May 2026 Google and Microsoft updates.

Digital advertising platforms continue to evolve.

The latest updates from Google and Microsoft are giving dealerships more control over targeting, creative, and measurement.

These changes are not just feature upgrades. They directly impact how efficiently you can reach new buyers, how you present your inventory, and how you evaluate performance.

Google Performance Max now allows customer list exclusions.

Google is rolling out the ability to exclude customer lists in Performance Max campaigns. This includes audiences such as recent converters or existing customers. Performance Max has historically leaned heavily on automation, often prioritizing users already familiar with your dealership. While that can drive short-term conversions, it limits your ability to grow market share. With customer list exclusions, dealerships can now shift focus toward net-new buyers. This is especially important in competitive markets where conquesting and incremental growth are key to hitting sales goals.

Veo brings AI video creation directly into Google Ads.

Google has introduced Veo, a generative video tool built into Asset Studio. It allows advertisers to turn static images into short-form videos designed for platforms like YouTube. When paired with tools like Nano Banana, dealers can now create personalized video variations tailored to different audiences, models, or offers in a matter of minutes.

Standard Shopping With Vehicle Feeds Campaigns are rolling out.

After sunsetting Standard Shopping in favor of Performance Max back in 2023, Google has been slowly rolling out Shopping Ads for Vehicle Ads to accounts. Standard Shopping campaigns with vehicle feeds have more control over what subset of their inventory is shown to customers. This will improve shopping visibility and focus Vehicle Inventory on shopping placements rather than awareness channels like Video & Display. Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns can be used together to cover the full customer journey more effectively.

Microsoft tests larger shopping ad placements.

Microsoft is experimenting with a new shopping layout that increases the visibility of paid listings at the top of search results pages. This change could drive more impressions and clicks to shopping campaigns, especially for high-intent searches. However, it also reduces visibility for organic listings and increases competition among advertisers. For dealerships, this means that relying solely on organic inventory listings may not be enough to stay competitive.

Microsoft introduces data-driven attribution.

Microsoft Advertising has launched data-driven attribution, bringing its measurement capabilities closer to Google Ads. This model uses machine learning to assign credit across multiple touchpoints instead of relying on last-click attribution. With data-driven attribution, dealerships can get a more accurate view of how customers move through the funnel and which campaigns are contributing to conversions.

Your May checklist: How dealers can act on these updates.

• Identify which Google Performance Max audiences should be excluded. Your recent purchasers, service-only customers, and low-value leads are good starting points. Then monitor how your cost per acquisition and lead quality change when shifting toward new customer targeting.
• Start testing video assets across your campaigns. Focus on showcasing inventory highlights, seasonal offers, and dealership differentiators. Do not rely entirely on Veo automation. Review generated videos for accuracy, branding, and compliance. Create longer, high-quality videos too.
• Start testing Standard Shopping With Vehicle Feeds Campaigns alongside your existing Performance Max campaigns. Segment your inventory so that high-priority vehicles are featured in shopping campaigns.
• Evaluate your current investment in Microsoft Shopping campaigns. If you are not actively running them, now is the time to test. Focus on feed quality, pricing accuracy, and vehicle availability to stay competitive in a more prominent ad environment.
• Review your current attribution model and consider testing data-driven attribution within Microsoft Advertising. Compare performance insights against your existing model to identify gaps.

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What this means for dealerships moving forward.

Platforms are giving advertisers more automation, but also more tools to guide that automation. Dealerships that take advantage of both will be in the strongest position. The opportunity is not just in adopting new features. It is in using them strategically. Connect with us for help building your digital strategy.