Google Ads will start pulling coupons and deals from your website on October 12. Here is who is affected, how to switch it off, and what to check first.
Google is about to start writing part of your ads for you. From October 12, 2026, some advertisers will have coupons and deals from their own landing pages attached to Search and Performance Max ads automatically, with no setup on their side. According to Search Engine Roundtable, the notice went out by email, and the feature is on by default.
That is fine if your site's offers are accurate and current. It is a problem if you have an expired banner, a sale you are about to end, or a discount that only applies to certain products. Here is what we know, what we do not, and what to do before the 12th.
What Google announced
Automated promotions is an account-level automated asset. Google Ads reads the promotional offers on your landing pages and attaches them to eligible ads, so a "20% off" message on your page can show up as a promotion in the search result. Search Engine Roundtable's earlier report used a sweater sale as the example.
The October 12 date comes from an email Google sent to some advertisers. Not everyone received it, so do not assume your account is excluded just because your inbox is quiet.
Who is affected
Based on the reporting, the feature applies to:
- Search campaigns and Performance Max campaigns
- Campaigns that have linked location assets, including local ad campaigns
- Campaigns that do not already have promotion assets attached
If you already run promotion assets by hand, Google says those campaigns are currently left out. Standard Google Ads policies still apply to whatever the system picks up.
Retailers with physical stores, restaurants, clinics and any local business that pairs location assets with seasonal offers are the obvious group to check. Ecommerce brands running Performance Max with a store feed may also fit if location assets are linked.
How to turn it off
It is opt-out, which means you are enrolled unless you act. Per the October report, go to the account-level automated assets settings, find Automated Promotions and set it to Off.
One caveat. The earlier September write-up did not describe an opt-out at all, and mentioned manual promotion uploads as the way to control what appears. The two reports differ, so check the setting in your own account rather than trusting either one. If the toggle is not visible yet, that is worth noting and checking again after the 12th.
A pre-launch checklist
- Audit your landing pages. Open every page that receives Search or Performance Max traffic and read the offers as a stranger would. Remove anything expired, vague or conditional.
- Check the terms. If a deal only applies to a first order, a minimum spend or one product line, make sure that is stated plainly on the page. Google will be reading it too.
- Decide on or off. If you run strict offer calendars, legal-reviewed discounts or regulated products, turning it off and uploading promotions manually is the safer route.
- Upload your own promotions where it matters. Manual promotion assets give you control over dates and wording. Campaigns with them attached are currently excluded from the automatic version.
- Tag and watch. Note the date in your reporting so a change in click-through rate or conversion rate after October 12 is easy to explain.
Why this may help, and where it can go wrong
Promotion assets add a line of extra text that tells shoppers there is a real saving. For accounts that never got round to setting them up, an automatic version is a free win in principle.
The risk is control. A promotion shown in an ad that does not match the landing page experience creates refunds, support tickets and, in some industries, compliance trouble. Treat the first two weeks as a test. Compare the campaigns where it is live against similar ones without it, and look at conversion rate rather than clicks alone.
Our Google Ads management team usually starts this kind of change on a single campaign before rolling it wider, and the same logic works for PPC management in general.
A second change worth knowing: business names
Also this month, Google posted an editorial policy update on October 1 that loosens its business name requirements. Advertisers may now use a business name that differs from their destination domain, but only in limited cases. All three conditions must be met:
- The name accurately reflects your recognized name or brand
- There is a verified, direct relationship between you and the domain owner
- Your products or services are offered directly on that domain
Third-party resellers, independent booking intermediaries, affiliate distributors and secondary sellers do not qualify. If you run a brand whose domain was never an exact match for its name, this may remove an annoying approval problem. If you are a reseller, nothing changes in your favour.
Key takeaways
- Automated promotions begin October 12 for eligible Search and Performance Max campaigns with linked location assets.
- It is on by default. Check the automated assets settings in your account and decide before the date.
- Fix or remove outdated offers on your landing pages today, whatever you decide.
- Test on a few campaigns first and judge by conversion rate.
- The business name policy change helps genuine brands with mismatched domains, not resellers.
If you would like a second pair of eyes on your account settings before the 12th, a Digital Marketing Audit will flag these automated assets along with anything else quietly changing your ads. Or simply get a free quote and tell us what you are running.
John Doe
Supreb Information. Thanks
15 July 2014 View replies . 1