Reports for AI Max for Search campaigns

AI Max for Search campaigns offers several reporting views, each with a different level of granularity and focus.

Reporting views

The following reporting views help you analyze AI Max for Search campaigns performance:

Dedicated view: ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view

ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view (AiMaxSearchTermAdCombinationView) is the most granular report available for AI Max for Search campaigns. It shows the exact combination of user intent (the search term) and dynamic assets (headline and landing page) that the system used for the expansion.

  • Key fields:
    • search_term: The query the user entered.
    • landing_page: The specific (often dynamically selected) URL the user was sent to.
    • headline: The concatenated headline assets used in the ad.
    • segments.date: The only segment selectable when querying ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view directly. (To segment vertical ad performance by segments.ad_format_type, segments.vertical_ads_listing_user_rating, or segments.vertical_ads_listing_venue, query ad_group, campaign, or customer instead.)
  • Usage: Best for auditing the relevance of AI-driven matches and seeing which "ad recipes" are converting.

Search term attribution: search_term_view

To isolate the impact of AI Max for Search campaigns, use the standard search term report search_term_view (SearchTermView) and filter on segments.search_term_match_source.

  • AI_MAX_KEYWORDLESS: Matches derived from your website content or landing pages, requiring no keyword.
  • AI_MAX_BROAD_MATCH: Matches that expanded upon your existing keywords using AI-driven broad match logic.
  • VERTICAL_ADS_DATA_FEED: Matches derived from a linked vertical data feed (such as Hotels, Flights, Rental Cars, or Things to Do).

Expanded landing page view: expanded_landing_page_view

Use expanded_landing_page_view (ExpandedLandingPageView) to identify URLs favored by AI Max for Search campaigns expansion. While expanded_landing_page_view aggregates performance by expanded_final_url, it does not expose an asset reference.

  • Filter: campaign.ai_max_setting.enable_ai_max = TRUE
  • Field: expanded_landing_page_view.expanded_final_url

Final URL expansion asset view: final_url_expansion_asset_view

Use final_url_expansion_asset_view (FinalUrlExpansionAssetView) to measure asset-level performance for text customization assets served with Final URL expansion:

  • Key fields: final_url_expansion_asset_view.asset, field_type, final_url, status, and ad_group (or asset_group)
  • Attributed resources: campaign, ad_group, asset, and asset_group

Location of interest view: matched_location_interest_view

Use matched_location_interest_view (MatchedLocationInterestView) to analyze performance segmented by the geographical locations of interest matched by AI Max for Search campaigns at the ad group level. Data is aggregated at the country level by default (encoded in matched_location_interest_view.resource_name as customers/{customer_id}/matchedLocationInterestViews/{country_criterion_id}).

  • Attributed and segmenting resources: customer (attributed), campaign (segmenting), and ad_group (segmenting)
  • Supported geographical and network segments: segments.geo_target_city, segments.geo_target_region, segments.geo_target_state, segments.geo_target_metro, segments.geo_target_most_specific_location, and segments.ad_network_type

How to interpret the reports

When analyzing these reports, focus on the following three signals:

  • Incremental volume (expansion efficiency): Compare metrics for AI_MAX_KEYWORDLESS with ADVERTISER_PROVIDED_KEYWORD. If the conversion rate (CVR) for Keywordless is comparable to your keywords but at a lower Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), the AI is successfully finding cost-effective incremental reach that your manual keyword list missed.
  • Match intent versus asset relevance: In the ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view, examine the headline items. Because these headlines are often concatenated or selected by AI, a mismatch between the search_term and the headline indicates where you may need to provide more diverse or relevant assets to the campaign.
  • Landing page performance: If certain landing_page URLs in the report have high bounce rates or low conversions, it may indicate that the AI is over-indexing on specific pages of your site that are not optimized for conversions. You can use this data to refine your site or provide exclusion rules.

