October 19, 2026
On 14 October, Google introduced two new features to its advertising platform: channel prioritisation and channel-level budget allocation. These will be rolled out in the coming months across Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and Demand Gen campaigns, with availability varying by campaign type. Most accounts won’t have access to these controls just yet, but advertisers should see them in the near future.
These optional additions aim to give advertisers more control over spend allocation, and many marketers are feeling pretty positive about these new features.
So, let’s look at channel prioritisation and channel-level budget allocation in a little more detail, so you know what the changes mean for your campaigns.
Channel prioritisation gives advertisers the option to label available channels as high or low priority, instead of letting Google's algorithms allocate budget as they see fit.
Once designated, Google will generally direct budget within your target CPA or ROAS towards the high-priority channels first, then allocate the remaining budget to low-priority ones.
It’s worth noting that if a campaign isn’t limited by budget, priority settings alone won’t have much effect on spend distribution, as setting a channel to ‘low priority’ won’t stop it from spending unless an advertiser sets a specific percentage allocation.
This feature builds on channel prioritisation, allowing advertisers to set an optional percentage-based budget allocation for low-priority channels. Allocating 0% of the budget acts as a complete opt-out.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that this allocation isn’t a guaranteed spending cap. Spend may sometimes exceed the specified percentage, and the allocation is calculated against the average daily budget rather than actual campaign spend.
Additionally, the allocation resets daily, and unused or overspent amounts won’t be carried over.
Previously, if a channel’s performance was lacking, an advertiser might have opted out entirely to avoid wasting spend. However, this also meant missing out on potential opportunities.
The addition of lower-priority settings means advertisers can keep these channels going while still prioritising budget for other inventory first.
This is particularly helpful for testing newer channels, when it can take a little while to work out whether it deserves a bigger budget.
Testing new channels is now a little easier. Rather than spending a large amount on an unproven channel, advertisers can test with a smaller budget to see if it delivers the expected results.
Lead quality, profit margins, repeat purchases, and sales team capacity can impact the value of an advertising campaign, but Google’s systems don’t take these factors into account. By giving advertisers a little more control over channel priorities, there are more opportunities for them to align campaign settings with wider commercial goals.
Availability differs by format:
Many advertisers are a bit peeved that Google has chosen to group Google Search, Discover, Gmail, YouTube, etc. as Google channels for PMax, but hopefully we will see more granularity in the future.
To set account-level priorities, you need to:
New developments such as these are giving advertisers more control over automated campaigns, but human oversight is still crucial. Prioritising a channel doesn’t guarantee results, and reducing spend on another doesn’t mean it's unprofitable. Audience targeting, ad quality, landing pages, conversion tracking, and many more factors also impact performance.
As an advertiser, you need to see which controls are available, where the opportunities actually lie, and how your current channels are performing before making any changes.
If you need expert help managing Google Ads, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.
