B
Evidence Grade B
Graded
accuracy verified by the review judge
Safe to Cite
Current
16%
16% -- median cpa increase for Google Search campaigns running AI Max (SMEC analysis) (2026)
Smarter Ecommerce (SMEC) analyzed more than 250 Search campaigns running AI Max and found a median CPA increase of 16%.
- Median across analyzed campaigns; ROAS varied widely
Attribution:
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Lighthouse Research Team
Last verified:
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Source verified
Evidence graded
Value
16%
Unit
Percentage
Data Vintage
2026
Entity
Sample Size
250
Evidence Quality
B
Strong, reliable evidence
Sourced from a well-regarded research firm or industry leader with transparent methodology and a reasonably large sample.
Single source - not yet corroborated
Score breakdown
Extraction
75
Source Trust
60
Citation Chain
20
Independence
30
Methodology
45
Freshness
95
Source
Smarter Ecommerce (SMEC)
Primary
Tier B
https://www.ppc.live/post/google-s-ai-max-for-search-what-the-data-actually-shows-in-2026 ↗
Source Article
Google’s AI Max for Search: What the Data Actually Shows in 2026 | PPC Live
Google’s AI Max for Search: What the Data Actually Shows in 2026
Updated: Jun 22
Table of Contents
Google's AI Max for Search promises more conversions, but independent data and real-world testing tell a more complicated story. This is a must read before you flip the switch.
When AI Max first launch…
Original Research
Smarter Ecommerce (SMEC)
· Original study ↗
Methodology
Independent analysis by Smarter Ecommerce (SMEC)
Methodology documented
Segmentation
Industrymarketing
Cite this stat
Plain Text
Google Search campaigns running AI Max (SMEC analysis): 16% median cpa increase. Source: Smarter Ecommerce (SMEC) (2026). Via Lighthouse Intelligence -- https://lighthousedata.io/data/smec-ai-max-16-percent-cpa-increase
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<blockquote cite="https://lighthousedata.io/data/smec-ai-max-16-percent-cpa-increase" style="border-left:3px solid #2563eb;padding:12px 16px;margin:16px 0;font-family:system-ui,sans-serif;background:#f0f4ff;"><strong>16%</strong> -- median cpa increase for Google Search campaigns running AI Max (SMEC analysis)<br><small>Source: Smarter Ecommerce (SMEC) (2026) · <a href="https://lighthousedata.io/data/smec-ai-max-16-percent-cpa-increase" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lighthouse Intelligence</a></small></blockquote>
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