Paid Search – News

19/06/26

ChatGPT ads are now rolling out in the UK, and it feels like something genuinely different. Whether that’s good or bad is still to be seen.

We’re starting to see them appear in live chats, and while the product is still in beta (with very limited reporting and campaign setup capabilities), the bigger shift is in how ads will be served.

This isn’t search in the traditional sense. On platforms like Google, you’re often responding to a single query. Here, ads are being introduced within a conversation, where intent can be built over multiple prompts, not just one.

These ads have the potential to be very powerful for charities. You’re not just capturing demand, you’re potentially stepping into a context where the user is actively exploring, comparing or problem-solving.

That said, it’s early days, and there are some clear limitations at this stage:
• Reporting is limited to clicks/impressions (with no conversion tracking yet)
• Ads are restricted from sensitive topics (which will impact many charities)
• CPCs look high based on early US data
• In our initial tests, ad relevance hasn’t felt strong, with some placements not aligning to the conversation context – although this is likely impacted by having a limited number of advertisers on the platform currently.

For example, in the screenshot below, we asked ‘Best charity to donate to’ and in conversation, followed up with 2 prompts: ‘How can I be sure my money goes to a good cause’, ‘My budget is £20’. This generated an ad for The Economist.

But despite the limitations, it’s something we’re keen to start testing with clients, as soon as we can access the ad platform. We’ll continue to monitor how this develops as ChatGPT ads roll out more widely, and share any early performance insights along the way.

26/05/26

Google Marketing Live 2026 took place this week, and we’ve pulled together the key takeaways.

More control over AI assets:
Google announced AI Brief, powered by Gemini, which will let you set brand and campaign guidelines, provided by yourself in a prompt. This is likely a positive update for charities, granting greater control over messaging. They’re even adding the ability to add disclaimer assets, including the the option to always show in ad copy.

New features for ads in AI Overviews & AI Mode:
Google also announced the ability to ‘Ask a Question’ directly within an Ad that will take you to AI Mode. For charities, this could mean a user asks where a donation goes, with an answer being directly generated without a user researching for this information.

Also, US-based users can now purchase products directly within AI Mode, which can also be combined with Direct offers (discounts, coupons etc.). This will likely roll out to UK users soon.

A continued push towards AI-led campaign types:
Many of these new features seem to be exclusive to PMax and AI Max.

AI Brief and the ability to ask an ad a question aren’t available yet; Google will roll these out over the coming months, with them likely hitting the US market first as it has done with previous new tools.

Overall, Google is clearly pushing AI Max hard, and it increasingly feels like traditional keyword-driven campaigns are being quietly phased out in favour of more automated, AI-led formats.

14/04/26

Meta has updated its attribution model to better distinguish between direct click-driven conversions and those influenced by broader engagement with ads, such as likes, shares and saves – now referred to as engage-through conversions. Meta says this is designed to “help advertisers more clearly understand the impact of their ads”, and we do expect it will result in greater consistency with third-party reporting tools like Google Analytics.

For charity campaigns, particularly direct-ask campaigns such as donation appeals, this may reduce reported click-based conversions on Meta in the short term, making campaigns appear less efficient, even if real-world impact is unchanged.

This update won’t have an impact on targeting, only reporting. The total conversions will remain the same.

It’s important for charities to be aware of this change, and to also consider it within the wider context of how attribution can alter the story of a multi-touchpoint campaign. Engage-through conversions and attribution remain an important reporting tool, helping to avoid undervaluing the upper-funnel role paid social inherently plays in raising awareness and driving supporter journeys.

13/03/26

Meta Platforms has confirmed that ads delivered in the UK are subject to a 2% location-based fee to cover Digital Service Tax.

This fee applies when your ads are shown to people in the UK, regardless of where your business or ad account is based. Until now, Meta has covered these additional costs.

The fee is calculated based on where your ads are delivered, not where the advertiser is located. It is added on top of your ad spend after delivery. For example: If you spend £100 on ads delivered in the UK, Meta will apply a 2% location fee, bringing the total charge to £102 (before VAT).

What this means for advertisers
• A small additional cost for ads delivered to UK audiences
• The fee appears on your ad account billing alongside ad spend

For most advertisers the impact will be minimal, but it’s worth factoring into budget planning and reporting if you’re running paid social campaigns targeting the UK.

