# Google Ads automated promotions: what to check and how to opt out

> A practical guide to eligibility, paused promotion assets, date limitations, investigating unfamiliar offers and finding the automated promotions control.

Author: Mariliis Uibomäe, Brand Promotion  
Published: 2026-10-16  
Facts checked: 2026-10-16  
Web version: https://brandpromotion.ee/en/marketing-blog/google-ads-automated-promotion-extensions

## In brief

A practical guide to eligibility, paused promotion assets, date limitations, investigating unfamiliar offers and finding the automated promotions control.

A customer asks about a discount code they saw in your ad. The problem is that the code is not in your campaign plan. Before searching through every old campaign, check Google Ads automated promotions. This feature can create a separate promotion asset from an offer on your website.

Here is how to trace an unfamiliar offer, check the setting and decide whether this automation belongs in your account.

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## What are Google Ads automated promotions?

Google can identify an offer on a landing page and attach it to eligible ads as a promotion asset. It sits within account-level automated assets. It is separate from editing a promotion you created manually.

The source might be a percentage discount or an offer that includes something extra with a purchase. That does not mean every offer on a website will be used, or that every restriction will be interpreted correctly. [1](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/18057626?hl=en)

On 5 October, Search Engine Roundtable reported a Google notice telling some advertisers they would be automatically opted in from 12 October 2026. Treat that as the date in those notices, rather than proof that every account worldwide changed on the same day. [4](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-automated-promotions-october-12-42223.html)

## When could the automation actually help?

Illustrative scenario, not a published customer result: a small homeware shop has a genuine 20% discount on all lamps, available to every customer and clearly displayed on its landing page. It runs an eligible Search campaign with a location asset, but the team has not added a manual promotion asset.

Google may surface that existing offer in the ad without another manual update. The potential benefit is saved setup work and more visibility for an offer that may support either an online purchase or a store visit. That is not a promise of increased sales.

I would consider it for a small team with clear, current, widely available offers. Someone still needs to check what the system creates. Exact deadlines or complex eligibility restrictions would push my decision towards manual control.

## Which campaigns can use automated promotions?

Google lists active Search or Performance Max campaigns with location assets and no manual promotions currently running on the campaign. The automated promotions feature also needs to be enabled. [1](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/18057626?hl=en)

Check the actual location-asset associations. Google's general documentation says it may create location assets automatically from information it matches to a business. Not remembering anyone adding an address is therefore not enough to establish that a campaign is outside the scope. [2](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7175034?hl=en)

## Does an existing or paused promotion asset stop automation?

Google's guide refers to manual promotions currently running on the campaign. It does not extend that promise to paused, expired or merely saved assets. I would not treat an old paused promotion as an opt-out. [1](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/18057626?hl=en)

| Situation | What it tells you |
| --- | --- |
| A manual promotion is currently running on the campaign | Google describes a campaign exemption. |
| An old asset is paused or expired | The guide does not confirm that it protects the campaign. Check the setting. |
| A promotion exists in a different campaign | Do not generalise one campaign's position to the whole account. |
| The promotion asset table is empty | Check the setting as well. An empty table is not an opt-out. |

There is no need to invent a discount as a workaround. If you do not want website-sourced promotion assets, use the control provided for that decision.

## Does Google read the offer's start and end dates?

The guide describes automatic extraction of promotion start and end dates as a future capability. An automated promotion is currently eligible to serve for less than 24 hours at a time and may be renewed if the offer remains visibly available on the website. [1](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/18057626?hl=en)

Distinguish a serving-eligibility period from campaign dates. Google says less than 24 hours, not exactly 24 hours. The guide does not describe a new asset being created every day or specify which date fields are populated automatically. Re-enablement can happen repeatedly while the offer remains verifiable.

That is not a promise that an offer disappears at midnight or immediately after a website edit. Google says it verifies offers, but I would not make a campaign's end depend entirely on a date in a separate terms page.

Consider this illustrative example: a service business ends a first-customer discount on Friday but keeps the campaign terms online for reference. A clear notice at the top of the page saying “This promotion has ended” makes the situation easier to understand. If advertising timing needs to be exact, I would control the promotion manually. This example describes a useful check, not a documented incident in which Google advertised an expired offer.

## What should you do when a customer sees an unfamiliar offer?

Start with enough information to find the same offer: a screenshot or exact wording, the code, the time it appeared and the page the ad opened. Do not assume AI caused it based only on a customer's recollection.

In Google Ads, open Assets and filter by the Promotion asset type. Check who added it. Automated promotions are labelled Google AI; hovering over that label can reveal sourcing details. Review the asset details and the period in which it received impressions. [1](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/18057626?hl=en), [2](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7175034?hl=en)

Compare the offer with the landing page and the actual purchase or enquiry conditions. Check eligibility, any minimum spend and whether the destination describes the same promotion. If the asset was added manually, investigate that asset and its associations instead.

Let the sales or customer service team know which offer is valid while you investigate. A technically correct account change will not help much if the next caller receives a different answer from the business.

