Hi,

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

The big ones

• Google deleted the 50-conversion learning period figure from its documentation. The help page on learning period duration used to say a bid strategy could take up to 50 conversion events or three conversion cycles to calibrate. It now says only that it typically takes one to two conversion cycles, faster with more data. The number most of us quote in client calls and account audits no longer has a source at Google, so stop citing it as a threshold and talk about conversion cycles instead. Details
• Local Services Ads started hiding the phone number behind a button. Instead of the number showing in the ad, there is now a "Get phone number" button, although on desktop the number still appears when you hover. Expect your call mix to shift: an extra click before the call means fewer accidental calls and probably fewer calls overall. Watch lead volume and cost per lead closely this week, especially with the missed-call billing change that started October 1. Details
• The editorial policy now allows a business name that does not match the destination domain. Three conditions have to hold: the name is your recognised brand, there is a verified direct relationship with the domain owner, and your products or services are actually offered on that domain. Franchisees, brand partners and manufacturers selling through a partner site gain room here. Third-party resellers, independent booking intermediaries, affiliate distributors and secondary sellers are still barred from using the standalone brand name of what they sell. Details
• Microsoft made optimization experiments generally available. A/B tests now run on Search, Shopping, Audience and Performance Max. Microsoft builds a treatment campaign from an eligible control, splits budget and traffic, and shows both on one results page, and a winner can be applied to the original campaign or saved as a new one. If you have been changing Microsoft campaigns without a control, this is the week to start testing properly, before holiday demand makes a clean read impossible. Details
• Loyalty Customer Match expanded to 14 countries and into the Merchant API. India, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea and Spain joined the existing eight. Merchants who do not advertise can now take part, loyalty points and completed orders count as qualifying membership, and loyalty benefits can surface in AI Mode and Gemini. Google also clarified that a free-to-join program cannot require eventual payment, which rules out some free trials. Check your program against that definition before you rely on it. Details
• Promotion mode picked up dates, a Target ROAS tolerance and an extra daily budget. Advertisers in the beta are seeing a promotion start and end date, after which the campaign reverts to its original settings, plus an adjustable Target ROAS tolerance and an optional extra daily budget for the promotion window. That removes the main reason to avoid it, which was having to remember to switch it off. It is still a beta and not in every account. Details
• Google Analytics cross-channel conversion reporting now covers app conversions. App conversions appear in the cross-channel performance and attribution reports, with attribution settings you can set independently from web. Availability varies by property, and cross-channel budgeting stays web-only for now. If you run app campaigns alongside web, your cross-channel numbers will change, so reconcile before you report on the quarter. Details
• Brazil lost fixed quota betting ads, and lottery and horse racing certificates were revoked. Google removed fixed quota betting from the permitted gambling types in Brazil with immediate effect and it is no longer eligible for certification. Advertisers certified for lotteries and horse racing in Brazil have to re-apply. If you run gambling in Brazil, treat this as a live account risk rather than a diary item. Details

Also this week

• Five more Microsoft Advertising changes landed: Microsoft Advertising went live inside HubSpot, LinkedIn company lists grew from 1,000 to 10,000 companies, the October 1 REST-only cutoff was dropped so new API features keep shipping in SOAP until the January 31, 2027 deprecation, the September API release added company list operations and asset group keywords, and the US automotive pricing policy was updated. Details
• Seven Shopping ads policy documents were rewritten. The definitions did not change, but the pages now lead with account-level disapprovals, add a standard bulk appeal workflow, and warn that bulk-appealing a large set of offers risks immediate failure. Details
• Local Services Ads were seen returning advertisers from other states, and Google Ads Liaison said it is working as intended because the results include firms that serve the searched area. Details
• Gemini Omni video generation in Asset Studio is rolling out globally at no extra cost, with scene-by-scene storyboard edits and brand fonts, hex codes and logo rules applied. Details
• Complex speculative financial products now need local registration plus Google certification in Chile and Denmark, with a warning at least seven days before any suspension. Details
• Google Analytics was down for about an hour on the evening of September 29, confirmed and then resolved by Google with no cause given. Details
• ChatGPT Ads added bulk creation of product feed campaigns from a spreadsheet, plus a Products tab showing review status and rejection reasons. Details
• The ChatGPT Ads Insights API can now return attributed conversions other than the campaign's goal, so you can read purchases while optimising for something else. Details

Took effect this week

• Sep 30: Alcohol policy rewritten as a unified global framework effective September 30, 2026. Details
• Sep 30: Campaign-level language targeting removed for Search and AI Max campaigns from late September 2026. Details
• Sep 30: Third-party rates for hotel ads to be retired after September 30, 2026; affected Hotel campaigns stop serving. Details
• Sep 30: pickup_cost and minimum_order_value made mandatory for in-store pickup products in the UK, Switzerland and EEA. Details
• Oct 1: Google Ads opened a six-month US Search pilot allowing some gun accessory ads. Details
• Oct 1: Gambling ads allowed in Slovenia from October 1, 2026 for concession holders. Details
• Oct 1: Local Services Ads to charge for missed calls over 20 seconds and follow-up calls from October 1, 2026. Details
• Oct 1: Max CPC removed for new non-portfolio conversion, value and clicks campaigns from October 1, 2026. Details
• Oct 2: gtm.js snippets to stop honoring gtag('config') commands from October 2, 2026; sites must use gtag.js. Details

Coming up

• Oct 5: Government documents policy to require government-linked proof of authorization from October 5, 2026. Details
• Oct 5: Government documents and services ads limited to authorized providers from October 5, 2026. Details
• Oct 7: Online gambling ads disallowed in Croatia from October 7, 2026; existing certifications revoked. Details
• Oct 7: Google Ads API v22 sunset confirmed for October 7, 2026. Details
• Oct 30: Personalized advertising policy to allow personalized alcohol ads on YouTube where locally permitted. Details

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.