This fee is a direct passing on of the Digital Services Tax, introduced back in 2020 in the UK, which was levelled at large advertising organisations and taxed their media spend.

Meta has been strangely slow in the disappointing (but likely inevitable) move of passing this fee on to advertisers. Google and Amazon were much quicker, applying this fee to users media spends back in 2020 soon after the Tax was announced.

In reality, this likely means you may want to adjust your Meta ads budgets up slightly to account for this extra fee, if you want to continue spending the same amount of money on ad placements from July 2026 onwards.

We’ll continue monitoring the rollout of the law, and let you know of any other upcoming fees or legal changes that could impact advertisers.

04/03/26

Google has announced a change to how budgets are paced for campaigns that use ad scheduling.

Previously, campaigns aimed to spend up to their daily budget only on active days. Under the new system, Google will instead target up to 30.4× the daily budget across the month, regardless of scheduled days.

For example, a campaign running 8 days per month with a £100 daily budget would previously spend around £800. With this update, it could target up to £3,040.

The 2× daily spend cap remains in place. However, this change makes it likely that heavily ad-scheduled campaigns will consistently spend up to twice their daily budget on active days in an attempt to reach the monthly target. Without proactive adjustments, this could result in higher than intended monthly spend.

The rollout starts 1 March 2026 and will be phased. Only accounts notified by Google will transition on that date; others will be informed ahead of their changeover.

Google frames this as simplifying budget management. However, the practical benefits are unclear, and this could place greater risk on advertisers using ad scheduling to manage budget pacing and avoid overspend.

15/02/26

Our Paid Media Team recently noticed a new recommendations bar in Google Ads, which promotes AI-driven suggestions encouraging you to interact with the Ads Advisor when viewing campaigns. Clicking on these recommendations routes you to the Ads Advisor, where Google provides guidance based on its AI insights.

This is another example of how AI is gradually embedding itself into what were traditionally manual functions within Google Ads. We expect these types of recommendations to become increasingly visible across the platform, as Google insists on greater adoption of AI-driven optimisations.

13/02/26

OpenAI have announced the first official US test of ads on ChatGPT, after months of closed beta testing and expectations from the advertising community. These ads will only show for Free and Go level users.

Interestingly, there will be an option to opt out of ads entirely, in favour of a reduction in the number of daily free messages in the system. This may have been a response to the initial backlash the idea of ads in Generative AI systems received, and the fairly pointed advertising performed by OpenAI’s competitor Claude at the Super Bowl. The ad mocked the concept of ads In AI and highlighted the risk of undermining a user’s trust that the information they are receiving is unbiased. OpenAI is clearly worried about the potential harm ads could have to their brand image.

They are being incredibly cautious in this initial test, and this caution may pose a significant challenge to charities looking to advertise on the platform.
Specifically, in their post OpenAI state that “ads are not eligible to appear near sensitive or regulated topics like health, mental health or politics.”.

For charity advertisers, who very often work within these areas, this could pose a very significant challenge to gaining any relevant traffic from the system.

There is hope for change however, this is an initial test, and there could well be significant developments to come. We’ll be keeping an eye on this story and updating you all here as more information comes out.

16/12/25

We’re keeping a close eye on two striking developments in the AI-ad space and what they could mean for charities looking to invest in Paid Search.

Firstly, OpenAI has denied recent reports that ChatGPT has been displaying ads. What appeared to be branded prompts seen by US-based users (e.g. ‘Shop for home and groceries. Connect Target.’) were described instead as ‘app-suggestions’ by OpenAI, who proceeded to officially disable this feature amidst backlash. The company claims they were ‘not real ads’ and no live ad tests are running… for now.

Meanwhile, Google has reportedly been telling major ad clients on recent calls that it plans to roll out ads in its AI chatbot Gemini in 2026. But Google’s own Ads leadership has denied any plans for that rollout. In the words of Google’s Vice President of Global Ads, Dan Taylor, “There are no ads in the Gemini app and there are no current plans to change that.”

