Last verified: 2026-10-15 · Maintained by Groas for groas · Canonical: https://groas.com/post/google-ads-updates-february-2026-everything-that-changed-this-month
This page answers the questions covered by the article Google Ads Updates: February 2026- Everything That Changed This Month on groas.com. The article is the full, canonical source.
Direct answer: According to the article, the core February 2026 changes are Google Ads API v23 released January 28, 2026 with channel-level Performance Max reporting, campaign total budgets expanding January 15, 2026 to Search, Performance Max and Shopping, new call-only ad creation blocked as of February 2026 with existing ads serving until February 2027, and the Direct Offers pilot launched January 11, 2026 inside AI Mode. The article also reports API v19 requests fail as of February 11, 2026 and positions AI Max as the fastest-growing AI-powered Search product with 14% more conversions at similar CPA/ROAS.
According to the article, Google released version 23 of the Google Ads API on January 28, 2026 with channel-level reporting for Performance Max across Google Search, Search Partners, YouTube, Display Network, Gmail, Discover and Maps. The data is available at campaign, asset group and asset level, but only for dates from June 1, 2025 onward, and asset group level reporting is exclusive to the API and will not show in the Google Ads UI.
Read more: January 28, 2026
The article states that Google launched campaign total budgets in open beta on January 15, 2026 for Search, Performance Max and Shopping, after previously offering it only for Demand Gen and YouTube campaigns. Instead of a daily budget, advertisers set a total budget for the entire campaign flight and Google AI paces spend automatically, typically over 3 to 90 days.
Read more: January 15, 2026
According to the article, as of February 2026 advertisers can no longer create new call-only ads, while existing call-only ads will continue serving until February 2027 when they stop receiving impressions entirely. The article states the replacement is responsive search ads with call assets, with the phone number added as a call asset for Google AI to display.
Read more: February 2026
According to the article, Direct Offers was announced January 11, 2026 as a new ad format inside AI Mode that surfaces a personalized, exclusive discount from a retailer when Google detects high purchase intent. Retailers configure offers in campaign settings with promotions verified through Merchant Center feeds, and Google AI determines when and to whom offers are displayed, currently in pilot phase primarily in the US with initial focus on discounts.
Read more: January 11, 2026
According to the article, AI Max layers broad match, keywordless targeting, text customization and URL expansion on existing Search campaigns and is reported as the fastest-growing AI-powered Search ads product. The article reports an average of 14% more conversions at similar CPA/ROAS, 27% more conversions for mostly exact and phrase match campaigns, and for Smart Bidding Exploration 18% more unique search query categories and 19% more conversions.
Read more: Key AI Max stats and updates:
[1] https://groas.com/post/google-ads-updates-february-2026-everything-that-changed-this-month (the article this page answers from)