google search ads 2026: match types, negatives, languages and the move to ai max

search still works in india, but the controls moved. match types mean intent, languages follow your ad and page, dsa is folding into ai max, and negatives and brand exclusions are now the main way to say no.

this is the hands-on companion to our pillar on ai max for search campaigns in india. the pillar covers what to keep, change and switch off. this guide covers how to run google search ads in 2026 for indian businesses, campaign by campaign: migration, match types, negatives, languages and the new ai placements.

• google announced on 15 april 2026 that dynamic search ads, automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match would move into ai max (google). the automatic dsa upgrade was later pushed to february 2027 (search engine land).
• exact match now covers searches with the same meaning or intent as your keyword, not just the same words (google ads help).
• negative keywords don't expand to close variants, so you still add plurals and synonyms yourself (google ads help).
• google lists india among the markets where ads can show in ai overviews, in english (google ads help). we found no google announcement of ai mode ads in india.

google search ads 2026: what changed for indian businesses?

google search ads in 2026 changed in four places: dsa and automatically created assets moved into ai max, campaign-level language targeting was removed, match types shifted further towards intent, and ads started showing inside ai overviews in india. your keywords still matter, but your pages, negatives and conversion data now do more of the steering.

most indian accounts we audit were built for the old rules: one campaign per language, a dsa campaign catching leftovers, exact match for control. each habit now behaves differently.

if "ai max" appeared on campaigns you never touched, the september wave is why.

dynamic search ads and ai max: how to migrate an indian account step by step

upgrade dynamic search ads to ai max yourself, before the february 2027 auto-upgrade. google's upgrade tool turns dynamic ad groups into standard ad groups with search term matching, text customisation and final url expansion switched on, and keeps the history. doing it early lets you choose settings, page exclusions and a review window instead of inheriting defaults.

google says dsa users get in-product tools to carry settings and data into standard ad groups, and that campaigns upgraded later will be switched automatically (google). ai max isn't a new campaign type, so campaign ids and history stay where they are.

in indian accounts, dsa was often the campaign nobody owned. it ran on the whole site, picked up blog and careers traffic, and got judged on blended cost per lead. migration is the moment to decide what it is for.

dsa to ai max migration checklist

• export 90 days of dsa search terms first, as a baseline for queries, cost and leads by page.
• list the pages that earned leads. they become your final urls; the rest are candidates for exclusion.
• group by offer, not by page feed. one ad group per service, project or course, each with a handful of keywords that describe it.
• add url exclusions for blog, careers, login, pricing-only and policy pages, so final url expansion can't send paid clicks there.
• move your dsa negatives across and attach your shared negative keyword lists to the upgraded campaign.
• check bidding. google says manual cpc limits what ai max can do and recommends conversion-based bidding (google ads help).
• review text customisation for regulated claims, prices and expiring offers.
• wait two weeks before judging. google advises at least two weeks after enabling ai max before adding negatives (google ads help).
• judge on cost per qualified lead from your crm, not on clicks or form fills.

google ads match types 2026: what do exact, phrase and broad mean now?

google ads match types in 2026 describe meaning, not words. exact match covers searches with the same meaning or intent as your keyword. phrase match covers searches that include its meaning. broad match covers related searches and is google's default. ai max adds keywordless matching on top, using your landing pages and ads.

those are google's own definitions (google ads help). broader types catch everything the narrower ones do, plus more.

so "[flats in kondapur]" in exact match can now show for "kondapur apartments for sale". match type is a dial, not a lock.

when a search is identical to one of your exact keywords, that keyword is still preferred over broad or keywordless matches, as described by adalysis. so keep exact keywords for the terms you most want to own.

negative keywords in google ads: how do you control search terms under ai max?

negative keywords in google ads still work under ai max, and they're now your main way to say no. google says ai max respects them. use campaign negatives for single campaigns, shared lists for themes like jobs and free, account-level negatives for brand safety, and brand exclusions to keep competitor and reseller names out.

google's ai max faq confirms negatives are respected with ai max on (google ads help). unlike keywords, they don't expand to close variants, so "flat" doesn't block "flats" (google ads help).

brand exclusions are the newer tool. they're set at campaign level. google says brand lists use broad match to catch the brand in multiple languages and spellings, and that exclusions take priority over inclusions (google ads help). that matters in india, where one brand gets typed in english, hindi and romanised forms.

limits are from google ads help, checked on 27 october 2026.

