Google Ads releases a new set of beta features every quarter, giving advertisers early access to tools and updates that shape the future of the platform. With Q2 2025 wrapped, we thought it would be a great time to highlight some of our favorite betas from this round.
These features offer exciting opportunities to optimize performance and test new strategies. We’ll dive into what Google Ads betas are and which to maybe consider in your marketing strategy.
What are Google Ads Betas? Why are They Important?
According to Cobrief, Betas are “a pre-release version of software, apps, or services that are made available to users for testing and feedback purposes”. In other words, Betas are new features that Google is incentivizing you to try within the ads platform.
Betas usually can only be accessed through the support of a Google Representative, who you may have at either an agency or account level. Here at Workshop Digital, we are lucky enough to have the support of both an agency representative and individual account-level representatives. In the digital marketing industry, it’s important to always be testing and trying new things. New features can help you find more efficient performance for your accounts.
What Are Our Favorite Google Ads Betas from Q2 2025?
Now that we’ve covered what Betas are and why they matter, let’s dive in. Below are some of our favorite Google Ads Betas from Q2 2025.
One common theme across these new features is ease of activation. Each Beta can be enabled or disabled with a simple toggle, making adoption quick, seamless, and low-risk. You may have already noticed some of these features appearing in your accounts. If so, consider yourself one of the lucky early testers! If not, don’t worry! They may be rolling out of Beta and heading your way soon.
1. AI Max for Search Campaigns
AI Max for Search Campaigns is a new feature you can easily toggle on within your existing Search campaigns. It leverages Google’s AI to enhance both targeting and creative. From what we’ve seen, it feels like a hybrid between Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) and Google Ads Recommendations, automating elements like text customization and URL selection to improve relevance.
One notable change: Brand inclusions and exclusions are now only accessible if you're using AI Max for Search. That’s a big shift, and one we’ll be watching closely.
Our Paid Media team is cautiously optimistic. As always, we’re eager to test, learn, and, if needed, be proven wrong.
2. Multiple Control vs. Performance Max (PMax)
This Beta brings a major upgrade to how advertisers can test Performance Max through experiments, and our team was excited to see it.
Previously, you could only compare one control campaign against a PMax Shopping campaign, limiting the depth of your tests. As it’s typically best practice to break out Brand and Non-Brand campaigns within Google Shopping, this previously made PMax testing increasingly difficult since only one test campaign could be chosen. Now, with this new Beta, you can select multiple control campaigns, such as both Brand and Non-Brand, to test against a single PMax campaign. In fact, you can include up to five control campaigns in a single experiment.
This enhancement allows for a more accurate and nuanced comparison between your current Shopping setup and a comparable PMax campaign, making it easier to evaluate performance and inform strategy.
3. Lead Generation Cohort Pilot
This pilot is designed to improve lead quality by feeding qualified lead data—along with GCLIDs—back into Google from your Display, Demand Gen, and PMax campaigns. The goal? To help Google's algorithm learn whether backend improvements are actually driving better leads.
So what’s in it for you? Participating advertisers get priority access to Display Betas, early insight into product roadmaps, and even ad credits as an incentive.
At the moment, this is a closed Beta, so only select advertisers are included. But it’s one to watch. We’re curious to see how it evolves and what broader access might look like in the future.
4. Smart Bidding Exploration
Smart Bidding Exploration is a new toggle within campaign settings that gives Google’s bidding algorithm more flexibility when optimizing for performance.
So how does this differ from traditional Smart Bidding? Let’s take Target ROAS (tROAS) as an example. In a typical setup, the algorithm bids based on the likelihood of achieving your ROAS target, often favoring high-volume queries with a strong historical track record. As a result, lower-volume keywords tend to be deprioritized or underbid.
With Smart Bidding Exploration enabled, Google gives the system more room to explore and bid on lower-volume queries that may hold untapped conversion potential. Essentially, it opens the door to discovering new pockets of performance that would otherwise be overlooked.
Our team sees this as a promising opportunity for testing—especially to evaluate whether the quality and efficiency of these newly surfaced queries hold up.
5. Gross Profit Optimization for Pmax and Shopping Campaigns
Traditionally, Google’s bidding algorithm aims to maximize revenue from your conversions. But with this new feature enabled, the system shifts focus, bidding instead to maximize gross profit.
Unlike revenue, gross profit takes your cost of goods sold (COGS) into account, offering a more accurate picture of your actual margins. This is a meaningful step forward for advertisers who want to optimize not just for top-line growth, but for true business impact.
Our team believes this shift toward holistic metrics like gross profit is key to a more strategic campaign. It allows for more informed decision-making and ensures that your paid media efforts are aligned with what really matters… profitability.
Wrapping Up: What’s Next for Google’s Betas?
Google continues to release Betas each quarter that push automation, performance, and profitability forward… and we’re here for it. If you’re managing Google Ads accounts and want to stay ahead of the curve, getting early access to these features can give you more tools to test and optimize with.
Whether you're looking to test these Betas or need help interpreting results, our Paid Media team is here to support you. We've already started to see these features rolling out across some of our client accounts and would love to help you explore what’s possible.
Curious about how these Betas could fit into your digital marketing strategy? Learn more about Google Display Ads or start a conversation.
