Google August Updates: Merchant Center Reporting Rebuild and Ads Bid Rules
August Google updates that matter for Shopify stores: target bid strategy changes, YouTube affiliate traffic split out of Merchant Center Organic, Site Reputation Policy changes in the EEA, and Google Ads API v25.1 fields.
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❝The August Google updates that matter come down to four threads: bid logic gets recalibrated, Merchant Center splits YouTube affiliate traffic out of Organic, the Site Reputation Policy changes how it's enforced in the EEA, and the Google Ads API adds migration and conversion-value fields.❞
Google Ads and Demand Gen
Target Bidding Logic for Budget-Constrained Campaigns Has Changed [Ref 3][Ref 4]
August 17
Starting August 17, campaigns marked "limited by budget" that use target-based bid strategies will run more consistently around the target you set. Affected strategies include Target CPA, Target ROAS, and the Demand Gen-only Target CPC; the scope covers Search, Shopping, Performance Max, Demand Gen and Travel campaigns, plus related campaigns managed through Search Ads 360. [Ref 3][Ref 4]
The impact is bigger for campaigns that were actually performing clearly better than their target. For example, a target CPA of $10 with a real CPA hovering around $5 may gradually drift back toward $10 after the adjustment; Performance Max and Demand Gen may also see traffic redistributed across channels. Google will not change your budgets or target values for you. [Ref 3][Ref 4]
If you run ads on Shopify conversion data, screen for target-bid campaigns that were "limited by budget" at any point in the last 12 months, then decide whether to adjust the target through the Bid Target Adjustment Tool. After changing a budget or target, don't judge results from a day or two — wait at least 1–2 conversion cycles. [Ref 3][Ref 4]
Google Ads and Google Analytics Add AI Insights and Natural-Language Reporting [Ref 5]
August 10
The Google Ads home page now surfaces AI insight cards generated from your account situation, and lets you generate custom insights via prompts; Google Analytics home adds AI Overviews that summarize traffic and sales changes since your last login, and clicking a data card carries that context into Ask Advisor. Google Ads Dashboards can also build visualizations from natural language and automatically explain the reasons in real time; the equivalent Dashboards feature in Google Analytics is still marked as coming soon. [Ref 5]
Ask Advisor in Google Analytics also adds benchmarking, comparing campaign performance against an anonymous average of similar businesses. These features are currently available as a beta for English accounts, and whether you see the entry point depends on rollout progress. [Ref 5]
For store operators, tools like this are better for quickly locating "which product type, channel or time window changed" — they don't replace checking your Shopify orders, profit and attribution definitions. Before using them, confirm conversion value, purchase events and product dimensions are being passed back correctly.
AI Max Adds Campaign Testing and Planning Tools [Ref 6][Ref 7]
August 20
Google Ads announced new testing and planning capabilities for AI Max for Search: you'll be able to compare multiple Search campaigns with different budgets and ROI targets within a single A/B test, rolling out starting in September; AI Max experiments also support retaining brand and placement controls during the test. [Ref 6]
Performance Planner can now forecast how bid or budget target changes affect existing campaigns, and lets you apply the suggestion in one click. AI Max experiments split a control and test group inside the same Search campaign, and you decide afterward whether to apply the settings to the whole campaign; campaigns using shared budgets, Portfolio Bidding, existing experiments or some Display settings may not be able to use this experiment path. [Ref 6][Ref 7]
If your product ads depend on strict brand terms, landing pages or geo boundaries, run the experiment first to watch search terms, conversion cost and final URL changes before widening your use of AI Max.
Demand Gen's Multimodal Video Workflow Opens Up Fully [Ref 8]
August 27
Multimodal Video Creation in Asset Studio is now generally available: advertisers can storyboard and then generate both landscape and portrait assets in one flow, for Demand Gen's different placements. [Ref 8]
This mainly affects asset production and does not automatically modify your Shopify product feed. You can turn the same set of product selling points into landscape and portrait versions, then check separately that the price, promo and landing page info in each asset matches the product page.
