Google Ads is gradually giving advertisers more control over which channels receive their budget first. The new controls, announced on 14 October, are called channel prioritisation and budget allocation. Google says rollout began on 15 October and will continue over the coming months, so you may not see them in your account yet.
The controls cover Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns, with different channel groups available in each. In Search, for example, Google Search, search partners and the Google Display Network can be given different priorities. Performance Max and Demand Gen group Google's own surfaces together as “Google channels”; they do not let you set separate priorities for Search, YouTube and Maps inside that group.
What the settings actually do
All eligible channels start at High priority. If you put a channel at Low priority, Google aims to fund the High-priority group first, subject to the campaign's bidding target and budget. You can also set a percentage of the average daily budget for a Low-priority channel on supported campaign types. That percentage is a best-effort limit, so an individual day can exceed it. Demand Gen supports priority settings but not budget allocation.
There is an important catch: when a target CPA or target ROAS campaign is not limited by budget, changing priority alone generally will not change how spend is distributed. A Low-priority budget allocation can still have an effect. This is a reason to look at your actual campaign configuration before turning a new control into a rule.
A practical check this week
- In each Google Ads account, check whether the Channel Prioritization card is available in Account settings or the campaign's Settings. The rollout is progressive.
- Review which campaign types and channels are currently enabled. Compare spend and outcomes by channel before changing priorities.
- Decide whether a limited test on Search partners or Display makes sense for your goals. If you change a setting, record the date and watch both volume and quality of results.
- If you use Display Expansion on Search campaigns, note Google's February 2027 change. Google says a Low-priority Display Network setting with a 50% daily allocation is the way to keep the current spend configuration, but the allocation remains best-effort.
This is an optional control, not an instruction to switch off partner networks or move every campaign at once. If your team or agency manages the account, agree on the test and how it will be measured before applying it.