## Where is the setting, and how do you turn it off?

Google documents the following route. Labels may vary with the account language or interface version.

1. Open Campaigns → Assets and the Associations tab.
2. Open the three-dot menu beside the asset table.
3. Select Account level automated assets.
4. Open the three-dot menu again, then Advanced settings.
5. Find Automated promotions and choose Off.
6. Complete any reason or save prompt, then verify the saved state. [1](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/18057626?hl=en), [2](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7175034?hl=en)

This control affects automated promotions only. Other automated asset types retain their own settings and can be managed separately. If you manage several clients, record the decision separately for each account.

Advertisers in a Reddit r/PPC discussion described the same difficulty finding the control. One user had missed the three-dot menu; another reported finding the feature switched on across the accounts they managed. Those are practitioner reports, not evidence of a universal rollout or of Google's intentions. [6](https://www.reddit.com/r/PPC/comments/1wvyib4/warning_automated_promotions_turned_on/)

## Where should the end notice go, and should the old page be removed?

If you keep an archive, put the notice at the top of that page, before the old offer. For example: “This promotion ended on 30 September 2026 and is no longer available.” Present the remaining terms as historical information and remove the expired offer from active sales pages, banners and calls to action.

The absence of documented date extraction does not establish that Google cannot interpret an ended-offer notice. Equally, the notice is a recommendation for clearer content rather than a confirmed exclusion rule. Google does not document an ended-offer notice as a guaranteed exclusion mechanism. Use Automated promotions → Off in Google Ads to stop this feature. The guide does not promise an exact stopping time after a website edit.

There is no need to delete a page that still serves a useful purpose. If the page is no longer needed, first check that active ads no longer point to it. A removed page without a suitable replacement should return 404 or 410; a clear, relevant replacement can use a 301 redirect. Removing a link from the menu can leave the original page accessible at its URL. [8](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/troubleshoot-crawling-errors)

## How can you prevent confusion before the next sale?

Agree who owns the offer wording, timing and website updates. Keep the code, eligible customers, minimum spend, start and end in one campaign record shared by marketing and customer service.

For precise control, opt out of automated promotions and create the required assets manually. In a manual asset, review both the promotion dates displayed in the ad and the serving schedule in Advanced options. Google's guide treats those as separate controls. [3](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7367521?hl=en)

When a campaign ends, remove the expired offer from active sales pages or clearly label the archive page. Before the next campaign, check that the same code, terms and destination are used across channels.

If you leave automation enabled, give someone responsibility for reviewing added offers and the quality of resulting enquiries or orders. More clicks do not resolve an inaccurate offer.

## Is Merchant Center automated promotions the same setting?

No. Merchant Center has a separate automated promotions data source for offers from product pages that can appear in Shopping ads and free listings. Its availability and controls are documented separately. If your Merchant Center account uses it, review its own Promotions area. [5](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/14180442?hl=en)

Changing one Google Ads setting does not establish that every promotional message across Google's products has been disabled. Identify the system that produced the particular offer first.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does a paused promotion asset prevent automated promotions?

Google's guide does not confirm that. Use the account-level control and review the relevant campaign separately.

### Does this affect every Google Ads campaign?

No. Google lists eligible Search and Performance Max campaigns with specific requirements. Check the actual account and campaign configuration.

### Does an empty promotion asset table mean the feature is off?

No conclusion can be drawn from that alone. Check the saved Automated promotions setting as well.

### Do old campaign pages need to be deleted?

Not necessarily. A useful archive can remain online, but expired offers should be clearly identified. Do not rely entirely on a buried end date.

### Do all automated assets need to be disabled?

Use the Automated promotions setting for this feature. Other account-level automated asset types can be disabled individually in the same Advanced settings area. Dynamic sitelinks and images, for example, are not switched off along with promotions. [2](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7175034?hl=en)

## Review your advertising account

If you want to understand which automated settings are active in your account and which need changing, I can help review the setup and establish a repeatable campaign checklist. Explore Brand Promotion's [marketing audit](/en/marketing-services/marketing-audit) and [Google Ads services](/en/marketing-services/google-ads).

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Find more [practical marketing guides](/en/marketing-blog) on the marketing blog.

## Sources

[1] [Google Ads Help: About Automated promotions](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/18057626?hl=en)

[2] [Google Ads Help: About account level automated assets](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7175034?hl=en)

[3] [Google Ads Help: About promotion assets](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7367521?hl=en)

[4] [Search Engine Roundtable, 5 October 2026: Google Ads To Automated Promotions For Search & PMax Campaigns Soon](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-ads-automated-promotions-october-12-42223.html)

[5] [Google Merchant Center Help: Manage automated promotions](https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/14180442?hl=en)

[6] [Reddit r/PPC: Warning – Automated Promotions Turned On (Automatically)](https://www.reddit.com/r/PPC/comments/1wvyib4/warning_automated_promotions_turned_on/)

[8] [Google Search Central: Troubleshoot crawling errors (removed pages and redirects)](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/troubleshoot-crawling-errors)