Example GAQL

This query retrieves the search term, dynamically generated headline, and expanded landing page together from ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view:

SELECT
  campaign.id,
  campaign.name,
  ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view.search_term,
  ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view.headline,
  ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view.landing_page,
  metrics.impressions,
  metrics.clicks,
  metrics.conversions
FROM ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS

This query returns search terms specifically driven by AI Max for Search campaigns expansion:

SELECT
  campaign.id,
  campaign.name,
  search_term_view.search_term,
  segments.search_term_match_source,
  metrics.impressions,
  metrics.clicks,
  metrics.conversions
FROM search_term_view
WHERE
  segments.search_term_match_source IN (
    'AI_MAX_KEYWORDLESS',
    'AI_MAX_BROAD_MATCH'
  )
  AND segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS

This query retrieves asset-level performance for assets served with Final URL expansion:

SELECT
  campaign.id,
  campaign.name,
  final_url_expansion_asset_view.asset,
  final_url_expansion_asset_view.field_type,
  final_url_expansion_asset_view.final_url,
  final_url_expansion_asset_view.status,
  metrics.impressions,
  metrics.clicks,
  metrics.conversions
FROM final_url_expansion_asset_view
WHERE
  campaign.ai_max_setting.enable_ai_max = TRUE
  AND segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS

How to interpret the campaign numbers

  • Why the combined sum (AI Max for Search campaigns + Broad) exceeds campaign clicks: This is due to double counting.

    • The overlap: The ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view and search_term_view are not mutually exclusive. Many search terms generated by AI targeting are reported in both views.

    • Recommendation: Never sum metrics from these two views. They represent different reporting dimensions for the same underlying traffic.

  • Why the combined sum (AI Max for Search campaigns + Broad) falls short of campaign clicks: This is due to privacy thresholds and filtered match types.

    • Privacy thresholds: Some search terms that do not have enough query activity are omitted from the search terms report to maintain our standards on data privacy. Clicks from these "hidden" terms are included in the campaign total but are excluded from the search term reports (search_term_view and ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view).

How to correctly report

If you need a breakdown of performance by how traffic was targeted, use a single query on the search_term_view and group by segments.search_term_match_source.

Don't use the ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view for reconciliation, as it is a specialized view for ad-combination testing, not a financial reconciliation tool.

AI Max for Search campaigns exclusion rules

With AI Max for Search campaigns, exclusion rules restrict keyword expansion (Broad Match/Keywordless) or landing page selection.

Exclude search terms (negative keywords)

Exclude landing pages (URL exclusions)

Campaign-level brand exclusions

When to use exclusions

Use the following guidance to decide which type of exclusion is best for your situation.

Negative keywords (search term exclusions)

When to use: When the user's intent (the query) is fundamentally irrelevant or unprofitable, regardless of which page they land on.

  • Scenario A (poor intent): Your ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view shows matches for queries like free, cheap, DIY, or how to when you sell premium enterprise software.
  • Scenario B (irrelevant expansion): The AI_MAX_BROAD_MATCH expansion goes too far. For example, you sell water filters and the AI expands to queries about pool cleaning services.
  • Strategy: Apply as Exact match if the specific query is problematic, or Phrase/Broad if an entire category of queries (that is, anything containing the term free) needs to be blocked.

URL exclusions (negative webpage targets)

When to use URL exclusions: When the AI successfully finds relevant search terms but routes users to the wrong page on your website, or when a specific page consistently yields a high CPA or low conversion rate.

  • Scenario A (non-commercial pages): AI Max for Search campaigns keywordless expansion sends paid traffic to your /careers, /privacy-policy, or /customer-support-login pages. Exclude these URLs immediately.
  • Scenario B (the "whack-a-mole" problem): You notice in the ai_max_search_term_ad_combination_view that dozens of different, seemingly acceptable search terms all result in bounces because they land on an outdated blog post. Instead of adding dozens of negative keywords, add one URL exclusion for that blog post.
  • Strategy: Use a WebpageConditionOperand.URL condition for directories (for example, matching /blog/) or exact URL exclusions for specific problematic pages.

Campaign-level brand exclusions

When to use campaign-level brand exclusions: When strict traffic segmentation is needed to prevent AI Max for Search campaigns from cannibalizing your existing branded Search campaigns.

  • Scenario A (protecting brand CPCs): You already have a highly optimized Exact Match campaign for your own brand name. If you enable AI Max for Search campaigns on a generic non-brand campaign to find incremental reach, and you notice AI Max for Search campaigns is starting to bid on your brand name, apply a brand exclusion list containing your own brand to force AI Max for Search campaigns to only find net-new, generic queries.
  • Scenario B (competitor policy): Your company has legal agreements not to bid on specific competitor brand names, and a fail-safe is needed to ensure that AI Max for Search campaigns's broad expansion never triggers ads on those terms.

Summary guidelines

  • Bad query = negative keyword.
  • Bad destination = URL exclusion.
  • Bad cannibalization = brand exclusion.