Google Ads: priorities and budget allocation by channel, what's changing

Have you ever wasted budget on channels that don't convert because Google activated them automatically? From today, you can set a precise cap for every ad network — and decide which one to fund first.

Does this Google Ads update actually affect me, or can I ignore it?

It concerns anyone managing Search, Shopping, Performance Max, or Demand Gen campaigns on Google Ads — which is the vast majority of Italian companies that advertise online. Those who don't take action by February 2027 risk seeing their budget distribution change without having decided it themselves.

Google Ads has announced two new optional controls: the channel priority and the budget allocation by network . Simply put, you can now tell Google which advertising networks to fund first and how much the secondary ones can spend.

Before these updates, the only choice was to turn a network on or off. Now there's a middle ground: keep it active, but with a spending cap.

What exactly did Google introduce, and how does it work?

Google has added two distinct levers: the first decides which network is funded first; the second sets a daily spending percentage cap for low-priority networks.

The first check is called channel prioritization (channel priority). Allows you to label each network as "High priority" or "Low priority". When a network is high priority, the budget funds it in full before moving on to secondary networks. It's like deciding that your best salesperson gets the hot leads, and only then do the remaining ones go to the others.

The second check is the budget allocation (budget allocation). When a network is set to low priority, you can specify the maximum percentage of the daily budget it can absorb. Google will do its best to respect that limit.

This second check is particularly useful for those using bidding strategies with a target cost per acquisition (CPA) or return on ad spend (ROAS) goal: in that case, priority alone isn't enough, because the system isn't limited by the total budget.

The controls apply at the account level, the individual campaign level, and also on budgets shared across multiple campaigns. The rollout is global and will happen over the coming months on Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and Demand Gen.

Why is the Google Display Network in Search campaigns the most urgent case?

Anyone with the Google Display Network active in Search campaigns must take action by February 2027, otherwise the current spending configuration will be removed and the budget could be distributed differently.

Until today, Search campaigns could include the Google Display Network (GDN) with a default spend share. Starting in February 2027, that automatic setting will disappear. Those who don't configure anything might see their budget shift to channels other than their usual ones.

The solution is simple: set the GDN to 'Low priority' with a cap at 50% of the daily budget. This replicates the current setup and doesn't change anything in practice.

What the data says: are Google's secondary networks really worth it?

Available data shows that secondary networks — such as Search Partners and Display — often have lower returns compared to pure Google search, but the answer depends on the industry and the goal.

A study by Intelligency Group, cited by PPC Land In June 2025, it was measured that the Search Partner Network generates a 37% lower return on ad spend compared to Google Search. This isn't a universal fact, but it's a signal worth checking in your own accounts.

The point isn't that secondary networks are useless: it's that until today there was no way to test them with a controlled budget. You either turned them on completely, or you turned them off. Now you can say: «I'll allocate a maximum of 20% of my daily budget to Search Partners, and see what happens».

It's also worth remembering that as of February 2026, Google made the 'Where ads appeared' report available for Performance Max campaigns as well, as reported by Search Engine Land . Before, it was impossible to know exactly where PMax ads ended up. Now you have the data to make informed decisions.

Three concrete scenarios: what changes for an e-commerce, a professional firm, and a manufacturing company?

The new controls have different impacts depending on the type of company and how current campaigns are structured.

These scenarios are illustrative: the numbers are meant to show the logic of the calculation, they are not real client data.

Why are people talking about this now: is the digital advertising market really growing?

Digital advertising in Italy and Europe is growing at a double-digit rate, and the pressure to optimize every euro spent has never been higher.

According to Internet Media Observatory of the Politecnico di Milano , in 2025 online advertising in Italy reached 6.2 billion euros, with an 11% growth compared to the previous year. For 2026, the estimate rises to 7 billion. More budget in play means a higher risk of waste on channels that aren't performing.

At the European level, the market reached 131 billion euros in 2025, with a growth of 10.5%, according to the IAB Europe AdEx Benchmark report . Paid search — advertising on search engines — accounts for 41% of all European digital spending.

How do the new controls compare to the options that already existed?

