Hi,

Twenty changes were logged across Google Ads, Merchant Center, Microsoft Ads and ChatGPT Ads this week. Here is what matters most.

The big ones

• Google removed free product listings across the EEA (High impact). Over about two days, free product listings and popular-product carousels disappeared from Search results in every EEA country, with trackers showing 90 to 100 percent drops. Google's Ads Liaison confirmed it follows Digital Markets Act requirements. If you sell in Europe, expect that traffic to shift to paid Shopping or to comparison shopping services. Details
• The target-based bidding change is fully live. Google confirmed the rewrite of Target CPA and Target ROAS for budget-limited campaigns finished rolling out globally on August 27. Campaigns that used to beat their target now trend toward it. If you relied on overperformance, tighten your targets. Details
• OpenAI launched Sponsored Agents in ChatGPT. Clicking the ad opens a labeled conversation with the brand's agent inside ChatGPT instead of sending people to your site. Limited alpha with Wayfair, Best Buy, Lowe's and others. The same announcement added Shopify and HubSpot integrations for conversion data. Details
• Asset Studio can now dub your video ads into 33 languages. Limited rollout, reported as free for accounts that have it. No reshoot needed. Details
• Product Value Optimization beta. Set value adjustments per product or product attribute so Shopping and Performance Max bidding leans toward the products you care about. Details
• Performance Max asks where clicks should land. A new setting offers your website or a Google-hosted page built from your Business Profile with built-in conversion measurement. Check this on new campaigns. Details
• Spend benchmarks now compare you with similar businesses. The Overview report shows whether you spend more, less or about the same as competitors and what each side got for it. Details
• AI Mode tested text-link ads that read like part of the answer. Plain anchor-text links under a single Sponsored label, on desktop and mobile. Details

Also this week

• Google published full documentation for multi-source conversions (beta), which link a website conversion action to CRM or order data through Data Manager. Details
• Demand Gen and Discovery ad reviews are now documented as taking 3 to 5 business days. Details
• Business Agent entered beta inside YouTube ads for select US retailers. Details
• Gambling ads allowed in Slovenia from October 1 for concession holders. Details
• Merchant Center: store ratings need roughly 100 reviews at 3.5 stars from the last 24 months; product reviews can be submitted through the Merchant API; adult products must be labeled in feeds or markup to stay in Shopping; the UCP hub added cart transfer, native checkout on Google and identity linking. Merchant Center changes
• Microsoft Ads: renaming a Merchant Center store no longer pauses Shopping ads; the Customer Match CDP partner list doubled to about 20 with Adobe and Amperity; new rules for AI-generated and synthetic content in ads. Microsoft Ads changes

Took effect this week

• Sep 14: 'Good policy health' certification required across all gambling and games categories. Details
• Sep 15: Financial services verification enforced in 13 more EEA countries. Details
• Sep 17: Free product listings removed across the EEA. Details

Coming up

• Sep 23: New Smart Campaigns can no longer be created via the Google Ads API. Details
• Sep 30: Unified global alcohol policy takes effect. Details
• Sep 30: Campaign-level language targeting removed for Search and AI Max. Details
• Sep 30: Third-party rates for hotel ads retired; affected Hotel campaigns stop serving. Details
• Sep 30: pickup_cost and minimum_order_value mandatory for in-store pickup products in the UK, Switzerland and EEA. Details
• Oct 1: Local Services Ads start charging for missed calls over 20 seconds and follow-up calls. Details
• Oct 1: Microsoft Ads removes Max CPC for new non-portfolio conversion, value and clicks campaigns. Details
• Oct 2: gtm.js snippets stop honoring gtag('config') commands; sites must use gtag.js. Details
• Oct 5: Government documents and services ads limited to authorized providers. Details
• Oct 7: Google Ads API v22 sunset; online gambling ads disallowed in Croatia. API v22 · Croatia

See every change with filters, sources and effective dates at https://gadschangehistory.com. Reply to this email if you spot something we missed.

From Google Ads Change History by Brandon Mangan. Not affiliated with Google.