What changed
On October 14, 2026 Google announced channel prioritization and budget allocation, with progressive availability beginning October 15. Advertisers can mark eligible channels or groups High or Low priority at account, shared-budget or campaign level. High-priority inventory is funded first where campaign strategy and budget constraints permit; Low-priority channels can receive a percentage allocation of the average daily budget. Search, Shopping and Performance Max support both features, while Demand Gen supports priority tiers but not budget allocation. In February 2027, Search campaigns with Display Expansion enabled automatically migrate away from the existing spend-allocation behaviour.
Why it matters
Small advertisers and agencies can more deliberately test Google Search partners and the Display Network without an all-or-nothing network decision. But a 5% allocation on a $1,000 average daily budget means Google aims to keep that channel around $50 a day, not that it guarantees a $50 ceiling. Search campaigns with Display enabled can see spend shift when the legacy allocation ends in February 2027. Teams managing many client accounts also face a tooling gap: API and Ads Editor support is not available at launch.
Priority is not a bid target or a guaranteed cap
High priority means Google first tries to spend on the preferred channel within the campaign's conversion or return target, before directing residual budget to Low priority inventory. When Target CPA or Target ROAS campaigns are not limited by budget, priority labels alone generally do not alter the allocation; an explicit Low-priority percentage can still influence it. The percentage is calculated from the average daily budget, resets each day, and can be exceeded because enforcement is best effort.
The campaign-type limitations matter
Search separates Google Search, Search partners and the Google Display Network. Shopping separates Google Search and Search partners. Performance Max groups Search, YouTube, Maps, Gmail and Discover as a single 'Google channels' category while separately exposing partners and Display. Demand Gen exposes Google channels and Display priorities but does not support the percentage allocation feature. Campaign total budgets generally do not support these controls except for Demand Gen prioritization. Manager accounts cannot set priorities on behalf of clients.
February 2027 is an operational migration, not just a new setting
Search campaigns currently using Display Expansion keep their legacy allocation until February 2027 unless operators opt into new priority settings earlier. Google says the old setup then disappears and channel spend may shift. To preserve the prior arrangement, it recommends marking the Display Network Low priority with a 50% daily budget allocation. After migration, Display Network serving also ends for Search campaigns using Target Impression Share.
Rollout and integration caveats
Google says availability is progressive from October 15, 2026 across Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen, so not every account has the controls immediately. Google Ads and Search Ads 360 are supported initially; Google Ads API and Ads Editor support are described as coming soon. Operators should verify settings in each client account rather than assume automation can configure them.