Previously, there was only an on/off switch for each network. Now there are three levels of control: on, on with a limit, off.

The topic of control over automated campaigns is also central to the broader debate on Google and Meta automation. If you want to understand how to maintain governance over AI campaigns, the article Google and Meta Ads automate: how to stay in control addresses exactly this point.

What concrete risks do those who don't configure anything face?

The main risk is losing control over budget distribution across channels with very different returns, without noticing it right away.

If you have the Google Display Network active in your Search campaigns and you don't do anything by February 2027, the spend share on the GDN will no longer be guaranteed. The budget might focus on Search or be distributed differently than it is now. It's not necessarily a problem — but you won't know until you look at the data.

The second risk is more subtle: those using bidding strategies with a CPA or ROAS target might not notice that a secondary network is absorbing budget without meeting the targets. Channel priority alone is not enough in these cases: you also need the percentage cap.

A common mistake is thinking that these checks are retroactive or automatic. They aren't: they must be configured manually. The same goes for reporting: the channel report for Performance Max, available since November 2025 as described in the official Google blog , it should be activated and read before setting any priorities.

Before touching the settings, it's also a good idea to understand how you are measuring results by channel. The article on measurement and attribution in Amazon Ads offers a useful method for asking the right questions before increasing or shifting budgets — the same approach applies to Google.

How to get started: the concrete steps to configure it now?

Setup takes less than an hour for already structured accounts, but it must be done with performance data per channel in front of you.

What are the most common mistakes made with this type of setting?

The most common mistakes stem from acting without data or confusing priority with disabling the network.

The first mistake is setting priorities without first looking at performance data by channel. If you don't know how much each network spends and with what return, you're just shifting the problem.

The second mistake is thinking that "Low priority" means "network disabled". That's not the case: the network remains active, but it only receives the remaining budget after the high-priority networks have been funded. If you want to completely exclude a network, you must explicitly disable it.

The third mistake concerns those using CPA or ROAS strategies: setting only the priority without adding the percentage cap has no practical effect, because the system isn't limited by the total budget. You need both controls together.

A fourth mistake is not updating shared budgets. If you have multiple campaigns sharing a single budget, priorities apply there too — but they must be configured separately for each campaign.

How to tell if the setup is actually working?

There are four indicators to monitor in the first few weeks after setup.

For those managing Shopping campaigns, it's worth also reading the new Google Shopping image rules for 2027 : creative quality affects performance per channel just as much as budget settings.

If you are also working on other video channels, the article on AI video for TikTok and Reels shows how to optimize creative production across multiple platforms with less budget — a complementary approach to smart allocation on Google.

So, is it worth setting up these controls for your company right away?

It is worth it if you have Search campaigns with the Google Display Network active (you must act by February 2027), or you want to test secondary networks with a controlled budget without risking wasting everything.

A middle ground have Performance Max or Demand Gen campaigns and want to understand how the budget is distributed before touching the settings: start with the report by channel, then decide.

Not yet if you have already deactivated all secondary networks and your KPIs are stable: no urgency, but keep an eye on the rollout over the next few months.

How we see it at SHM

For us, these new controls are a step in the right direction, but they risk remaining unused without a careful reading of the baseline data. Google's automation is powerful, but it doesn't replace a human's ability to interpret numbers and decide where to allocate the budget. We believe AI should be used to free companies from operational routine — not to delegate strategic choices without understanding them.

In our experience with structured Google Ads accounts, the problem is almost never the platform: it's the lack of an initial audit that separates channels that perform from those that consume budget without delivering value. The new controls make this audit even more urgent and useful.

If you want to understand how your Google Ads account is distributing your budget and if the new controls are right for you, we can help you with a Google Ads campaign audit and optimization . If, on the other hand, you are evaluating how to integrate these tools into a broader strategy, our service of strategic AI integration can help you build a solid governance system. You can also explore all the cluster updates Marketing and ADV performance to stay updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

You don't optimize your budget by turning off channels you don't understand: you optimize it by reading the data and setting precise limits on the ones that aren't performing well enough.