Google Ads is introducing new budget controls designed to give advertisers greater influence over where their advertising spend goes. The changes will allow businesses to prioritise certain advertising channels and set percentage limits on lower-priority channels, helping them manage how their budgets are distributed across Google’s advertising network.
For businesses running Google Ads, this is a welcome development. Campaign budgets can be spread across Google Search, Search Partners, Display, YouTube, Maps and other placements, sometimes without advertisers fully understanding where their money is being spent.
The new controls should make it easier to direct more budget towards the channels that matter most to a business. However, with Google also warning of upcoming changes to spending patterns in some Search campaigns from February 2027, now is a sensible time to review existing campaign settings and make sure advertising budgets are being used effectively.
Where does your Google Ads budget go?
When a business invests in Google Ads, it is easy to assume that most of its budget is being spent showing adverts to people actively searching for its products or services.
However, Google offers several advertising channels, each reaching potential customers in different ways.
For example, Search campaigns can appear on Google Search and, depending on their settings, Search Partners. Some Search campaigns may also be eligible to show adverts across the Display Network.
Meanwhile, Performance Max campaigns can distribute advertising across several Google properties, including Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Gmail, Discover and Maps.
These channels serve different purposes. Someone searching Google for an emergency plumber may be ready to make an enquiry immediately, while someone seeing a Display advert on a news website might only be discovering the business for the first time.
Both types of advertising can be useful, but the commercial value of each interaction may be very different.
For businesses focused on generating enquiries or sales, understanding this distinction is essential when deciding how their advertising budget should be allocated.
What are Google’s new channel prioritisation controls?
Google’s latest announcement introduces additional options for advertisers to influence how budgets are distributed between advertising channels. These include the ability to prioritise particular channels and apply percentage limits to spending on channels considered less important.
For example, a business might want to prioritise Google Search because it consistently generates qualified enquiries, while allowing a smaller proportion of its budget to support Display advertising or other placements.
The new controls are intended to make this type of allocation easier to manage, reducing the need for advertisers to rely entirely on Google’s automated distribution decisions.
The changes are relevant to advertisers using campaign types such as Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen, although the controls available will depend on the campaign type and Google’s rollout.
Importantly, setting a spending limit does not guarantee that the remaining budget will be spent or that prioritised channels will generate additional conversions. Campaign performance will still depend on factors such as search demand, competition, targeting and advert quality.
Why should businesses review their Search Partners and Display activity?
One area worth reviewing is how much advertising spend goes towards Search Partners and the Display Network.
Google Search Partners extends the reach of Search campaigns beyond Google’s own search results to other participating websites and search experiences. The Display Network allows adverts to appear across a much wider range of websites and apps.
These placements can provide additional reach and conversions, but their performance can vary considerably depending on the business and its objectives.
For example, a company advertising a specialist commercial service might find that enquiries generated through Google Search are more relevant than those coming from Display placements.
If the business is paying for enquiries that rarely become customers, continuing to allocate a substantial budget to those placements may be difficult to justify.
Reviewing channel performance helps advertisers understand where their money is going and whether those channels are contributing towards meaningful business results.
What is changing for Search campaigns in February 2027?
Google has also warned that some Search campaigns using the Display Network could experience changes to their spending patterns from February 2027.
This makes it particularly important for advertisers to review their existing network settings rather than assume that campaigns will continue operating in exactly the same way.
Businesses should check whether their Search campaigns are currently eligible to serve adverts on the Display Network and assess how those placements have performed historically.
Where Display advertising is generating useful enquiries at an acceptable cost, maintaining some level of investment may be worthwhile.
However, where results are consistently weaker, advertisers may want to reconsider how much budget is allocated to that activity.
The key is to make these decisions using actual campaign performance data before any changes take effect.
How can businesses tell which advertising channels deliver the best results?
Knowing where advertising spend goes is only part of the picture. Businesses also need to understand what that spend produces.
Google Ads provides information about campaign costs, clicks and conversions, but these figures need to be interpreted carefully.
For example, two advertising channels might each generate ten enquiries from the same budget. However, if one produces eight genuine sales opportunities and the other produces only two, their commercial value is very different.
This is why accurate conversion tracking is important. Businesses should ideally measure meaningful actions such as completed enquiry forms, telephone calls, purchases or confirmed bookings.
Where possible, connecting advertising data with actual sales outcomes can provide further insight into which campaigns generate valuable customers.
This makes it easier to identify where budgets should be increased, reduced or redistributed.
What should businesses do before changing their Google Ads budgets?
Before adjusting campaign settings, businesses should review how their advertising currently performs. A useful starting point is to examine the distribution of spend across existing campaigns, including Search Partners, Display activity and the available Performance Max placement reports.
From there, businesses can identify which channels are producing conversions and whether those conversions represent worthwhile commercial opportunities.
It is also worth reviewing whether campaign objectives reflect the company’s current priorities. A business focused on generating immediate enquiries may need a different budget allocation from one trying to increase awareness of a new product.
Any changes should be introduced carefully, with performance monitored afterwards. Reducing spend on one channel may affect overall reach or conversions, particularly where different channels contribute at different stages of the buying process.
The aim should be to make better-informed decisions about advertising investment, supported by reliable performance data.
What do In Front Digital recommend?
With Google introducing greater control over advertising budgets, we recommend that businesses review their existing Google Ads campaigns to understand exactly where their money is being spent and which channels are delivering the strongest commercial results.
This should include checking Search Partners and Display activity, reviewing Performance Max placements, and ensuring conversion tracking accurately reflects valuable enquiries or sales.
Businesses using the Display Network within Search campaigns should also review their settings ahead of February 2027. Google advises setting Display to low priority with a 50% budget allocation to preserve the existing configuration, although a different limit may better suit individual campaign objectives.
A regular Google Ads budget audit can help identify wasted spend, improve channel allocation and ensure advertising investment remains aligned with business priorities.
FAQs
What are Google’s new channel prioritisation controls?
Google Ads is introducing settings that allow advertisers to categorise advertising channels as high or low priority, helping determine where campaign budgets are allocated first.
Can businesses limit how much they spend on Google Display advertising?
Yes. The new budget allocation controls allow advertisers to set percentage spending limits on lower-priority channels, although Google applies these limits on a best-effort basis.
What is changing to Google Ads in February 2027?
Some Search campaigns using the Google Display Network may experience changes in how their budgets are distributed. Advertisers should review their settings before these changes take effect.
How can I find out where my Google Ads budget is being spent?
Google Ads provides campaign, network and channel performance information. Reviewing these reports alongside conversion tracking can help identify which placements are generating valuable results.
Will the new Google Ads controls automatically improve campaign performance?
Not necessarily. The controls offer greater influence over budget distribution, but results will still depend on campaign targeting, competition, advert quality and the accuracy of conversion tracking.