Google Ads Adds AI Max Copy Previews and Four New Report Columns

Google Ads now lets advertisers see up to 10 sample headlines and descriptions written by Google AI before they switch on text customization in an AI Max for Search campaign. According to the Google Ads Help page on text customization, the previews load from the final URL you enter, mostly appear in under 30 seconds, and do not require you to opt in first. Separately, Search Engine Roundtable reported on 8 October 2026 that four new AI Max-related columns have appeared in Google Ads reporting: Brand inclusions, Locations of interest, Commission and Optimized targeting.

What Google added to text customization

Text customization is the AI Max setting that used to be called automatically created assets. When it is on, Google generates extra headlines and descriptions for responsive search ads, using your domain, your landing page, your existing ads and the keywords in the ad group as inputs. Google's help page describes the method as a mix of "light-touch" extraction (pulling snippets from page titles, descriptions and meta tags) and generative AI grounded in landing page content.

PPC News Feed, which spotted the change, said the feature addresses the concern of not knowing beforehand what the AI will generate. Google's page still tells advertisers to monitor ad content for accuracy in the ad-level asset report after turning text customization on, so the preview adds a check before that point rather than replacing the one after it.

The new section of the help page, titled "Text customization asset previews", changes the order. Google says you can use the previews "to see whether generated text assets conform to your defined brand and text guidelines before you opt in to text customization or launch a new campaign."

How the preview works, step by step

The help page lays out the behaviour in a few specific rules:

• Where it appears: in the "Asset optimization" section while you create an AI Max campaign. Google also says you can view generated previews when editing existing campaigns.
• What triggers it: once a final landing page URL is provided, Google AI automatically generates "a representative sample of up to 10 example assets" covering headlines and descriptions.
• No opt-in needed: the page states plainly that you do not need to opt in to text customization to view these examples.
• Missing URL: if no final URL is prefilled, you see a blank field, enter a URL and select "Preview examples" to load the sample.
• Guidelines filter the sample: if you have defined text guidelines such as words to exclude or themes to avoid, the preview panel filters the generated assets to match. If the rules are so tight that every candidate is blocked, Google prompts you to adjust or remove rules.

Speed, languages and category limits

Google says asset examples are "mostly generated in under 30 seconds". They are available in all languages supported by text customization, and the page names English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Japanese and Dutch as examples. Previews work for almost all standard business categories, with adult content named as the exception.

The facts in one table

The table below collects the specific details Google and Search Engine Roundtable published, so you can check them against your own account.

Why the preview matters after the September 2026 auto-upgrade

The same help page notes that starting in September 2026, campaigns using text customization, formerly known as automatically created assets, will automatically be upgraded to AI Max. So Search campaigns that already used text customization move into AI Max without their owners making a separate choice, and text customization comes with them.

That raises the stakes on copy control. Google states that generated assets are reviewed and refreshed as needed at least every 48 hours, and that if your landing page changes, assets will be refreshed within 48 hours. Google also says customized text assets only serve if they are predicted to perform better than the headlines and descriptions you uploaded. Those are reassuring rules, but they describe what Google does after the setting is on. A preview gives you a look before that point.

There is also a dependency worth knowing. Google's page says Final URL Expansion requires text customization to be turned on, because a newly selected URL may make your own assets irrelevant. If you plan to use Final URL Expansion, the copy question comes with it, and the preview is now the cheapest place to answer it.

What the preview is, and what it is not

Google calls the output "a representative sample". That wording matters. Text customization generates assets periodically, reacts to queries you could not anticipate, and refreshes as landing pages change. A sample of up to 10 assets generated from one URL at one moment shows the style and the kind of claims the system is likely to make. It does not promise that these exact lines are the ones that will serve, and the help page does not say they will be.

So treat the preview as a fit test. If the sample invents a discount, uses a tone your brand would never use, or mentions a product you do not sell on that page, you have learned something useful about your landing page or your guidelines before any spend goes out.

The four new AI Max report columns

The second half of this news comes from a different source. Search Engine Roundtable reported on 8 October 2026 that Google Ads is adding new AI Max-related columns to its reporting console. The report says the columns were spotted by Vivek Gupta, who posted about them on LinkedIn, and shows a screenshot listing the four new options as Brand inclusions, Locations of interest, Commission and Optimized targeting.

Google's text customization help page does not mention these columns, and the Search Engine Roundtable report does not define what each column measures. Two of the names, Brand inclusions and Locations of interest, match controls that already exist in AI Max, so one likely use is auditing those settings across many campaigns in one table. That last point is a reasonable reading of the names, not something Google has documented.

