Google has launched a global beta rollout of AI Max for Search Campaigns, an AI-powered upgrade to its Search Ads platform that aims to give businesses a smarter edge in the digital marketplace.
AI Max uses artificial intelligence to help businesses show up in more relevant search results, allowing them to connect more effectively with potential customers, even when those customers use unexpected or non-traditional search terms.
Specifically, Google noted that this could be a game-changer for African entrepreneurs trying to reach online audiences in a competitive and fast-changing environment,
“As more people across Africa rely on Search to make everyday decisions, from finding a tailor in Yaba to comparing prices for solar panels in Nairobi, local businesses need smarter tools to stand out,” said Senior Director of Search at Google, Brian Burdick.
AI Max features
AI Max taps into Google’s most advanced AI models, including the Gemini suite, to go beyond simple keyword matching.
For example, a bag seller in Kumasi may now show up in searches for “durable weekend carryall” even if those specific terms aren’t in the ad copy, a boost in visibility that wouldn’t be possible with traditional keyword targeting.
Key features of AI Max include:
- Search term matching: Automatically identifies and targets high-potential search queries.
- Dynamic text customization: Adjusts ad copy in real-time to better align with what users are searching for.
- Final URL expansion: Sends users to the most relevant landing page on a business’s site.
- Advanced controls: Gives advertisers more control over brand safety, location targeting, and audience reach.
African business on target
Google said the new tools can help African business owners, many of whom juggle operations with limited budgets and time, run more efficient, targeted campaigns.
According to the company, early adopters have reported an average 14% increase in conversions at a similar cost-per-action, with even better results for those previously using basic keyword strategies.
It added that AI Max is not a new campaign type but a setting within existing Search campaigns. This makes it easy for businesses to activate the feature without reworking their entire ad setup.
“We know many African entrepreneurs wear multiple hats. AI Max is built to reduce their workload, not add to it,” Burdick added.
What you should know
The launch of Google AI Max comes amid intense competition in the AI space vendors in the U.S. and China continue to improve their generative AI models in a close race to grab enterprise attention.
Within the space of one week in March this year, OpenAI, Google and DeepSeek introduced new updates to their AI models.
- First, Chinese AI startup DeepSeek released an upgrade to its V3 model Monday. The new DeepSeek-V3-0324 launched on Hugging Face and includes improvements in reasoning and coding capabilities.
- Hours after DeepSeek’s release, OpenAI launched its latest image-generating model within GPT-4o. The model can accurately render text and follow prompts precisely to generate images.
- Following OpenAI’s release, Google launched Gemini 2.5, a “thinking model” designed to tackle more complex problems than previous models could.
