Bidding & Budget, News & Updates

Bidding & Budget, News & Updates

Google Ads Channel Prioritization and Budget Allocation Controls Explained

By SEM Insider Team

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Published October 22, 2026
Updated

SEM Insider · Bidding & Budget

By SEM Insider Editorial Team · Updated October 23, 2026 · 7 min read

The short answer

Google Ads announced two new budget controls on October 14, 2026, rolling out progressively from October 15. Channel prioritization lets you mark channels High or Low priority, so Google funds the High ones first. Budget allocation lets you cap a Low-priority channel at a percentage of your average daily budget. Together they replace the old all-or-nothing choice for Search Partners and the Display Network.

Available in: Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen (Demand Gen gets prioritization only)
Set at: account, campaign or shared budget level (not from manager accounts)
Caps are best-effort, not hard limits
Deadline to know: in February 2027, Search campaigns with Display Expansion move to this system automatically
To keep today’s behavior: set the Display Network to Low priority with a 50% allocation

In this guide

What the new controls do
How to use them by campaign type
FAQ

What the new controls do

Channel prioritization

Each eligible channel gets one of two tiers. High-priority channels get first claim on the budget. Low-priority channels get what’s left. A typical Search setup puts Google Search on High and Search Partners and the Display Network on Low.

One catch matters a lot: prioritization only changes spend when a campaign is limited by budget. If you run Target CPA or Target ROAS and the campaign isn’t budget-capped, you’ll see little difference.

Budget allocation

For any Low-priority channel, you can set a maximum percentage of the campaign’s average daily budget. Google’s own example: a 5% allocation on a $1,000 daily budget means the system aims to keep that channel at or under $50 a day. It’s a target, not a guarantee, so expect some days to run over.

In Performance Max, Google’s Ads Liaison confirmed you can set Search Partners to Low priority with a 0% allocation. That’s the closest thing yet to excluding Search Partners from PMax.

What each campaign type can control

Campaign type	Channels you can set	Budget allocation	Watch-outs
Search	Google Search, Search Partners, Display Network	Yes	Display Expansion migrates Feb 2027
Shopping	Google Search, Search Partners	Yes	Not applied with campaign total budgets
Performance Max	Google channels (grouped), Search Partners, Display Network	Yes	YouTube, Search, Gmail, Maps and Discover stay bundled
Demand Gen	Google channels, Display Network	No	Prioritization only

Your existing opt-in and opt-out settings for Search Partners and the Display Network stay as they are. Individual placement exclusions also remain. The new controls are optional, and they’re available in the Google Ads API from launch.

The February 2027 change you can’t ignore

Today, Search campaigns with the Display Network turned on automatically favor Search inventory. In February 2027, that built-in behavior goes away and those campaigns move to the new system. If you do nothing, spend may shift toward Display. Google says to set the Display Network to Low priority with a 50% allocation to keep things as they are. The Display Network will also stop serving on Search campaigns using Target Impression Share.

How to use them, by campaign type

Search campaigns

If you excluded Search Partners in the past, test it again at 5–10% on Low priority. Judge it on cost per conversion after two to four weeks, not on CTR.
If Display Expansion is on, set Display to Low priority now, either at 50% to keep current behavior or lower if Display has underperformed.
Use the network segment in reports to compare Google Search and Search Partners until Google ships expanded channel reporting (expected Q1 2027).

Shopping campaigns

Set Google Search to High and Search Partners to Low with a modest cap. This works well ahead of BFCM, when budgets are tight and you want spend on the core results page.

Performance Max

If Search Partners drives junk or low-value conversions, set Search Partners to Low with 0% and confirm spend stops in the channel performance report.
Keep in mind you still can’t split YouTube from Search inside PMax.

Demand Gen

Use prioritization to favor Google-owned surfaces like YouTube and Discover over the Display Network. There’s no percentage cap here.

Small budgets

For accounts spending around $1,500–$2,500 a month, the cleanest setup is still a single Search campaign with Google Search on High. Leave Search Partners and Display off, or at a small cap, until you have enough conversion data to judge them. See our one-campaign launch framework for the full approach.

Checklist

☐ Inventory every Search campaign with the Display Network turned on
☐ Set Display to Low priority (50% to keep current behavior) before February 2027
☐ Decide on a Search Partners test or a 0% PMax setting per account
☐ Note which campaigns are budget-limited, since only those respond to prioritization
☐ Review channel spend weekly for the first month

Frequently asked questions

What is channel prioritization in Google Ads?

It’s a setting that ranks the channels a campaign can spend on as High or Low priority. Google spends on High-priority channels first and gives Low-priority channels what remains.

Can I cap Search Partners spend in Google Ads?

Yes. Set Search Partners to Low priority, then set a maximum percentage of your daily budget. The cap is best-effort, not guaranteed.

Can I exclude Search Partners from Performance Max now?

Effectively, yes. Google’s Ads Liaison confirmed you can set Search Partners to Low priority with a 0% allocation in PMax.

Does channel prioritization work with Target CPA or Target ROAS?

Only when the campaign is limited by budget. If budget isn’t the constraint, prioritization changes very little.

Does Demand Gen support budget allocation?

No. Demand Gen supports channel prioritization only.

What happens to Display Expansion in February 2027?

Search campaigns with the Display Network on will migrate to the new system, and the old Search-first behavior ends. Set Display to Low priority with 50% allocation to keep current spend patterns.

Can I set this from a manager (MCC) account?

No. You set it in each account, at the account, campaign or shared budget level.

Sources

Written and reviewed by

SEM Insider Editorial Team

Every guide is checked against Google’s official documentation and reviewed for policy compliance before it is published. We update articles when the product changes and note what changed.