If you manage many Search campaigns that were upgraded in September, check whether the columns appear in your own account before building any reporting around them. Neither source gives a rollout schedule.

What to check in your own Google Ads account

Here is a practical checklist built only from what the help page describes:

1. Open an AI Max campaign draft or an existing Search campaign and look for the "Asset optimization" section. If you see sample assets, or a URL field with a "Preview examples" button, the feature is live for you.
2. Preview against your most important landing pages first. Google says its AI relies heavily on website content as source material and asks you to keep landing page titles, descriptions and meta tags up to date, so weak or outdated pages may show up as weak sample copy.
3. Read every sample line for claims. Look for prices, guarantees, delivery promises and superlatives that your legal or brand team would reject.
4. Set text guidelines if you have access to the pilot. Google describes text guidelines as a test that lets you exclude terms, define tone of voice and avoid concepts. The preview panel then filters samples against those rules.
5. Fix the landing page first. Google's own best practice is to keep landing page content accurate and current, since that content is the source material.
6. Keep your own headlines and descriptions. Google advises keeping advertiser-written assets, which serve in combination with generated ones.
7. After opting in, watch the reports. Google points to the ad-level asset report for responsive search ads and the "Added by" column for measuring generated assets.

For teams that want help setting up AI Max controls and reviewing generated copy, our Google Ads management service covers campaign audits and asset reviews, and our content marketing team can tighten the landing page copy that text customization draws from.

What Google did not say

A few details are missing from the published sources, and it is better to name them than to guess:

• No rollout date. The help page describes the feature but gives no launch date or rollout schedule.
• No account eligibility list. Beyond the adult content exclusion, Google does not say which accounts or regions see previews first.
• No definition of the new columns. Search Engine Roundtable lists the four column names from a screenshot; neither Google nor the report explains the metrics behind them.
• No serving guarantee. The page calls the preview a representative sample and does not say that previewed lines will be the ones served.

What this means for Thai marketers

For advertisers running Thai-language Search campaigns, the language question comes first. The help page gives two statements that need to be read together. In one place it says text customization supports all languages in Google Ads. In the preview section it says asset examples are available in all languages supported by text customization, "including" English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Japanese and Dutch. Thai is not in that example list, so the page does not explicitly confirm Thai previews. The sensible step is to test a Thai landing page URL in your own account and see whether samples load.

The rest of this section is our analysis, not Google's. If your brand runs a bilingual site, with Thai and English versions of the same page, note that because text customization builds from the landing page, a preview run against each version can show whether the generated copy follows the right language and the right claims for each audience. That is a quick test and costs nothing, since no opt-in is required.

Many Thai categories also carry strict advertising rules, for example health products, financial services and alcohol. In those cases the preview is a useful first filter, but it does not replace a proper compliance review. Generated copy that looks fine in a 10-line sample can still vary once the system responds to live queries.

Finally, the auto-upgrade to AI Max, which Google says starts in September 2026, covers campaigns that already used text customization. If your Thai account used automatically created assets before, check which campaigns moved to AI Max and preview their copy now, rather than waiting for the asset report to show you what has already served.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to turn on text customization to see the previews?

No, you do not need to opt in to text customization to view the asset examples. Google's help page says the samples generate automatically once you provide a final landing page URL in the "Asset optimization" section of an AI Max campaign, and you can also view previews when editing existing campaigns.

How many example assets does Google show?

Google shows up to 10 example assets, covering headlines and descriptions. The help page calls this a representative sample and says the examples are mostly generated in under 30 seconds.

Does the preview work for Thai-language campaigns?

The help page does not explicitly confirm Thai. It says previews are available in all languages supported by text customization and lists English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Japanese and Dutch as examples, so test a Thai landing page in your own account to confirm.

What are the four new AI Max columns?

The four columns are Brand inclusions, Locations of interest, Commission and Optimized targeting, as reported by Search Engine Roundtable on 8 October 2026 with the columns spotted by Vivek Gupta on LinkedIn. Neither Google nor the report has published definitions of the metrics behind each column.

Will the previewed headlines be the exact ones that serve?

Google does not promise that. The help page describes the preview as a representative sample, and it says generated assets are refreshed at least every 48 hours and only serve when predicted to beat your own assets.

The bottom line

Asset previews give advertisers a look at AI Max copy before they commit to text customization. The four new report columns, if they reach your account, should make it easier to audit AI Max settings across many campaigns. Neither change removes the need to review landing pages and generated copy with care. If you would like a second pair of eyes on your AI Max setup, talk to our Google Ads team in Bangkok.