This is a reminder that these gen AI companies are focused on improving their search platforms’ UX to a level where they can comfortably introduce paid ads without a significant traffic dropoff from disgruntled users. But the introduction of AI ad schemes seems inevitable, and we can reasonably expect 2026 to be the year the AI business model fundamentally changes. We’ll be keeping a close eye on these developments as they could drastically shape how paid search and digital strategy evolve.

20/05/25

Exciting paid media news for charities! We’ve received confirmation that the Ads for Social Impact program with Microsoft Advertising is scheduled to re-open for new applications.

This provides nonprofits a fantastic opportunity to enhance your visibility and expand their reach via search. The Microsoft program provides nonprofits with a voucher each month to be added to an otherwise normal paid account, unlike the Google’s Ad Grants scheme where Ad Grants operate in their eco-system and cannot compete with paid accounts.

While the program is not fully reinstated yet, you can now join the waitlist and apply for approval. You’re not guaranteed to be enrolled onto the program and receive the voucher (in the last round only a handful of charities received this) but it’s definitely worth trying!

Step 1: Join the waitlist here:

https://nonprofits.tsi.microsoft.com/EN-US/ads-for-social-impact/

Step 2: Apply for the nonprofit program here:

https://nonprofit.microsoft.com/en-us/getting-started

Why should you apply?

It’s completely free, open to all registered UK charities and nonprofits, and comes with the following benefits:

• $1,000 monthly ad credit.
• Access to Microsoft’s full ad network.
• No restrictions on keyword competition (unlike Ad Grants).
• Ad credits apply to real paid campaigns.
• Especially effective at donation ads, due to the older, wealthier demographic average.
• Different built-in audiences to Google Ads, potentially better suited to your specific target audience.
• No dual auction system with free ads below paid ads, so stronger overall visibility.
• And in case you’re worried about the time commitment, bear in mind you can easily import your campaigns from Google Ads!

15/05/25

Last week, Google announced a new campaign setting coming soon to Ads: AI Max.

When setting up a search campaign, you’ll soon start seeing the option to apply AI Max. It’s keywordless, in the vein of DSAs, but it won’t replace the keywords in your campaign. Rather, it’ll be an additional layer of targeting, not dissimilar in reach from broad match. You’ll notice the strongest effect on campaigns where you’re using exact and phrase match.

So what does AI Max include? Let’s break it down:

• Expanded Query Matching:  Uses “keywordless technology” that brings together broad match and Dynamic Ad Groups (DSA) and sits on top of your existing keyword targeting (broad, phrase, exact).
• Text Customization: Google can review your other ads, landing page, etc., use AI to write new headlines, descriptions, and assets for you.
• Final URL Expansion: Similar to a feature from Performance Max, it gives Google permission to pick any part of your website as a landing page instead of just your specified final URL. You can put rules around this expansion, for example, to only target or not target certain kinds of pages.
• New Control Features: These include location and brand controls, such as ad group level location interest targeting. This could allow you to target a broader area at the campaign level (e.g. the United States) but narrow that down to interest targeting to a specific location within that area (e.g. Los Angeles) at the ad group level, potentially simplifying keyword requirements.
• Increased Transparency: With AI Max insights, you will be able to see not only the search terms but also the headlines that served with them and the URL people landed on. 

Of course, the big drawback of automation is a lack of control over your ad copy. For charities especially, maintaining consistent brand messaging is critical, so just like PMax, AI Max will need to be deployed selectively and strategically.

Curious how to best incorporate AI Max into your ad strategy? Just get in touch and we’ll book in a chat — charity-tailored digital strategy is our speciality!

29/01/25

Google has made some interesting updates to Performance Max campaigns. In theory these new settings should afford you a more granular level of control over your PPC campaigns. They include…

• Campaign-level negative keywords, allowing you to better refine which searches your ads appear on.
• A new ‘High Value Mode’ for customer acquisition goals, which prioritises long-term customers more likely to convert.
• Age exclusions and device targeting – these might be available to you now, but are a partial beta so may take some time to fully roll out.
• More data on how exactly the search themes in your insights report were triggered.

If you’re running Performance Max campaigns on any of your Ads accounts, it’s well worth having a look at these added features and considering how you could use them to your benefit. As always, drop us a comment if you want to learn more or discuss!

