollout |
How automated promotions work
- Where offers come from: mainly your landing pages. Google says it sources and validates deals from your website and other sources.1
- How long each one runs: less than 24 hours at a time. Google renews it only while the offer is still visible on your site.13
- Where you see them: in the Assets section of your account, once a promotion has received impressions. Until then it won’t appear in the list.2
- What overrides them: your own promotion assets. Campaigns that already have promotion assets are not eligible.2
The 24-hour refresh is a sensible safeguard. It still depends on one thing you control: what your website says today. An expired holiday banner, a “first visit 20% off” line nobody removed, or a deal on a page you forgot about can all look like a live offer to a crawler.7
Should you leave it on?
It depends less on the feature and more on how tidy your website is. If your site is the place you manage prices and sales, this feature saves you work. If offers live in old blog posts, landing pages from past campaigns or a promo bar nobody updates, turn it off and control promotions yourself.
| Business | Our default | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| HVAC, plumbing, home services | Off, then add your own promotion assets | Seasonal coupons change often and old ones linger on landing pages |
| Salons, spas, nail studios | Off, unless your offers page is kept current | Old first-visit deals and gift card promos are easy to forget |
| Retail and ecommerce with live sale pages | On, with weekly checks | Your site is already the source of truth for prices |
| Realtors and brokerages | Off | There is rarely a real promotion to show, so any pick is a guess |
| Insurance, finance, clinics and other regulated work | Off | Offer wording often needs compliance review before it runs |
| Restaurants and hospitality | Your call, if specials pages are current | Daily specials suit a feature that refreshes every 24 hours |
One more reason to be careful in Canada: if an ad advertises a discount you no longer honour, the customer who calls is annoyed before you say hello, and misleading price claims can also raise problems under the Competition Act.8 “Google added it” is not a great answer to either.
Not sure what Google is adding to your ads?
Our Google Ads team audits every automated asset in your account, turns off what doesn’t fit and keeps the offers that do. Your account stays in your name.
Begin a ProjectHow to turn off automated promotions
The setting sits with the other account-level automated assets. In the current Google Ads interface the path is:5
- Open Campaigns, then Assets.
- Set the table view to Association.
- Open the three-dot menu on the right and choose Account-level automated assets.
- Open the three-dot menu again and choose Advanced settings.
- Choose Turn off specific automated assets, select automated promotions, give a reason and save.
While you are on that page, look at the other automated assets too. Google can also generate sitelinks, callouts, images and more from your site.4 Some help, some don’t, and most accounts we audit have never looked at the list.
If you keep it on: a five-minute weekly check
- Clean your site first. Search your own website for words like “off”, “save”, “deal” and “promo”. Remove or date anything that has ended.
- Check the Assets report weekly. Filter for promotions and read exactly what Google is showing.
- Put end dates on the page. “Fall tune-up, $89, until November 30” is clearer for customers and for Google.
- Prefer your own promotion assets for key offers. They give you control over wording, dates and occasion, and they stop automated ones from showing on that campaign.6
- Watch your conversion data. If calls start mentioning an offer you don’t recognise, you know where it came from.
Where this fits
Automated promotions is one more step in the same direction as AI Max for Search and Performance Max: Google reading your website and writing more of your ads for you. That can work well when your site is accurate and your tracking is solid. It works badly when nobody is checking. If you run Local Services Ads alongside search, the same rule applies: keep your offers in one place and keep them current.
Sources
- Google Ads Help: About automated promotions
- Search Engine Land: Google Ads will automatically pull promotions from advertisers' websites
- Relevant Audience: Google Ads will switch on automated promotions by default on 12 October
- Google Ads Help: About account-level automated assets
- Google Ads Help: About assets (turning off account-level automated assets)
- Google Ads Help: About promotion assets
- Common Thread Co: Google Ads automated promotions for ecommerce
- Competition Bureau Canada: The Deceptive Marketing Practices Digest
Google changes menu names often. If a step below looks different in your account, search Google Ads Help for “account-level automated assets”. This article is general information, not legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are automated promotions in Google Ads?
Automated promotions is a Google Ads feature that finds offers on your website, such as discounts or buy-one-get-one deals, and shows them in your ads as promotion assets. Google sources and checks the offers itself, so you don't have to create them.
When did Google turn on automated promotions?
Google switched automated promotions on by default from October 12, 2026 for eligible Search and Performance Max campaigns. The setting is opt-out, so if you did not change anything it is probably on in your account.
Which campaigns can show automated promotions?
Search and Performance Max campaigns that have location assets attached and no promotion assets of their own. Campaigns that already use promotion assets, and campaign types such as Display, Video and Demand Gen, are not part of this rollout.
How do I turn off automated promotions in Google Ads?
Go to Campaigns, then Assets, set the table view to Association, open the three-dot menu and choose Account-level automated assets. Open the menu again, choose Advanced settings, then Turn off specific automated assets, select automated promotions and save.
How long does an automated promotion show?
Each automated promotion is eligible to serve for less than 24 hours. Google renews it only while the offer is still visible on your website, so removing an expired deal from your site stops it from being renewed.
Where can I see the automated promotions Google created?
In the Assets section of your Google Ads account. A promotion only appears there after it has received impressions, so check the report regularly rather than once.
Can automated promotions show an expired offer?
They can only use offers Google finds on your website, and each one is refreshed within 24 hours. The risk comes from old deals left on your pages. Remove or date ended offers, or turn the feature off and use your own promotion assets.
Should a local service business keep automated promotions on?
Only if your website is the single, current source of your offers. Most home service businesses, salons and realtors are better off turning it off and adding their own promotion assets, so they control the wording, dates and discount.
Add us as a preferred source and Google shows our guides more often in Top Stories and AI answers.
Let’s build what’s next.
Tell us where your brand is headed, and we’ll reply within one business day with where to start.