Short answer: Google Ads now lets you mark each channel in a campaign as High priority or Low priority, and cap how much of the daily budget a Low priority channel can use. It is rolling out to Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen. If you run Search campaigns with the Display Network turned on, you need to review this before February 2027, when the old Display spend setup is removed.
What Google announced
On October 14, 2026, Google introduced two optional controls in Google Ads: channel prioritization and budget allocation. Google says the controls are rolling out progressively over the coming months, so availability can vary by account and campaign type.
The idea is simple. Instead of choosing between “on” and “off” for networks like Search partners or the Google Display Network, you can keep them running at a lower priority and put a ceiling on their spend. That gives you a safer way to test extra inventory without letting it eat the budget meant for your best traffic.
How channel prioritization works
Every channel starts as High priority by default. You can move any channel to Low priority.
- High priority channels are funded first. With Target CPA or Target ROAS, Google aims to spend on them within your target.
- Low priority channels get what is left after the High priority channels have been funded.
- Using Low priority is an alternative to opting out of a channel completely.
One important detail from Google’s help page: if a Target CPA or Target ROAS campaign is not limited by budget, priority alone generally does not change how spend is distributed. In that case the budget allocation cap is the control that matters.
How budget allocation works
Budget allocation is only available for Low priority channels. You enter an optional daily percentage, and Google aims to keep spend on that channel at or below that share of your average daily budget.
Google’s own example: a 5% allocation on a $1,000 average daily budget means Google aims to keep spend on that channel at or below $50 per day.
A few rules to know:
- The cap is best effort, not a guarantee. Daily spend can occasionally go over.
- Allocations reset every day. Unspent or overspent amounts do not carry over.
- Setting a Low priority channel to 0% stops spend on that channel.
- With a shared budget, the allocation applies to the shared budget as a whole.
Which channels you can control
| Campaign type | Channels you can prioritize | Budget allocation |
|---|---|---|
| Search | Google Search, Search partners, Display Network | Yes |
| Shopping | Google Search, Search partners | Yes |
| Performance Max | Google channels, Search partners, Display Network | Yes |
| Demand Gen | Google channels, Display Network | No |
In Performance Max and Demand Gen, Google surfaces such as Search, YouTube, Maps, Gmail and Discover are grouped together as “Google channels”. You cannot rank them against each other. What you can control is how much goes to partner and Display inventory.
The February 2027 Display deadline
This is the part most advertisers should act on. Starting February 2027, Search campaigns that have the Display Network enabled will be moved to channel prioritization and budget allocation. The current Display spend setup will be removed, and spend between Google Search, Search partners and Display may shift.
Google recommends this setting if you want to keep roughly your current behavior: set the Display Network to Low priority with a 50% daily allocation. Google also notes that the Display Network will stop serving on Search campaigns that use the Target Impression Share bid strategy.
How to set it up
- Decide the level. Account level settings apply to every campaign of that type. Campaign level settings override the account default. Shared budget settings apply to all campaigns on that budget.
- For account level, go to Account settings and open the Channel Prioritization card. Pick the campaign type.
- For campaign level, open the campaign, click Settings, expand Channel Prioritization and choose “Use campaign-level settings”.
- Set each channel to High or Low priority.
- For Low priority channels, enter an allocation percentage if you want a cap.
- Save, then watch spend by network for at least a couple of weeks before changing it again.
Practical tips before you change anything
- Check your network segment first. In Search campaigns, segment performance by network and look at cost per conversion for Google Search, Search partners and Display separately.
- Start with small caps. If Search partners or Display convert worse but still bring some sales, Low priority with a modest cap is often better than turning them off.
- Remember that settings cannot be made from a manager account. Agencies need to set them in each client account or at campaign level.
- Shared budgets must contain campaigns of the same type for these settings to apply.
- Clean conversion tracking matters. Prioritization only helps if Google is optimizing toward real results.
Frequently asked questions
Is channel prioritization available in every account?
Does setting a channel to Low priority stop it from spending?
Is the budget allocation cap a hard limit?
Why did nothing change after I set priorities?
What should I do about Display in my Search campaigns?
Who can help set up channel prioritization for my Google Ads account?
Get your channel settings reviewed
If you are not sure how much of your budget goes to Search partners or Display today, start with a free Google Ads audit. You can also see how I manage campaigns on the Google Ads management service page.
Related reading: How to use the Google Ads search terms report and Performance Max vs Search campaigns.