Google Ads automatically created assets and AI videos: what Google makes for you and how to turn each one off
Google makes videos, headlines, images and sitelinks for Performance Max by default. What each feature creates, where it shows, and how to switch it off.
- Hristijan Jankulovski
- 9 min read
In a Performance Max campaign, Google's help center lists almost every creative automation as on by default: an auto-generated video when your asset group has none, video enhancements (vertical, square and shorter cuts of your video), image enhancements, AI-written headlines and descriptions ("text customization", which Google says "was formerly known as Automatically created assets"), Final URL expansion, and account-level sitelinks, callouts, snippets, locations and promotions. Each one has its own switch in a different place. The auto-generated video has none: Google says "The system disables auto-generated video ads if the user uploads their own videos."
What does Google Ads create automatically?
Google's page Performance Max automation feature availability lists the features and their defaults:
| Feature | What Google says it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-generated video | "If you don't have your own video, Google AI will generate a video using your existing Performance Max campaign assets." | On |
| Video enhancements | Vertical and square versions of a horizontal video, and shorter versions | On |
| Image enhancements | "crop, uncrop, animate, blur, and filter options" | On |
| Image extraction | Pulls images from your landing pages | Account-level setting |
| Text customization | "Google AI generates new descriptions and headlines." | On |
| Final URL expansion | "replaces your Final URL with a more relevant landing page" | On |
| Dynamic sitelinks, structured snippets, callouts, business information | Built from your site and shown with your ads | On |
| Automated location assets, automated promotions | Locations and offers Google finds for you | On |
The last two rows are account-level automated assets. Google's account-level page adds dynamic image assets ("may show instead of manually uploaded image assets"), seller ratings and site visits to the list for Search.
Where do the AI-generated videos come from?
From your other assets. Google's page About Performance Max video automation says auto-generated video ads "are created automatically by Google AI when you don't have active, user uploaded videos in your Performance Max Asset Groups. Google Ads creates these videos using your existing images and text assets." Its video assets page adds that with Merchant Center, "a video may also be generated based on the Merchant Center text and images provided in your feed."
They run where a video can: the same page says videos make your ads "eligible to run on additional video inventory", and asks for a vertical video of 10–60 seconds for Shorts. One documented side effect: "Performance Max campaigns that use auto-generated videos may show customers who visit your landing page a different product than the one featured in your video." Google's fix is to use product filters so the asset group holds only the products on its landing page.
Video enhancements are a separate feature that edits a video you did upload. Google's video enhancements page describes three kinds:
- Orientations: "Google AI intelligently flips or extends your video in new aspect ratios." Its "Model 2 uses generative AI to extend your original video in new aspect ratios."
- Shorter versions: Google's model "selects key moments in your video and creates shorter versions."
- Added voiceover: Google AI "will select one of your provided text assets, turn it into voice-over, and merge both pieces of creative to produce a new video asset." English accounts and assets only, and Performance Max only.
"Video enhancements don't apply to auto-generated videos," per the video automation page.
How do I turn off auto-generated videos in Performance Max?
Upload your own. Google offers no checkbox for auto-generated video ads; the video automation page says the system disables them "if the user uploads their own videos," and the video assets page says videos "may be auto-generated" when you don't add one. The same page recommends one video per orientation (16:9, 1:1 and 9:16, each 10 seconds or more) and up to 15. If you upload only a horizontal one, video enhancements can still make vertical and square versions from it unless you turn those off too.
Before you upload, check the frame against YouTube's overlays: Google's templates are measured in YouTube's ad safe zones, and the free ad size checker reads a file's ratio and size.
How do I turn off each of the others?
Each switch is in a different place, per Google's pages:
| Feature | Where to turn it off |
|---|---|
| Video enhancements (Performance Max) | Campaign settings → Asset optimization → Video → uncheck Enhancement |
| Video enhancements (Demand Gen) | The Creative optimizations card: Shorter videos, Resized videos, Landing page previews, Generated text |
| Video enhancements (Video views, Video reach) | Edit the ad → Get vertical versions of your videos (on by default) |
| Image enhancements | Campaign settings → Asset optimization → Image Enhancement or Landing page images |
| Text customization (Performance Max) | Campaign settings → Asset optimization → Text customization → Generation and Final URL |
| Text customization (Search) | Campaign settings → AI Max → Asset optimization → Text customization |
| Account-level automated assets | Assets → Associations → ⋮ → Account level automated assets → ⋮ → Advanced settings → turn off each asset |
| Optimizations with a Merchant Center feed | Your account manager or Google support; "Requests are typically processed in 3-5 business days" |
Three details catch people out:
- Search's setting has moved into AI Max. Google says "starting in September 2026, campaigns using text customization, formerly known as automatically created assets, will automatically be upgraded to AI Max." The legacy setting began moving there in May 2025, and "After you disable the legacy Automatically Created Assets feature, you won't be able to enable it again."
