ShortsOpenAI pays for crawler hints as Google Ads changes targeting

OpenAI pays for crawler change hints

• Cloudflare’s CEO says OpenAI pays for hints that tell its crawler when pages change.
• Cloudflare’s CEO says sites may charge agents less when they explain their visits.

Why it matters: Teams managing websites should consider how crawler information and agent charges could affect AI access.

Sources: Search Engine Journal

Google Ads drops Search language targeting

• Google Ads has dropped language targeting from Search campaigns.
• Performance Max keeps the setting only for YouTube, Display, Discover and Gmail.
• Google Ads Editor still shows the setting in one account.

Why it matters: Advertisers should review campaign settings and monitor who sees their Search ads.

Sources: PPC Land

Performance Max may leave brand searches to Search

• Navigational and brand queries may be left to dedicated Search campaigns rather than Performance Max.
• It is unclear who would serve those queries when an advertiser has no brand campaign.

Why it matters: Advertisers should review their brand Search coverage before relying on Performance Max for those queries.

Sources: PPC Land

Search and Shopping set to gain channel reporting

• Google Ads Search and Shopping campaigns are set to gain channel reporting in 2027.
• Performance Max reports now use seven channels.
• YouTube search results count as YouTube rather than Search partners in Performance Max reports.

Why it matters: Teams should prepare to interpret Search and Shopping performance using the new channel breakdown.

Sources: PPC Land

Google sets a Performance Max conversion benchmark

• Google ties consistent Performance Max spend to 15 conversions every 30 days.
• Google already sets the same benchmark for Search Target ROAS bidding.
• The page does not specify which conversions count or at what level.

Why it matters: Low-volume advertisers should compare conversion volume with the benchmark when assessing Performance Max spend.

Sources: PPC Land

Manual CPC gains new-customer-only bidding

• Google Ads Manual CPC campaigns have gained new-customer-only bidding.
• Advertisers need a customer list to define new buyers, and Google warns that existing customers may still see ads.
• The scope of the rollout is unconfirmed.

Why it matters: Manual CPC advertisers can check whether the option is available and whether their customer lists support it.

Sources: PPC Land

How this brief is made

Every morning we read the public feeds of Google, OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta and three search and ads trade outlets, and keep the stories that change what search, AI-visibility and ads teams do. Each thesis is written from the linked source; vendor claims are the vendor's.