Digital Marketing Platform Updates: 27 July 2026
A busy week across the platforms. Google is making it harder to ignore its budget recommendations, Meta's "Push Delivery" feature is now available to everyone, and Local Inventory Ads are about to switch on by default. Here is what matters and what to do about it.
Google Ads
Missed Opportunities Report Moves Into Recommendations
Google quietly relocated its "Missed Growth Opportunities" report out of the experimental Labs section and into the main Recommendations tab. It is now called "Missed Opportunities" and labelled as a beta.
Why it matters: This report estimates the clicks, conversions, and revenue your campaigns are leaving on the table because of budget limits or low bids. That sounds helpful, and it can be. But its new home in Recommendations is also where auto-apply settings live. If you have auto-apply turned on for budget recommendations, Google could start raising your spend based on these estimates without you lifting a finger. What to do: Check your auto-apply settings under Recommendations > Auto-apply. If you are not comfortable with Google automatically increasing budgets, make sure "Budgets" is toggled off. The report itself is worth reviewing monthly to spot genuinely underfunded campaigns, but treat the numbers as directional, not gospel.Local Inventory Ads Enabled by Default from 31 August
Google confirmed that Local Inventory Ads will be switched on by default for all Shopping campaigns from 31 August 2026. The "Local products" setting is being removed entirely, and the API field that controlled it will be overridden to "true" behind the scenes.
Why it matters: If your Merchant Center account has the Local Inventory Ads add-on enabled, your Shopping campaigns will start showing local inventory ads whether you asked for them or not. For retailers with physical stores who have not set up their local product feed properly, this could mean wasted spend on poorly formatted or inaccurate local listings. What to do: If you sell from a physical location, make sure your local product feed in Merchant Center is accurate and up to date before the end of August. If you are online-only and have the Local Inventory Ads add-on enabled for some reason, disable it in Merchant Center before 31 August. After the switch, you will need to use inventory filters (Channel = Online) to control this.Policy Appeals Now Expire After Six Months
Effective 21 July, you can no longer appeal a Google Ads policy disapproval through the account interface once it is more than six months old. After that window, your only option is contacting Google Ads support directly.
Why it matters: If you have been sitting on disapproved ads or assets that you planned to appeal "eventually", the clock is now ticking. This is particularly relevant for businesses that had ads disapproved during the stricter enforcement waves earlier this year. What to do: Audit your disapproved ads and extensions now. If any are more than a few months old and worth fighting for, submit your appeals before they age out.API v25 Breaks Lifecycle Goal Integrations
For businesses using third-party tools or custom integrations with the Google Ads API: version 25 (released 22 July) removes the CustomerLifecycleGoal and CampaignLifecycleGoal resources entirely, with no grace period. They have been replaced with a unified Goal and CampaignGoalConfig schema.
Why it matters: If your agency or tool provider uses lifecycle goals through the API, things will break on upgrade. What to do: Most SMEs will not be affected directly. But if you use a third-party bid management or reporting tool, check with your provider that they have updated to the new schema.Google Search
Continuous Core Updates Are Now Official
Google confirmed on 9 July that smaller core ranking updates now roll continuously without public announcements. The Search Status Dashboard will only show large named updates (like March and May 2026), but meaningful ranking shifts can happen at any time between them.
Why it matters: Waiting for a "core update" to explain traffic drops is no longer a reliable approach. Ranking changes are happening all the time, and Google is being upfront about it. What to do: Monitor your Search Console performance weekly rather than reacting to named updates. If you see a sustained drop over two to three weeks, investigate your content quality and technical health rather than waiting for Google to announce something.AI Overviews Get News Carousels and Better Citations
AI Overviews on mobile now include a live news carousel and improved citation displays. Google has also added new controls in Search Console for how your content appears inside AI features.
Why it matters: If your business publishes content that Google might surface in AI Overviews, the new citation format gives you slightly more visibility. More importantly, the Search Console controls mean you can now manage whether and how your content is used. What to do: Check Search Console for the new AI performance reports and controls. For most SMEs, the bigger question is whether AI Overviews are eating your organic clicks. Keep an eye on your click-through rates for informational queries.Social Profiles Now Visible as Search Console Properties
You can now connect Instagram, TikTok, X, or YouTube accounts as "platform properties" in Search Console and see how your social posts perform in Google Search and Discover.
