Google shipped Ads API v26 on October 14, 2026, and the quiet part is the loudest: incrementality data and Local Services campaign creation are now programmable. If you use a bid platform, reporting tool or agency script, the update matters before you open the interface.
Search Lift moves into reporting pipelines
The API now exposes read-only Search Lift studies: a new SearchLiftKeywordBundle resource, two segments, and 15 new metrics including relative_search_lift, normalized_incremental_searches and search_lift_impressions. With v25.1’s 24 Conversion Lift metrics, that’s 39 lift metrics across two releases.
Search Lift is an incrementality test that holds back a share of users and compares search behavior, measuring branded queries on Google and YouTube instead of transactions. API access means agencies and measurement vendors can pull those results into their own models, rather than exporting screenshots.
One caveat: Google designs, runs and reports these studies, so easier collection is not the same as independent measurement.
Local Services Performance Max becomes programmable
Developers can now create Local Services Performance Max campaigns by setting PmaxCampaignSettings.local_services_enabled at creation and adding the country code and Google Business Profile listing ID. The setting is immutable, so a standard PMax campaign cannot be converted later.
That matters during Google’s Local Services Ads migration. Agencies building campaigns for plumbing, HVAC or roofing clients can remove a manual step and scale builds before the 2027 phases arrive.
The compliance and code changes to check
- EU political ads: The declaration becomes optional for campaigns that target only non-EU locations and use no proximity or location groups.
- Hotel bid modifiers: Five travel-specific criteria are renamed to vertical-agnostic terms, such as “length of stay” becoming “length of booking.”
- Enhanced conversions: The account-level field is replaced by two unified settings.
- Demand Gen budgets: CurrencyConstant now exposes the local minimum daily budget, so tools can validate before a call fails.
Any code that reads the old hotel modifier names or the old enhanced conversions field needs updating before you call v26. Google’s reminder is blunt: you must upgrade client libraries and client code to use the new capabilities.
What to do this week
Pin your current API version, audit references to the renamed fields, and flag any campaign builder that assumes Local Services PMax can switch type later. If you run non-EU campaigns, check the three targeting conditions before skipping the political declaration. Then use the new CurrencyConstant minimum to pre-validate Demand Gen budgets.
The faster two-releases-a-month cadence means the next breaking change will arrive sooner than it used to.
Source: PPC Land
