Changes to Smart Bidding and New Performance Max Features. SEM News #1, October 2026

Google has updated its guidelines on how long Smart Bidding strategies need to adapt to changes in campaigns.

Previously, Google indicated that the learning process could take up to 3 weeks or 1-2 conversion cycles. According to the updated guidelines, the calibration process may require approximately 50 conversions or 3 conversion cycles. However, the actual time depends on conversion volume, the length of the customer journey, and the amount of historical data available.

What Does This Mean for You?

The updated guidelines help Marketing Managers better assess when a campaign needs more time to stabilize its performance. This is particularly important for campaigns generating relatively few conversions, where frequent changes to bidding strategies should be avoided. Before drawing conclusions, it is also worth considering the length of the conversion cycle.

Google Ads is testing a new feature designed to help advertisers capitalize on periods of increased demand, such as sales events and seasonal promotions.

The new mode allows advertisers to temporarily adjust their target ROAS more flexibly and optionally allocate an additional daily budget. This enables the system to pursue more sales opportunities, even if it means accepting lower profitability than normally expected.

Once the promotional period ends, the campaign automatically returns to its previous settings. The feature is currently being tested in both Performance Max and Search campaigns.

What Does This Mean for You?

This could be a useful solution for Marketing Managers running e-commerce campaigns who want to increase sales during short promotional periods without manually adjusting campaign settings. However, it is important to monitor the efficiency of additional ad spend, as higher sales volumes may come at the expense of a lower ROAS.

A new option has been spotted in Google Ads that allows advertisers to upload up to 15 ready-made banner creatives in standard Display ad sizes, such as 300×250, 336×280, and 580×400 pixels, to Performance Max campaigns.

Until now, advertisers have primarily uploaded individual image assets, which Google automatically combined and adapted into ads across different formats.

The new option may signal a move toward allowing fully designed banner ads in Performance Max campaigns. However, it is not yet clear how widely the feature will be rolled out.

What Does This Mean for You?

This change could give advertisers greater control over how their ads appear across the Google Display Network. It is particularly relevant for brands that want to maintain a consistent visual identity and have more control over the placement of text, products, and graphic elements within their ad creatives.