How to Turn AI Max into a Powerful DSA Alternative

Dynamic search campaigns (DSAs) gave us something incredibly valuable: sitewide advertisement coverage without the headache of building everything out manually. But if you haven’t heard the news yet, DSAs are officially going away in early 2027. Google is heavily recommending that advertisers switch away from dynamic search campaigns and move into AI Max for search instead.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. Giving that much control over to Google's automated systems can feel a bit like handing the keys of your car over to a teenager. But here is something you might not know: AI Max for search can still accomplish a lot of what your old DSAs used to do. You just have to put the proper guardrails in place.

As a Google Ads coach, I want to make sure your website traffic growth doesn't skip a beat during this transition. So today, I’m sharing four practical ways to turn your AI Max for search campaigns into the absolute best possible DSA alternative.

1. Reign it In with Brand Controls

One of the biggest problems with AI Max is its tendency to drift. Left to its own devices, it can easily expand into top-of-funnel, generic search terms. That’s a massive problem if you want your budget centered strictly on middle-of-funnel or bottom-of-funnel searches where the real intent is.

This is where brand controls save the day. Google gives us two primary levers here:

• Brand Inclusions: This keeps your digital marketing strategies tightly focused on the specific brand or family of brands you want to target. For example, if you run an e-commerce store selling Nike basketball sneakers, brand inclusions ensure your traffic stays hyper-focused on Nike terms. Your search terms list will actually be dominated by what you sell, helping you avoid a ton of junk traffic.
• Brand Exclusions: This works the opposite way. Let’s say your product descriptions mention a competitor for comparison sake, but you absolutely do not want to pay for clicks when people search for that competitor’s name. Be proactive, add those brand exclusions, and protect your budget.

2. Lock Down Your URL Controls

If you want to replicate the magic of a DSA setup, this is the closest thing you can do. You have to take full advantage of URL controls to explicitly tell Google which pages it can access and which pages are strictly off-limits.

Instead of letting the system roam wildly across your entire website—which leads to you paying for traffic to your blog, privacy policy, or "Contact Us" page—URL inclusions keep your ad groups focused on high-value landing pages.

Think back to our basketball sneakers example. You can use URL inclusions to specifically target the basketball sneakers section of your site. Google can crawl all relevant URLs in that category, but it won’t accidentally stumble into your sandals or dress shoes sections. DSA worked so well because the search term matched the exact, most relevant landing page. URL controls are how you force AI Max to do the exact same thing.

3. Steer the System with Text Guidelines

Yes, AI Max can dynamically generate its own headlines and descriptions. But that doesn’t mean you have to settle for whatever weird or generic copy the system spits out.

Google has introduced a feature called text guidelines. This tool allows you to exclude specific terms or restrict messaging that you notice Google is creating. It ensures that every headline and description matches your brand guidelines, your specific offer, and your actual service area.

If the system keeps trying to insert the wrong geographic area or uses language that flat-out doesn't describe what you do, this is where you clean it up. Utilizing text guidelines stops AI Max from feeling like an unpredictable black box and turns it into a controlled, reliable asset for your PPC campaigns.

4. Segment for a Tight Campaign Structure

If you want AI Max to behave like a traditional DSA, you cannot just build one giant, catch-all campaign with a single ad group. Structure is everything.

You need to segment your account by brand, product type, or service theme so that every single ad group has one specific job to do. When you segment properly, each theme gets its own custom set of brand rules, URL rules, and ad copy controls. The more specific your structure, the closer you get to that classic DSA behavior where the search term, the ad copy, and the landing page all line up naturally.

The Bottom Line

Dynamic search campaigns are leaving us in early 2027, and while AI Max for search will never be a perfect clone, we can get it surprisingly close. To recap your new playbook: narrow your brand pool, lock down your URLs, steer your ad copy with text guidelines, and keep your structure incredibly tight.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by these upcoming changes or looking for ways to trim the fat in your accounts right now? Head over to my website and grab my free PPC Cost-Cutting Cheat Sheet to start optimizing your budget today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will AI Max for search cost me more than my old DSA campaigns?

It can if you let it run on autopilot! Because AI Max loves to expand into generic search terms, you could see costs rise without a lift in conversions if you don't step in. However, if you implement the brand exclusions and tight URL controls I outlined above, you can keep your cost-per-click stable and ensure you're only paying for high-intent traffic.

Do I have to switch to AI Max right now, or can I wait until 2027?

While you technically have until early 2027 before DSAs are completely phased out, I strongly recommend testing AI Max for search sooner rather than later. Launching a parallel AI Max campaign now gives you time to find the right guardrails, test your text guidelines, and gather data without risking a sudden drop in your website traffic growth when the final forced migration happens.