Define which pages dynamic search is allowed to advertise

Check the campaign version and targeting source first

Google's DSA page-feed guidance distinguishes feed-only targeting from a source combining the feed with the website index. The documentation checked on November 7, 2026 also announces automatic upgrades to AI Max starting February 2027. Verify the account's current campaign type and controls before applying this workflow.

Write the desired advertising scope in business terms: which product or service pages are suitable and which content should never become a paid destination. Then inspect the actual source setting. Uploading a carefully curated feed is not proof of exclusivity if the campaign still uses a broader source. Record the discrepancy before editing rules so the owner understands which boundary is currently absent.

Test inclusion rules against a representative site inventory

Build an inventory containing ordinary commercial pages, support articles, careers pages, expired offers and newly added sections. Apply the proposed URL, category or page-label logic and compare the selected set with the approved scope. Include near matches that share a path fragment but serve a different purpose.

Avoid broad string rules whose meaning depends on incidental naming. A path containing service could include a service announcement rather than a bookable service. A feed label should have a maintained assignment rule and owner, not merely a name that sounds appropriate. Review redirects and inaccessible pages separately, because the listed URL may no longer represent the destination the campaign can actually use.

Separate page exclusions from search exclusions

Google documents negative dynamic targets for excluding pages and negative keywords for excluding searches. These controls address different objects. Choose the control that matches the problem rather than expecting a query exclusion to remove an unsuitable page under every possible search.

Test a deliberately excluded page, an eligible neighbor and a page whose content or status recently changed. Record rule scope and any propagation limitation visible in current guidance. Do not rely on immediate recrawling to protect a hard operational boundary without checking supported alternatives. Where a product becomes unavailable or an offer expires, coordinate the website and advertising changes with the responsible owners instead of leaving a stale page to determine its own eligibility.

Revalidate the boundary when the site or platform changes

After release, inspect target status and available landing-page or search-term evidence. Compare observed destinations with the approved scope, recognizing that absence from a report does not prove a page is excluded. Use configured controls and explicit test cases as the main acceptance evidence.

Keep the scope contract independent of interface labels so it remains useful during migration. Before or after an upgrade, verify how the new campaign expresses equivalent inclusion and exclusion requirements; do not assume old rules retain identical meaning. A new site section, changed feed rule or campaign migration should trigger review. The result is a tested destination boundary for the current setup, not a permanent promise that one spreadsheet controls every future automated search product.

Make the reasoning concrete.

A fictional training business uploads a feed of bookable course pages but leaves a source setting that also uses indexed website pages. A new recruitment section shares the word training and becomes a plausible match for a broad page rule.

The owner checks feed exclusivity rather than inferring it, keeps page and query exclusions separate and records the migration trigger. No future control equivalence is assumed.

Take the questions into your next brief.

Use these prompts in your own notes. Nothing is submitted from this page.

1. Version

   Which campaign type and documented controls are active now?

2. Source

   Does targeting use only the feed or also indexed website pages?

3. Allowed set

   Which pages should the inclusion rule select?

4. Exclusions

   Which page fixtures and separate searches must be blocked?

5. Migration

   What site or platform change requires revalidating the boundary?

Watch for the wrong conclusion.

• Assuming a page-feed upload makes targeting feed-only.
• Using negative keywords as a universal page exclusion.
• Carrying legacy controls into a migrated campaign without checking their meaning.

Sources & scope

Workflows, worksheets and fictional examples are original editorial analysis, not Google implementation instructions or measured business results. Sources support only the specifically attributed platform facts. Platform controls and eligibility can change; verify current account guidance before implementation.

• Google Ads: Use a feed to target Dynamic Search Ads and Performance Max →Primary platform documentation · Supports: Supports feed-only versus combined targeting sources and the announced February 2027 AI Max upgrade. Scope-contract and migration checks are original editorial analysis.
• Google Ads: Create exclusions for Dynamic Search Ads →Primary platform documentation · Supports: Supports the distinction between page exclusions through negative dynamic targets and search exclusions through negative keywords.