Week in Brief
An unusual quieter week; here are the key takeaways.
- Google Ads is changing how target-based bid strategies behave for budget-limited campaigns from August 17. Target CPA and Target ROAS campaigns that currently overperform will be pulled back toward the target you set (Google Ads Help).
- Google Search Console is logging AI Mode follow-up queries such as “yes, pricing” inside the standard performance report, not the generative AI report. John Mueller confirmed the behaviour.
- Google Maps turned transactional. Ask Maps can now order food, book hotels and find events, keeping more journeys inside Google’s own surfaces.
- Google began migrating Local Services Ads into pay-per-lead Performance Max campaigns, relevant to local service accounts, and another sign of ad products consolidating into Performance Max.
Google Ads changes target-based bidding for budget-limited campaigns, effective August 17, 2026
Google Ads confirmed in its Help documentation that from August 17, 2026, it will change how target-based bid strategies behave when a campaign is limited by budget. Until now, budget-constrained Target CPA and Target ROAS campaigns often ran well ahead of the target you set; after the change, Google will optimise toward the configured target regardless of budget. The change covers Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and Demand Gen campaigns in Google Ads. Google has said it will not adjust your targets or budgets automatically; that is left to the advertiser, and the “Check your campaign targets” alert appearing in accounts since early July is the warning for it.
What this bidding change means for B2B, ITES, and SaaS
This matters most to B2B and SaaS advertisers running Target CPA on budget-capped lead-gen Search campaigns that quietly beat their CPA goal. If that describes an account, the campaign has been buying cheaper leads than the target implies. After August 17, Google will spend up to the target instead of under it, so cost per lead can rise even though nothing in the account changed. The advertisers exposed are the ones whose CPA targets were set loosely months ago and never revised against real pipeline value. Manual CPC, Target Impression Share and Target CPM campaigns are not affected, so brand and awareness campaigns on those strategies can be left alone. Before August 17, reset the target on every budget-limited Target CPA and Target ROAS campaign to the CPA your pipeline can actually carry.
Google Search Console is logging AI Mode follow-up queries in the standard performance report
Anastasia Kourou flagged odd queries such as “yes”, “yes, go on” and “yes, pricing” appearing in her standard Search Console performance report, and John Mueller of Google confirmed the cause. When a user asks a follow-up inside AI Mode, Google counts it as a new query, and its impressions, clicks and position land in the main performance report, not in the separate generative AI report, which still carries no query data.
What this logging of the follow-up queries means for B2B, ITES, and SaaS
Teams that read Search Console query data closely will start seeing conversational fragments mixed into their keyword reports. Treated as normal searches, these distort averages. A string like “yes, pricing” is not a keyword to optimise for; rather, it is the second turn of an AI Mode conversation. Counting it alongside real queries inflates impression counts and muddies position averages on the pages feeding those answers. Companies building GEO measurement should treat these conversational rows as a distinct segment.
Google Maps turns transactional as Ask Maps gains
Google announced on August 06 that its Gemini-powered Ask Maps assistant can now complete multi-step tasks including ordering food for pickup, comparing hotel prices and finding local events, etc. rather than just answering questions. The announcement, published on Google’s blog, launches food ordering through Square and Toast, with Uber Eats named as coming soon. The transactional features are US-only at launch.
This is one more data point in the same trend as AI Overviews and AI Mode, where Google keeps more journeys inside its own surfaces and sends fewer clicks onward.
Google begins migrating Local Services Ads into Performance Max pay-per-lead campaigns
Google confirmed that Local Services Ads are moving into the main Google Ads platform as a specialised pay-per-lead Performance Max campaign type. Phase one begins in August 2026 for select US home and storefront service categories such as plumbing, HVAC and roofing, expanding through 2027. The pay-per-lead model and Search-and-Maps placement stay; the standalone LSA dashboard and historical performance reports do not carry over, with 14 days’ notice before each account migrates. Hence, Google is consolidating more ad products into Performance Max and campaign-level automation.
On Our Radar for Next Week
- The August 17, 2026 Google Ads bidding change and expect early performance reads on budget-limited Target CPA campaigns in the days after, and check accounts against your revised targets rather than platform forecasts.
- Whether ChatGPT’s move into measurable, conversion-optimised ads starts pulling B2B test budgets. The carousel is retail-first today, but the measurement integrations are the piece to watch for a B2B use case.
- Google Marketing Live in India on August 11, where Google has flagged Search and YouTube Ads announcements including Real-Time Policy Reviews for Responsive Search Ads.
White Bunnie Observation
Ahead of the 17 August Google Ads change, we audited the Target CPA campaigns across the B2B SaaS and ITES accounts we manage this week, and the exposure is not evenly spread. The accounts most at risk are the ones where a lead-gen Search campaign has been sitting budget-limited for months while quietly beating its CPA target by a wide margin. In those, Google has effectively been buying cheaper leads than the target allowed, and pulling spend up to the target will raise cost per lead unless the target is reset first. The accounts least exposed are the ones where CPA targets were rebuilt against real pipeline value in the last quarter; those targets already sit where the campaign is spending, so the change moves almost nothing. The pattern we are seeing is that the risk tracks how recently the target was set, not how large the budget is. We are recalibrating the exposed targets against lead-to-pipeline value before the deadline rather than after it.
Questions We Were Asked This Week
Four questions B2B, ITES and SaaS teams raised with us this week, each tied to a development above, with our short answers.
We run Target CPA on our lead-gen Search campaigns. Do we need to do anything before 17 August?
Only if a campaign is limited by budget and currently beating its CPA target. Those campaigns will be optimised up to the target from 17 August, so cost per lead can rise. Reset the target to what your pipeline can carry before then. Campaigns on Manual CPC or Target Impression Share are not affected.
Strange queries like “yes, pricing” are showing up in our Search Console report. Is our tracking broken?
No. When someone asks a follow-up inside AI Mode, Google logs it as a new query in the standard performance report, and John Mueller confirmed this. Treat these conversational fragments as a separate segment so they do not distort your keyword averages.
Google Maps can take food and hotel orders now. Does this touch B2B search at all?
Not directly. The transactional features are local and consumer-facing. The signal worth noting is directional. Google keeps adding surfaces where a task finishes without a click, the same pattern as AI Overviews and AI Mode. For a considered B2B purchase, that behaviour is a long way off.
