If you run a business in Africa, you already know getting found online can feel like trying to shout across a football stadium. Enter: Google AI Max for Search Campaigns.
Imagine the struggle of being found online, but now you have a megaphone.
What is AI Max?
Announced on 8 May 2025, AI Max is a global beta (yes, including Africa!). It’s an upgrade to Google’s existing Search Ads platform.
Google AI Max taps into existing AI models (like Gemini) to help local businesses show up in more relevant search results. Even when customers don’t use the exact right keywords.
Think of it this way: a tailor in Lagos might now pop up when someone searches “custom suits for weddings”.
The business will show in results even if it never used those exact words.
Why Google AI Max matters
Africa’s markets are multilingual, fast-moving, and, as any SEO expert will tell you, notoriously tricky when it comes to traditional keyword targeting.
AI Max handles that complexity better by:
- Expanding search terms automatically.
- Customising ad text based on real-time search intent.
- Sending users to the most relevant page on your site (not just your homepage).
- Giving you more control over location targeting and brand filtering.
Think of it as a setting you turn on inside your existing Search campaigns. Except no dramatic migrations needed.
Early results are promising
According to Google’s Brian Burdick, early adopters saw an average 14% increase in conversions without a spike in cost-per-action.
For businesses still clinging to exact-match keyword strategies, the boost was even bigger (27%, based on Google’s 2025 internal data).
This is an exciting update, since small business owners in Africa don’t always have the luxury of bloated marketing budgets.
They’re running stock, sales, and customer service. Often simultaneously.
If AI Max can stretch ad spend further by automatically finding higher-intent customers, that’s not just convenient. That’s survival.
But don’t misinterpret the update
According to former Googler Jyll Saskin Gales, AI Max “is not a hot new thing in Google Ads”, and it’s not a new campaign type or keyword match type.
She says it’s an optional setting in Search Campaigns, and it “will replace the current ‘broad match settings’ in the campaign settings”.
“Google is bringing advertisers MORE control and transparency with AI Max, not less,” she adds.
Meanwhile, Chris Ridley, in conversation with Search Engine Land, warns users: “Check your campaign settings very closely to ensure AI Max isn’t switched on without your knowledge.”
Google AI Max: TL;DR
Google’s AI Max won’t replace smart strategy.
But for African entrepreneurs trying to get seen and grow faster, it might just be the most important new setting they turn on this year.
