Most Search campaigns spend money in places you never picked on purpose. Search partners and the Google Display Network are switched on by default, they report as one line inside the campaign, and until this month the only real control was on or off. On 14 October 2026 Google announced channel prioritization and budget allocation, two settings that let you rank channels and cap how much of your daily budget goes to the ones you trust less.
That sounds like the fix many of us asked for. The details matter, though. The cap is best effort, it resets every day, it cannot be set from a manager account, and Search campaigns that use Display Expansion move to the new system in February 2027 whether you act or not.
This guide explains what Search partners and the Google Display Network are, how the new controls behave per campaign type, which settings I would start with, and how to check that the caps hold once they are live.
What is Google Search partners, and what is the Google Display Network?
Google Search partners are non-Google websites and apps that show Google search ads next to their own search results, product listings or directory pages. Google describes them as sites in the Search Network that partner with Google to show ads, and they are included in Search campaigns by default. You pay per click, and the click through rate on partner sites does not affect your Quality Score on Google.
The Google Display Network is the set of websites, apps and video placements where Google shows display ads. When people talk about the display network Google Ads runs, this is what they mean. Inside a Search campaign it appears through Display Expansion, which lets the campaign show ads on Display Network placements when Google expects them to perform.
Search partners
Search ads on partner sites, triggered by a search on that site. Same keywords, very different traffic quality from one partner to the next.
Google Display Network
Ads on websites and apps based on audience and context. In a Search campaign this spend comes from Display Expansion.
Both networks can deliver cheap conversions. Both can also absorb budget with weak results. PPC Land, citing Intelligency Group data from June 2025, reported that Search partner placements delivered 37% lower ROAS than Google Search. Google has cleaned up part of the network since then: it added site level placement reporting for Search partners in August 2025 and removed parked domains from the Search partner network on 10 February 2026.
In my own client work, the pattern is consistent. Partner and Display spend is rarely the biggest line in an account, but it is the line nobody looks at, because you only see it after segmenting the campaign report by network. That blind spot is exactly what the new controls try to address.
What Google changed on 14 October 2026
Google announced the two controls in a post by Tal Akabas, Director of Product Management for Google Ads. The help page on channel prioritization and budget allocation says availability starts on 15 October 2026 and rolls out progressively, so your account may not show the settings yet.
- arrow_forwardChannel prioritization. Every channel gets a High or Low priority. All channels start at High, so nothing changes until you move one to Low. High priority channels are funded first, and Low priority channels get what is left.
- arrow_forwardBudget allocation. For Low priority channels you can set a maximum share of the campaign's average daily budget. Google aims to keep spend under that share on a best-effort basis.
- arrow_forwardThree levels. You can set both at account level, at shared budget level or per campaign. A campaign setting overrides the account default.
The practical gain is a middle ground. Before, an advertiser who distrusted Search partners switched them off and never learned whether a small share would have worked. Now you can keep the network on with a fixed ceiling and judge it on real data.
Search partners and display network controls per campaign type
The channels you can rank depend on the campaign type. This table follows the Google help page as checked on 21 October 2026.
| Campaign type | Channels you can rank | Budget allocation |
|---|---|---|
| Search | Google Search, Search partners, Google Display Network | Yes |
| Shopping | Google Search, Search partners | Yes |
| Performance Max | Google channels, Search partners, Google Display Network | Yes |
| Demand Gen | Google channels, Google Display Network | No, prioritization only |
In Performance Max and Demand Gen, Search, YouTube, Maps, Gmail and Discover sit together in one group called Google channels. You cannot rank YouTube above Gmail, for example. For Performance Max this still matters a lot, because Search partners and the Display Network are the two places where spend is hardest to read. If you run PMax, our Performance Max campaign guide covers the rest of the setup.
Google's own sources disagree on a few points. The announcement lists Demand Gen as getting both controls, while the help page excludes it from budget allocation. When the two conflict, I go with the help page, because that is the document support teams work from.
How the budget allocation cap works
Budget allocation is a percentage of the campaign's average daily budget. Google's example: a 5% allocation on a $1,000 average daily budget targets $50 per day on that channel. On a EUR 400 daily budget, a 10% cap on Search partners aims for EUR 40 a day.
- infoIt is based on budget. The percentage is calculated on the average daily budget you set. Actual spend plays no part, so a campaign that underspends still allows the full channel amount.
- infoIt resets daily. Unspent or overspent channel budget does not carry over to the next day.
- infoIt is best effort. The help page says spend may occasionally exceed the allocation, for example on days when the campaign spends more than its average daily budget.
- info0% stops the channel. If you set a Low priority channel to 0%, Google says it won't spend on that channel.
- infoShared budgets count as one pool. The allocation applies across all campaigns linked to the shared budget.
Best effort is the part to take seriously. Google lets a campaign spend up to twice its average daily budget on a single day, so a channel cap based on the average can be exceeded on exactly the days when traffic spikes. A cap you never check is a hope. If budget overruns already worry you, our guide on how to prevent ad overspending explains the daily and monthly limits that sit above these channel caps.
