Market Intelligence Log
External events that affect PPC performance but originate outside our account. Platform changes, competitor moves, market shifts, and industry news.
For internal operational events (GMC suspensions, budget changes, campaign pauses), see google/operational-log.md.
When adding entries: include the date announced, date effective (if different), source, and which campaigns/channels are likely affected.
2026
Jan 2026: Google Ads — Account-level placement exclusions unified
Announced: January 2026 What changed: A single unified placement exclusion list now applies across PMax, Display, YouTube, and Demand Gen campaigns simultaneously. Previously exclusions had to be managed per campaign type. Impact: Makes it easier to block junk Display/YouTube placements account-wide. Relevant to PMax campaigns (Table Tops, Knife Rack) where low-quality placements were consuming budget. Source: Google Ads Account-Level Placement Exclusions Guide
2025: Google Ads — Campaign-level negative keywords for PMax
Announced: 2025 What changed: PMax campaigns can now have up to 10,000 campaign-level negative keywords. Previously PMax had no negative keyword support. Impact: Only applies to Search and Shopping inventory within PMax — does NOT prevent Display/YouTube junk placements. Useful for preventing brand cannibalisation and irrelevant search matches. Source: Google Ads 2025 Year-in-Review
2025: Google Ads — PMax feed-only loophole closing
Announced: Late 2025 What changed: Google started auto-generating ads from product feed images for YouTube and Display placements, even in PMax campaigns with no creative assets. Previously, not uploading assets forced PMax to spend only on Shopping. Google also now requires minimum 3 headlines to save an asset group (workaround: create campaign via Merchant Center). Impact: The “feed-only PMax” strategy for preventing Display bleed is becoming less reliable. Standard Shopping campaigns may be the only way to guarantee Shopping-only placement. Source: PMax News: End of Feed-Only?
Nov 2025: Google Ads — PMax channel-level reporting
Announced: November 2025 What changed: PMax now shows performance broken down by channel (Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail). Previously PMax was a black box with no visibility into which channels drove performance. Impact: We can now see exactly how much budget goes to junk Display placements vs productive Shopping clicks. This data should be captured in our sync if/when we add PMax channel reporting. Source: Google’s November 2025 PMax Updates
Nov 2024: Google Ads — 11-year data retention policy
Announced: November 2024
What changed: Reporting data collected by Google Ads will be available for 11 years, after which it will not be accessible via the interface or APIs. Reach and frequency metrics limited to 3 years.
Impact: Historical metrics are safe for a decade, but campaign configuration changes (via change_event) are still only available for 30 days. Reinforces the need for our own config snapshot system.
Source: Google Ads 11-Year Data Retention Policy
To Research / Monitor
Items to investigate and add when confirmed:
- Amazon advertising on Google Shopping — any changes to Amazon’s Shopping presence in UK market? Amazon historically dominates certain product categories in Google Shopping auctions. Changes to their bidding or product range directly affect CPC and impression share for competitors.
- Google Shopping free listings vs paid — any recent changes to the balance of organic vs paid Shopping results?
- UK e-commerce seasonality patterns — cost of living impact on furniture/homewares spend in Q1 2026
- Competitor activity — any new entrants bidding on “hairpin leg” brand terms? (Impression share drop on Brand Search suggests competitor entry around Jan 27)