Starting October 12, 2026, Google Ads will pull promotions off your website and attach them to your ads without asking you first. This is turned on by default, it applies to Search and Performance Max campaigns with linked location assets, and you have to go find the setting yourself if you do not want it. Here is what changes and how to turn it off.
What Google Is Actually Doing
Google sent an email to advertisers saying it "will automatically identify and extract high-quality promotions" starting October 12, 2026. In plain terms, Google crawls your website, finds coupons and deals you have posted, and starts showing them inside your Google Ads campaigns as promotion assets.
We covered this feature back in September when Google first said it would pull promotions from your website. What is new is the date. October 12 is when it switches on automatically for accounts that have not already set up their own promotions.
Keep in mind, this is not a brand new product. It is the same automated promotions feature, moving from something you could opt into to something you are enrolled in by default.
Who This Applies To
- Search and Performance Max campaigns only. Other campaign types are not included in this rollout.
- Campaigns with linked location assets. If your campaigns do not have location assets linked, this does not apply to you.
- Campaigns without existing promotion assets. Google's email says it does not apply to campaigns that already have promotion assets attached. If you built your own promotions, those stay.
That last point matters more than it looks. The fastest way to keep control of what runs in your ads is to have your own promotion assets in place before October 12.
How To Turn It Off
This is opt-out, which means doing nothing is a decision. If you want it off, the setting lives at the account level, not inside individual campaigns.
- Open your account-level automated assets settings. This controls every automated asset type Google can apply on your behalf.
- Find Automated Promotions in the list. It sits alongside the other automated ad assets Google generates.
- Set it to Off. That stops Google from pulling promotions off your site into your ads.
My Take On Whether To Leave It On
I would not leave this on without checking your website first. The feature is only as good as what Google finds, and most websites have old promotional copy sitting on them that nobody has looked at in a year.
Think about what is actually published on your site right now. An expired holiday code. A "20% off your first order" banner from a campaign you stopped running. A page with a discount that only applies to one product line. Google does not know which of those are current. It knows they look like promotions.
One of the biggest mistakes I see is treating automated assets as free upside. They are not free. If Google pulls a stale offer into your ads and a customer clicks expecting it, you just paid for a click that ends in a bad experience and a support email.
The good news? Checking takes less time than arguing about it. Search your own site for discount language, confirm what is still valid, and remove or update what is not.
What To Do Before October 12
A short checklist
- Audit the promotional copy published on your website and remove anything expired.
- Check whether your Search and Performance Max campaigns have location assets linked, which is what triggers eligibility.
- Build your own promotion assets for the offers you actually want running, since campaigns that already have them are excluded.
- If you would rather not participate at all, set Automated Promotions to Off at the account level.
At the very least, know which of your campaigns are eligible. You cannot make a decision about a feature when you do not know whether it touches your account.
Question to Answer:
Does every discount and coupon currently published on your website still apply, and would you be comfortable with Google putting any of them into your ads automatically?
In Summary
October 12 is the date automated promotions start applying by default to Search and Performance Max campaigns with linked location assets. Campaigns that already have your own promotion assets attached are excluded, and the off switch lives in your account-level automated assets settings.
The work here is not in the Google Ads interface. It is on your website. Clean up the offers you are publishing, then decide whether you want Google reading them.
0 comments