a weekly search terms routine

• split ai max matches out. google's reporting separates ai max expanded matches from landing page matches (google ads help).
• add negatives in the narrowest match that blocks the bad query.
• add plural, singular and hindi or telugu spellings of each negative yourself.
• check new negatives against brand lists, because a clash can cut performance.

google ads language targeting removed: how to run telugu, hindi and english search ads

with google ads language targeting removed, google decides language from the search, your ad text, your landing page and what it knows about the user. so structure by language inside one campaign: separate ad groups, keywords in the script people type, ads in the same language and a landing page in that language.

google said the setting would stop applying to search and ai max from late september 2026, with no replacement (search engine land). language settings still apply to the youtube, display, discover and gmail parts of performance max, as reported by techwyse.

the pillar gave a short checklist. here is the structure we plan for a three-language campaign.

romanised searches are where google guesses most: latin script, but not english. give each its own ad group so its costs stay readable.

our marut drones campaigns ran on meta and google across 13 states, with state-specific creative and forms. that page-level language work is what does the job of the old setting now. the same rules for one page per offer and language are in our guide to landing pages for lead generation.

ads in ai overviews and ai mode: what is live in india as of october 2026?

ads in ai overviews are live in india, in english, on mobile and desktop, according to google's help page. they need broad match or keywordless targeting from ai max, performance max, shopping or dsa. ads in ai mode are a separate test, and we found no google announcement that they run in india as of october 2026.

google's help page lists india alongside australia, canada, indonesia, kenya, malaysia, new zealand, nigeria, pakistan, the philippines, singapore and the us (google ads help). you can't buy the placement on its own; it serves from existing campaigns.

the same page lists sensitive categories, such as finance and healthcare, where these ads don't show. that list has been changing, as reported by search engine roundtable, so bfsi and health advertisers should check it before planning around the placement.

hindi and telugu searches aren't covered, since the placement is english only, so keep those ad groups separate in reporting.

how should an indian lead-gen advertiser structure a search account in 2026?

structure a 2026 search account around offers, not match types or languages. keep brand separate and tightly fenced, give each core offer its own campaign with language ad groups, run ai max only where conversions are steady, and share one set of negative lists and brand exclusions across the account.

illustrative example, not a client account: a hyderabad real estate developer with two projects.

• campaign 1, brand: exact and phrase brand terms, ai max search term matching off, final url expansion off. brand exclusions on every other campaign so they don't take credit for brand searches.
• campaign 2, project a: ad groups for english, telugu and hindi, each with its own keywords, ads and page. ai max on only in the english ad group at first, with url exclusions for the other project's pages.
• campaign 3, project b: same layout, with its own budget so each project reads on its own numbers.
• campaign 4, upgraded dsa, now ai max: limited to project pages with url rules. used to find new queries, not as a catch-all.
• shared lists: jobs and careers, rent and pg, free and diy, other cities, competitor names. attached to every non-brand campaign.
• account-level negatives: terms you never want near the brand.
• conversions: qualified lead and site visit imported from the crm as primary goals, form fills as secondary.

our facebook ads cost guide shows the cost per qualified lead arithmetic, which applies to search too.

for lodha developers, 45 flats were sold with sales 100% attributed to digital, because every lead was tracked back to source. that tracking is what lets a search account learn. for one real estate developer, average time-to-lead was 18 days, so judge property search on a month of data.

who wrote this, how and why

who: puneetraj chavan, founder of rapchik media, with 8+ years running performance marketing and automation for 30+ brands across india and the us.

how: product changes, definitions and limits come from google ads help and google's blog, with trade press where google's own page wasn't available, all checked on 27 october 2026. platform-reported figures were not independently audited. client results come from rapchik case studies. the account structure is an illustrative example.

why: indian advertisers kept asking how to actually run search after the ai max and language changes, and most guides answer for one english-language us market.

• google ads help: keyword matching options · negative keywords · negative keyword lists · brand settings · ads and ai overviews
• ai max: google: dsa upgrading to ai max · google ads help: ai max faq · google ads help: ai max reporting · search engine land: dsa delayed to february 2027
• language and ai overviews: search engine land: language targeting removed · ppc land: ai overview ads expand

want your search account rebuilt for ai max? see our performance marketing services or talk to us.

found this useful? share it

written by puneetraj chavan

founder of rapchik media. 8+ years scaling 30+ brands across india and the us, from agri-drones to a us job portal. strategy and execution, same brain.

more about me →

want this on your brand?talk to puneetraj on whatsapp reply within 24h →