Now that 2025 is over, and Q1 of 2026 has begun, it’s imperative to understand the new trends and opportunities emerging within the PPC industry.

As a PPC Management Agency, it’s critical to stay on top of the following:

✅ Changes in major ad platform algorithms, features, and AI driven campaigns

✅ New platforms emerging with ad space

✅ Changes in tactics that are profitable, and trends that show which tactics are the least effective in your industry

For 2026 one of the biggest headlines is ChatGPT Ads.  ChatGPT is planning to start BETA testing ads with select advertisers, on an invite only basis, and afterwards, start releasing their platform to the public.  This is a blue ocean that is opening up, and to be frank, creating competition with the major players we already know including Google Ads and META Ads.  At Hop2TheTop, we fully intend to test ChatGPT Ads aggressively for our clients as they become available.

The PPC Management Agencies that will win in 2026, will be able to adopt AI technologies and AI driven strategies that work, while being able to properly sift through the “AI slop”, ineffective tools, and features that although might be pushed by the AD platform, turn out to just waste money.

Hindsight is 20/20 in fact.  When we look back at the initial release of Google Ad’s Performance Max campaigns, the consensus was VERY clear amongst both agencies and advertisers – it does not work for lead generation.   Advertisers were getting inundated with spam leads and bot traffic.

Although the platform was reporting aggressive conversion lift, the “conversions” were not real leads.  They were in large order, fake leads, which Google allowed through to countless advertisers.

This was shown through the leaked email that happened mid 2025, which revealed that company executives were aware of the significant frustration from advertisers regarding the aggressive push towards PMAX automation.

Since then, performance max has seemingly improved, at least to some extent, in both traffic quality, and to some extent, the reporting and various “levers” available to advertisers.  However, PMAX largely remains a “black box” and very hit or miss in terms of effectiveness, with limited ability to scale cold traffic for lead generation.  The point of diminished return appears to be low still for many advertisers, and there is evidence that performance max cannibalizes on advertiser’s brand traffic, and then takes credit for that traffic.

Google Ads has recently introduced more aggressive UI “warnings” about things such as RSA and keyword relevance.  In fact, if you do not adhere to Google’s recommendations for various broad match keywords in your account, it will be covered with various warnings such as “Not Targeting Relevant Keywords”.  This is a psychological tactic to put pressure on advertisers and their agency partners to adopt more of Google’s recommendations.  After all, if you are an advertiser with limited understanding of Google Ads, you would see these “Warnings” and think your agency is not doing their job.  Then you’ll probably email/call them, and ask them “Why aren’t we targeting relevant keywords”?

At the end of the day the Google Ads and other platforms still operate in such a way that they are trying to manipulate their way into having advertisers adopt their recommendations willingly.  It’s unfortunate that they have to play mind games through the wording of various “Warnings” to try to force advertisers into wasting money through things like broad match keywords.