When priority changes your spend, and when it doesn't
Priority only moves money when there is not enough budget for every channel. Your bid strategy decides how much that happens.
Target CPA, Target ROAS or Target CPC, not limited by budget
Priority generally changes nothing here, because the campaign can already fund every channel that meets the target. The budget allocation cap still applies, which makes the cap the useful setting for these campaigns.
Target CPA, Target ROAS or Target CPC, limited by budget
High priority channels spend first within your target. Budget moves to Low priority channels only when they can convert at your target.
Maximize Conversions, Maximize Conversion Value, Maximize Clicks, Manual CPC, Target Impression Share
High priority channels spend first, and any remaining budget goes to Low priority channels. This is where priority has the clearest effect.
So if you run Target ROAS with headroom in the budget, setting Search partners to Low without a percentage will change very little. Add the allocation, or the setting is mostly cosmetic.
How to choose priorities and caps for search partners
This is the order I would work in. It starts from data you already have, and it keeps every change small enough to judge.
Measure the current split
In the campaigns view, segment by network (with search partners) for the last 90 days. Note cost, conversions and CPA or ROAS for Google Search, Search partners and the Display Network per campaign.
Keep Google Search at High
For Search and Shopping, Google Search is almost always the channel you trust most. Leave it at High and decide only about the other channels.
Set a cap that matches today's share
If Search partners took 8% of spend at a CPA close to target, a cap around 10% keeps that volume while blocking spikes. If it took 8% at double your target CPA, start lower, around 3% to 5%, or test 0%.
Change campaigns, not the whole account
An account level setting applies to every eligible campaign of that type, and Google warns that spend on Low priority channels may shift when it applies. Start with one or two campaigns where the data is clear.
Review after two weeks
Compare the network split and CPA with your baseline. Raise the cap on a channel that converts at target, lower it on one that does not.
The percentages in step 3 are my starting points, and Google gives no benchmark. Low volume campaigns need longer than two weeks before a channel split says anything. While you are in the network report, check the search terms report too, since poor partner traffic often starts with loose match types.
Google Ads Display Expansion: what changes in February 2027
Starting in February 2027, Search campaigns with Display Expansion enabled move to channel prioritization and budget allocation automatically. Google removes the current spend allocation setup for these campaigns, and the help page warns that spend may shift between Google Search, Search partners and the Display Network.
- arrow_forwardKeep today's behaviour. Google suggests setting the Display Network to Low priority with a 50% budget allocation.
- arrow_forwardAct early if you want. Priorities you set on a Search campaign before February 2027 take effect immediately and replace the Display Expansion budget behaviour.
- arrow_forwardTarget Impression Share loses Display. Per the help page, the Display Network will stop serving on Search campaigns that use Target Impression Share.
- arrow_forwardNo action means no change until then. Campaigns without priorities keep the current Display Expansion behaviour until the migration.
A 50% ceiling is generous. Few advertisers I know would accept half of a Search budget going to display placements on purpose. If Display Expansion has not earned that share in your network report, set a lower cap now rather than inheriting 50% in February.
Limits to know before you rely on the caps
What the controls don't cover yet
Manager accounts cannot set priorities, so agencies set them per client account or per campaign. The help page lists Google Ads API and Google Ads Editor support as coming soon, while Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin wrote on 16 October 2026 that the API supports the controls at launch. Until that settles, plan for setting them in the interface or Search Ads 360.
- infoCampaign total budgets. The settings only work with total budgets on Demand Gen. Other campaign types on a total budget ignore them.
- infoShared budgets. All linked campaigns must be the same campaign type.
- infoExperiments. Custom experiments support the controls, but multi-campaign shared budgets do not, and all channels in an experiment share one priority tier.
- infoLow priority keeps the channel on. Without a percentage, a Low priority channel can still spend whatever budget is left after the High priority channels.
Check network spend once a day
A best-effort cap that resets daily needs a daily check. The question each morning is simple: did Search partners and the Display Network stay within the share you set, and did the conversions they brought justify it?
- checkYesterday's spend per network against the cap you set, per campaign.
- checkDays above the average daily budget, since those are the days a channel can pass its cap.
- checkCPA or ROAS per network over a rolling 14 or 30 days, so one weak day does not trigger a change.
- checkMonth to date pacing, because a channel shift changes how fast the whole campaign spends. Our guide to ad budget pacing explains how to read it.
Doing this by hand means a segmented report per campaign every morning. That is the kind of admin aubado is built to take off your plate. Budget Control shows whether spend is on track across your accounts, and the Google Ads app tracks campaign results against your goals, so you can check once a day and get back to the work that needs you. If that sounds useful, join the aubado waitlist.
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Related Resources
How to Prevent Ad Overspending
The daily and monthly budget limits that sit above channel caps, and how to keep spend inside them.
GuideHow to Create a Performance Max Campaign
A full Performance Max setup, from asset groups to bidding, for campaigns where channel spend is hard to read.
GuideAd Budget Pacing
How to spend your budget evenly across the month and spot pacing problems early.
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