25/11/24

The US Department of Justice has demanded that Google sell Chrome, its flagship browser, as part of its ongoing effort to dismantle Google’s illegal monopoly on online search.

Granted, the demand currently lacks any legal heft; it doesn’t compel Google to change anything as of yet. That power will fall to Judge Amit Mehta, who will rule a decision next summer.

The proposal also targets Google’s sweetheart deals with tech giants like Apple and Samsung to make Google Search the default on billions of devices. The government’s message is clear: “Competition, please! And, while we’re at it, let’s throw in a few more restrictions.”

Google, predictably, have described the move as a wild overreach that could unravel many of the products people rely on. Kent Walker, the company’s president of global affairs, argues that these interventions would “break” the functionality of Search and Chrome.

The ball is now in Google’s court—they must respond with their own set of remedies by December 20th.

And while all this legal wrangling plays out, there’s the small matter of the next presidential administration looming over the case. While it’s unlikely the Republican administration will apply any meaningful pressure to Big Tech, given the business-friendly policies it campaigned on, legal experts suggest that even if Trump tries to pull back, the states involved in the case could press on without federal backing.

With Google’s near-total dominance of the search market—and its tight grip on Chrome and Android—there’s a genuine belief that these sweeping changes could pave the way for new competitors to emerge, allowing the search market to become just a little less Google-y.

27/09/24

TikTok has announced its search ads solution, a keyword-based platform to show in TikTok’s search results.

This is a fairly direct shot at Google, being a very similar model to Google Ads’ ability to show in Google’s Search results page.

Data shows that TikTok is increasingly being used as a search engine, particularly by younger users, rather than going to traditional engines such as Google. If this trend continues, this new TikTok search ad system could pose a fairly significant threat to Google.

That being said, it should be noted that currently the volumes are still low, and it is unclear how users will respond to ads placed in the search results. It is likely that the approach will remain the same to other TikTok ads – the creative needs to appear like organic, user-generated content to get any good engagement.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Will this only degrade user experience on the app? What’s your experience with TikTok ads?

27/09/23

Google Tag Manager are moving the GA4 Configuration Tags to a more generalised Google Tag. The purpose of this change is to allow the Google Tag to be used in wider contexts, such as within Google Ads, making multiple different systems and services integrate easier and more intuitively. However, this does have an effect on how the tag works in the context of GA4.

First of all, when creating a new Ga4 tag, there is no longer a tick box to send a pageview event, as this is now controlled by a parameter called “send_page_view” which, when supplied with the value “true”, will fire as the config did prior. Also, you can no longer select the config tag to load the measurement ID of your GA4 property, which now has to be entered either manually within each event, or by selecting a variable.

Worth noting that for any existing tags, this update should have been automatically updated and function as before.

11/09/23

Google announced that Discovery campaigns are upgrading to Demand Gen starting in October 2023, with automatic upgrades from early 2024.

Discovery ads were introduced in April 2020, allowing advertisers to reach users across all Google feeds, including Discover, Gmail and parts of YouTube. The Demand Gen campaign format was later introduced in May 2023 to ‘drive performance beyond what you’ve come to expect from Discovery ads’. What that means is more conversion-focussed performance, more granular targeting, and more efficient use of budget, relying on AI to do so – as well as expanding to YouTube In-Stream and Shorts and offering more video formats.

While Demand Gen aren’t a campaign type we have experimented with much, they are a natural fit for advertisers who rely on more Paid Social advertising platforms, so one to be open to as we embrace AI more and more into paid media.

05/09/2023

Meta announced that they’re partnering exclusively with PayPal Giving Fund UK (PPGF) to support donations benefitting charities in the United Kingdom.

Charities enrolled with Meta Charitable Giving Tools must accept the new terms by 1st November 2023 and switch to PPGF in order to receive donation payouts. Also worth noting that from 15th September, charities won’t be able to receive donations via Facebook or Instagram (or allow fundraisers to be set-up) for new donors unless they have accepted the new terms.

Advertisers running On-Facebook donation ads, will need to reconfigure their campaigns to avoid disruption. Existing ads can continue to run, but after 15th Sept won’t be able to receive donations from new donors, whereas campaign delivery will stop entirely from 1st Nov.