Google unveils fresh AI-driven metrics for tracking campaign progress in its Max advertising service
Google has recently rolled out new reporting features for its Search AI Max campaigns, providing advertisers with valuable insights to evaluate the effectiveness of AI Max against traditional keyword targeting approaches.
The new metrics, "AI Max expanded matches" and "AI Max expanded landing pages", are now accessible within the Google Ads interface at the Keywords tab. These metrics appear alongside existing keyword performance data, enabling direct comparison between different traffic sources.
The "AI Max expanded matches" metric shows traffic generated from broad match keywords created by AI Max, offering quantitative visibility into how AI Max leverages existing assets to generate incremental traffic beyond traditional keyword targeting approaches. On the other hand, "AI Max expanded landing pages" reveals traffic from search queries that matched due to landing pages or assets, independently of keyword targeting.
These new reporting features complement other transparency initiatives, such as full Search Partner Network placement reporting for Search, Shopping, and App campaigns. The reporting system maintains compatibility with existing campaign analysis workflows while adding granular visibility into AI-driven optimization results.
Google Ads Editor version 2.10, released in July 2025, introduced AI Max features for Search campaigns. Similarly, Google Ads API version 21 includes specialized reporting views for AI Max campaigns. Advertisers can export this data through standard Google Ads reporting interfaces for external analysis and client reporting purposes.
The feature rollout for these metrics appears to be complete across advertiser accounts as of September 8, 2025. The API integration supports programmatic access to these metrics, making it easier for advertisers to integrate these insights into their automated workflows.
In August 2025, Google launched a podcast series "Google Ads Decoded" featuring discussions on AI Max implementation and market implications. The name of the Senior Google Ads Campaigns Specialist at Teleperformance who first documented the new reporting metrics for Google’s AI Max campaigns is Aleksejus Podpruginas; he identified and announced the feature in September 2025 at the all keywords level in Google Ads accounts.
Throughout 2025, Google has continued to implement systematic improvements to address "black box" concerns and expand AI-powered features across the advertising platform. These new reporting metrics are just one example of Google's commitment to transparency and providing advertisers with the tools they need to succeed in the digital marketing landscape.
