Google Added a Sourced Videos Opt-Out Toggle to Performance Max: What Ecommerce Brands Must Check Before BFCM

On October 23, 2026, Google Ads added a "Sourced videos" on/off toggle to the Asset optimization section of every Performance Max campaign. For ecommerce brands running PMax, this means Google AI can now pull up to 10 videos from your social media accounts, landing pages, and linked YouTube channels and place them in your campaigns automatically, and the setting is on by default for all new campaigns and may already be active on existing ones without any action from you.

What Does Google's Sourced Videos Toggle Mean for Your Performance Max Campaigns?

The toggle allows Google's AI to identify videos from your approved sources, including connected social platforms, landing pages, and linked YouTube channels, and automatically add them to your PMax asset groups. Campaigns created after the rollout have the toggle enabled by default. More critically, Google confirmed that some existing campaigns may have been switched on during the recent update, meaning your ads may already be running video you never explicitly approved for that campaign context.

How Did the Sourced Videos Feature Work Before October 23, 2026?

Prior to October 23, sourced videos in Performance Max were opt-in and off by default. That default has now reversed. The new per-campaign toggle lives in the Asset optimization section of each PMax campaign's settings. Account-level settings for Dynamic Image Extensions may not override this campaign-level toggle, so a previous opt-out at the account level does not guarantee the toggle is off in your campaigns today. Each active campaign needs to be checked individually.

Why Does Auto-Sourcing Video by Default Create Risk for Ecommerce Brands?

When Google AI pulls videos from your social platforms and landing pages, it selects based on relevance signals, not creative strategy. Those selections can include older creative, seasonal content from a prior campaign, or videos built for a completely different audience. Up to 10 crawled videos can appear in a single asset group, adding creative volume you have not reviewed or approved for that specific campaign objective.

The performance accountability issue is equally important. When video sources expand automatically, isolating what creative is driving results in PMax becomes much harder. If your team uses the Asset Report for creative learning and optimization decisions, auto-sourced video creates noise in that signal at exactly the moment you need clean data most: Q4.

For a complete view of how Google Ads is changing going into the holiday season, see our full Google Ads 2026 update tracker and the October 22 PMax auto-sourcing update.

What Should You Do Now with Google's Sourced Videos Toggle?

1. Audit every active PMax campaign today. Go to each campaign's settings, navigate to Asset optimization, and locate the "Sourced videos" toggle. Note which campaigns have it on and which have it off.
2. Disable the toggle for campaigns with strict creative standards. If you run brand-sensitive campaigns, have carefully curated asset groups, or are in the middle of a creative test, turn the toggle off at the campaign level to prevent unapproved video from entering rotation.
3. Pull the Asset Report for any campaign where the toggle was already on. Check the Asset Report for auto-sourced videos that may have already been added. Remove any that are off-brand, outdated, or not aligned with the campaign's current objective.
4. Add this to your BFCM campaign launch checklist. Before any new PMax campaign goes live this season, explicitly decide whether Sourced videos should be on or off and document the decision in your campaign setup process.
5. Brief your media team or agency immediately. If a partner manages your PMax campaigns, confirm they have audited every active campaign and established a documented policy for the Sourced videos setting before peak season.

Related Reading

• Google Performance Max Is Now Auto-Sourcing Videos From Your Social Media
• Google Ads AI Max Gets a Transparency Upgrade: New Search Terms and Ad Combinations Report
• CTC's Google Ads Agency Services

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