Google Ads announced that Google will start the process of automatically "upgrading" accounts to Performance Max for Smart Shopping campaigns. Automatic upgrades will gradually progress and finish in September for most advertisers. As a note, performance max campaigns has been available to all advertisers since November 2021 and a beta launched October 2020.
Google said it will send a notification in Google Ads two to three weeks before your campaigns are automatically upgraded to help you prepare. The notification will provide a specific date when your campaigns will start automatic upgrades, according to Google.
Not everything will be automatically upgraded, such as some Smart Shopping campaigns using features like vehicle ads that are not yet available in Performance Max will complete automatic upgrades in early 2023. For campaigns not yet eligible for upgrades, advertisers will receive more specific information later this year about their automatic upgrades coming in early 2023.
Google is recommending you do not wait for the automatic upgrades and use the upgrade tool. Google said until your automatic upgrade process begins for Smart Shopping campaigns, you can still upgrade your campaigns using the one-click tool in Google Ads.
After you upgrade to Performance Max, your previous Smart Shopping campaigns will be set to "Removed" status and you won't be able to edit or reactivate these campaigns. However, you can still access your historical data from the Campaigns page or Overview page in Google Ads. Also, you will no longer be able to create new Smart Shopping campaigns.
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