- Text and Final URL are tied. In Performance Max, "You can't select Final URL without selecting Text assets." In Search, "disabling text customization will turn off the Final URL expansion setting as well."
- Account-level assets have a campaign override in Performance Max: "Campaigns will default to the account-level setting. However, you can toggle this feature at the campaign level and override the account-level setting per campaign."
How do I see what Google made, and remove it?
For text, in the asset report. Google's Performance Max page says its customized text assets appear with "the designation 'Automatically created' in the 'Source' column," and its control page says they show "under the 'Added by' column labeled as 'Google AI'." Pick Remove from the status menu; "When a Google customized text asset is removed, it is permanently removed." In Search, Google's FAQ points to the asset report for the assets and the combination report "to review the actual combinations and ads that served."
Search also shows samples before you opt in. Per About text customization in Search campaigns, "Google AI automatically generates a representative sample of up to 10 example assets of headlines and descriptions" in the Asset optimization section, and text guidelines (a pilot) let you exclude terms and set a tone.
The same page says what happens after launch: assets "are reviewed - and refreshed as needed - at least every 48 hours," and "will only serve if they are predicted to perform better than the headlines and description lines you uploaded." Generated text doesn't count toward the 15 headlines and 4 descriptions of a responsive search ad, and the FAQ says generative AI text is for "Advertisers with English assets."
For video, Google says an enhanced version can be viewed "by visiting your Performance Max asset group," and for added voiceover, "If you click on a video that's been updated with this feature, you'll be able to preview the voiceover, remove, or delete it." Google's video automation page describes a quality review before an enhanced video serves ("Only enhanced assets that pass quality reviews will be added to your campaign") and no approval step for you.
For account-level assets: Assets → Add filter → Added by → Google AI. Showing them is free; Google says "you're typically charged as usual for clicks on your ad," including a click on an automatically created call button, with no more than two clicks charged per impression.
Are Google's AI-made assets labeled as AI?
Sometimes, and you may not get to choose. Google's AI content label settings page says "When you use Google's fully-automated features to create and serve creatives, assets may be labeled as AI created or edited on your behalf," and "In any of these cases, labels cannot be overwritten." On campaigns that target the European Union, India, New York, California, South Korea or Vietnam, Google says assets designated as AI created or edited also get "visible overlays on the ads." Google adds that it embeds "non-visible SynthID digital watermarks and C2PA" markup "into all images and videos generated within Google Ads tools."
If you add your own AI label to an image, Google's advice is to "Opt-out of image enhancements. These can crop your label." AI disclosure rules for avatar ads set Google's label setting beside Meta's and TikTok's.
Keeping Performance Max to the creative you chose
- Upload your own videos in 16:9, 1:1 and 9:16 if you don't want Google to make one.
- Decide on video and image enhancements in Asset optimization; both start on.
- Read the text customization boxes. Unchecking Text assets also takes Final URL expansion with it.
- Check account-level automated assets once for the whole account, then override per campaign where needed.
- After launch, filter assets by Added by: Google AI and remove what you wouldn't have written.
- If you sell from a Merchant Center feed, use product filters so an auto-generated video and its landing page show the same product.
Sources
- Performance Max automation feature availability — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
- About Performance Max video automation — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
- About video assets for Performance Max campaigns — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
- About video enhancements — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
- About Performance Max automatically enhanced images — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
- About text customization in Performance Max campaigns — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
- Controlling text customization in Performance Max campaigns — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
- About text customization in Search campaigns — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
- Turn text customization on or off in Search campaigns — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
- Text customization frequently asked questions — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
- Performance Max account-level automated assets — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
- About account level automated assets — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
- Use AI content label settings and disclosures — Google Ads Help (accessed November 11, 2026)
Google renames these settings often (automatically created assets became text customization, then moved into AI Max), so check the source before relying on a menu path.
Terrads makes vertical and square video ads from your product photos, with a plan you approve before anything is made, so your asset group carries a video you chose.