Merchant Center and Google Shopping
Merchant Center Splits YouTube Affiliate Traffic Out of Organic [Ref 1][Ref 2]
August 24
Starting August 24, Merchant Center records commission-eligible YouTube affiliate product results as their own interaction type, using the new traffic value "Youtube affiliate", no longer counted as Organic. Products that aren't commission-eligible still fall under Organic. [Ref 1]
The change also redefines YouTube Organic clicks and impressions, and backfills the related historical data to July 1. So a one-time drop in Organic doesn't necessarily mean real visits to your free product details suddenly fell — it's more likely a split in how the metric is counted. [Ref 1]
At the same time, Google Ads product-level reporting expands to all Performance Max networks plus Video, App and Demand Gen campaigns; this may cause a one-time increase in product-level impressions and clicks. The Google Ads Products report shows product status, disapprovals, out-of-stock, network performance and product overlap, but the report entry points are not identical across campaign types. [Ref 1][Ref 2]
For Shopify merchants, late August is the time to reconcile traffic and orders across Merchant Center, Google Ads and the Shopify admin separately — give YouTube affiliate traffic its own column. Don't draw month-over-month conclusions straight from Organic numbers before and after August 24; Merchant Center also plans to add a Network dimension, but that feature is still listed as upcoming in this announcement. [Ref 1]
Search Console and Google Search
Site Reputation Policy Enforcement Changes in the European Economic Area [Ref 9][Ref 10]
August 28
Google updated its Site Reputation Abuse Policy and, from August 30, changed how it's handled inside and outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Outside the EEA, manual actions affect the parts of a site deemed problematic while other parts are unaffected; inside the EEA, manual actions don't apply the same way — the involved content may be separated by the system and earn rankings independently over time. [Ref 9][Ref 10]
This is not a blanket exemption for third-party or affiliate content. What Google cares about is whether a site publishes third-party content mainly to exploit the host site's existing ranking signals. Third-party content itself isn't automatically a violation; the question is whether it genuinely serves users and matches the site's topic, editorial standards and commercial purpose. [Ref 9][Ref 10]
If your Shopify store also runs a blog, reviews, guest posts or an affiliate section, check the authors, editors, commercial relationships and content quality in those directories, and watch for manual action notices in Search Console. Don't explain search performance inside and outside the EEA with the same set of assumptions, and you can still submit a reconsideration request when a manual action hits. [Ref 9]
Content Sites Can Invite Readers to Add Them as a Preferred Source [Ref 11][Ref 12]
August 20
Google Search Central docs added interactive buttons and a custom integration path for Preferred Sources. Sites can guide readers to add them as a preferred source through a standard JavaScript button, through a flow triggered from their own interface, or via a deeplink when scripts can't run. [Ref 11][Ref 12]
The feature targets domain-level or subdomain-level sites, and you can't register a single subdirectory as a preferred source; it mainly affects Top Stories and, in regions and languages where the feature is available, AI Mode and AI Overviews. For a Shopify store with a steady content section or industry news, it's a supplementary entry point for winning back returning readers — not a structured-data boost for products, and not a guarantee of higher rankings. [Ref 12]
Developers and API
Google Ads API v25.1 Adds AI Max Migration Flags and Finer Reporting Fields [Ref 13]
August 19
Google Ads API v25.1 is a minor release with no breaking changes. It adds fields that record future AI Max auto-migration timing for campaigns, including Campaign.aca_migration_date_time and Campaign.broad_match_migration_date_time; it also adds Metrics.original_conversion_value, for reading the original conversion value before conversion value rules or lifecycle goal adjustments are applied. [Ref 13]
If you maintain Shopify product ad syncing, delivery reports or a custom bidding system, add these fields to your API version compatibility tests and data dictionary. Then when Google changes AI Max migration timing or conversion value definitions, your reports can still tell "original value" apart from "adjusted value" instead of mixing the two in one comparison. [Ref 13]
Official Sources
- [Ref 1] Merchant Center performance reporting updates[1]
- [Ref 2] About Product Reporting[2]
- [Ref 3] Changes to target based bid strategies[3]
- [Ref 4] Frequently asked questions about changes to Target-based bid strategies[4]
- [Ref 5] Try new AI tools from Google Ads and Analytics[5]
- [Ref 6] Make AI Max work for your business with new testing and planning tools[6]
- [Ref 7] About AI Max experiments[7]
- [Ref 8] Reach your audience in new ways with August’s Demand Gen Drop[8]
- [Ref 9] Update to the Site Reputation Policy[9]
- [Ref 10] Spam policies for Google Web Search[10]
- [Ref 11] Search documentation updates[11]
- [Ref 12] Guide to Preferred Sources in Google Search for Web Publishers[12]
- [Ref 13] Release notes | Google Ads API[13]
[1] Merchant Center performance reporting updates: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/17103877
[2] About Product Reporting: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/17035334
[3] Changes to target based bid strategies: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/17061251
[4] Frequently asked questions about changes to Target-based bid strategies: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/17125145?hl=en
[5] Try new AI tools from Google Ads and Analytics: https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/google-ads-analytics-ai-updates/
[6] Make AI Max work for your business with new testing and planning tools: https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/ai-max-testing-planning-tools/
[7] About AI Max experiments: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/16450159
[8] Reach your audience in new ways with August’s Demand Gen Drop: https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/demand-gen-drop-august-2026/
[9] Update to the Site Reputation Policy: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/08/update-site-reputation-policy
[10] Spam policies for Google Web Search: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies
[11] Search documentation updates: https://developers.google.com/search/updates
[12] Guide to Preferred Sources in Google Search for Web Publishers: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/preferred-sources
[13] Release notes | Google Ads API: https://developers.google.com/google-ads/api/docs/release-notes
Sources: Google official blog, Merchant Center announcements, Google Ads Help Center and Search Central docs
Want last month's changes? Read Google July Updates.