Why it matters: This is useful for businesses that invest heavily in social content. You can now see which posts get impressions and clicks in Google Search without needing a website. What to do: If your business has active social accounts, connect them in Search Console and review the data after a few weeks. It might reveal that some of your social content is driving search traffic you did not know about.Meta Ads
Push Delivery to This Ad Is Now Available to Everyone
Meta's "Push Delivery to This Ad" feature has rolled out to nearly all ad accounts as of mid-July. This lets you force a specific percentage of your ad set budget to a particular ad for a set number of days.
Why it matters: This is the first real manual delivery override Meta has shipped in years. It solves the oldest frustration in Meta advertising: you upload a new creative, and the algorithm keeps spending on the old winner while your new ad gets zero impressions. Now you can guarantee your new creative gets enough spend to prove itself. What to do: Use this when you have a new creative you genuinely believe in but it is not getting delivery. Set a reasonable budget allocation (20 to 30 per cent) for three to five days. This is not a testing tool. It is a way to force the algorithm to give your new ad a fair go. Do not use it on every ad, or you are just fighting the algorithm for no reason.Off-Meta Activity Opt-Out Is Being Removed
Meta is retiring the "Your activity off Meta technologies" control. The data businesses send Meta through the Pixel and Conversions API will now personalise Feed recommendations and Meta AI responses, not just ads. It is being replaced with a broader "Activity from other businesses" setting that gives users less granular control.
Why it matters: For advertisers, this is cautiously good news. More data flowing into Meta's systems means better targeting and attribution. For users, it is a step back in privacy control. The rollout started in the US and UK in July, with other markets (likely including Australia) to follow. What to do: No immediate action needed, but be aware that your Pixel and Conversions API data is now doing more work than before. Make sure your tracking is accurate and your Pixel is not firing on pages it should not be (like internal admin pages or test environments).Legacy Reach and Impression Metrics Are Gone
Meta completed the deprecation of legacy reach and impression metrics in mid-June, migrating to a "Media Views / Media Viewers" model.
Why it matters: If you are comparing current campaign performance to historical benchmarks, your numbers will look different. Media Views and Media Viewers are not a one-to-one replacement for the old reach and impressions metrics. What to do: Update your reporting templates and dashboards. If you report to clients or stakeholders, flag the metric change so nobody panics about apparent performance shifts that are actually just a measurement change.Other Platforms
TikTok Launches MCP-Powered AI Skills for Campaign Management
TikTok released a set of AI Skills built on the Model Context Protocol (MCP) that let external AI tools build campaigns, analyse performance, and manage product catalogues directly through TikTok's platform.
Why it matters: This is TikTok betting on agentic AI as a campaign management interface. It is early days, but it signals where all the platforms are heading: AI tools that manage your ads for you, not just assist. What to do: Nothing immediate unless you are already using AI tools for campaign management. Worth watching as this space develops.The Takeaway
The biggest action item this week is the Local Inventory Ads default change on 31 August. If you run Shopping campaigns and have a physical location, check your Merchant Center local product feed now. Everything else is about staying aware of how much control the platforms are quietly taking, and making sure your auto-apply settings reflect what you actually want.
Further Reading
- Google Ads July 2026: API v25, Appeal Caps, Recommendations - Detailed breakdown of the three operational changes
- Google confirms Local Inventory Ads will be enabled by default - Search Engine Land coverage of the Shopping change
- Meta Off-Platform Data Change July 2026 - Common Thread Collective's analysis of the privacy control removal
- Hands-On With Push Delivery to This Ad - Jon Loomer's practical walkthrough of the new feature
- Google Ads adds missed growth estimates to the Recommendations tab - Search Engine Land on the Missed Opportunities move
- Google Algorithm Updates July 2026 - Monthly roundup of Search changes
Dream Outcome is an Australian digital marketing agency helping SMEs grow through Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Email Marketing.