The Channel Brake Checklist – Mathew's Library

01 Where your budget can go

A Search campaign can show in three places: Google Search, search partners (other search sites and apps that show Google's ads, included by default when you create a Search campaign) and the Display Network (websites and apps, if you turned on Display Expansion). Google's AI decides how your budget spreads across them. Since October 15, 2026, Google is rolling out two new dials, a little at a time, so you might not see them yet:

Priority. Mark each channel High or Low. Google says campaigns "fully fund high priority channels" first and give what's left to the Low ones. Budget allocation (the cap). On a Low priority channel, type a percentage of your average daily budget. Google's example: 5% of a $1,000 daily budget means it aims to keep that channel at or below $50 a day. On a $50 budget, 10% means about $5 a day. Type 0% and Google says it won't spend there.

The default. Every channel starts at High priority, so nothing changes until someone moves a channel down. And the cap is "best effort": Google's page says "this isn't a guarantee, and daily spend on that channel may occasionally exceed your budget allocation." It is a percentage of your average daily budget, and most campaigns can spend up to 2 times that on a single day.

02 Which dial works for you

A campaign shows the status Limited by budget when its average daily budget is lower than what it could spend on the traffic available. That status decides which dial does anything:

Limited by budget: both dials work. High priority channels spend first, and the percentage caps each Low one.

Not limited, with Target CPA or Target ROAS: only the percentage works. Google says the AI aims to hit your target across all channels, so priority levels "generally don't change how spend is distributed." Your budget allocations still apply.

Two limits to know. In Performance Max, Search, YouTube, Gmail, Maps and Discover are one block Google calls "Google channels": you can rank search partners and Display against it, not YouTube below Search. And according to Google's help page, Demand Gen gets the priorities but not the cap.

03 The three settings

1. Find "Limited by budget". Limited: priority matters. Not limited: only the percentage does.

2. Decide the Display Network's number on each Search campaign that has it on. 50% at Low keeps the setup Google describes. Lower to test Display with less money. 0%, or switch Display off, if you don't want it.

3. Search partners: Low, with a small percentage. Then check them in your reports, segmented by network, before you give them more. If you switched them off, this is a careful way to test them again.

Where the card is

For every campaign of one type: Account settings → the Channel Prioritization card → pick the campaign type → set High or Low per channel → enter a percentage for Low ones → Save. For one campaign: Campaigns → the campaign → Settings → expand Channel Prioritization → Use campaign-level settings → set it → Save.

An agency can't set this from its manager account. It has to be done inside each client account.

04 The February 2027 check

Starting in February 2027, Google says every Search campaign with Display Expansion moves to these controls automatically, the old setup goes away, and "you may see a shift in channel spending." Google doesn't say which way. Under the old setup, Display got the budget Search didn't spend, "with a 50% budget allocation applied in the backend." On paper, if you set nothing, Display arrives at High priority with no percentage.

List your Search campaigns with the Display Network on.

To keep the setup Google describes: Display at Low, 50%. That is Google's own advice.

Know it applies right away. Set priorities on a Search campaign before February and they replace the old Display behavior at once.

Using Target Impression Share? Google says Display stops serving on those Search campaigns after the change anyway.

05 Questions for whoever runs your account

Send these

1. Which of our campaigns show "Limited by budget"?
2. Which of our Search campaigns have search partners or the Display Network on?
3. What priority and what percentage did you set for each, and why?
4. What will you set on our Search campaigns with Display before February 2027?
5. How do search partners and Display do for us in the reports, segmented by network?

Sources

Google: New Google Ads channel prioritization and budget controls Google Ads Help: About channel prioritization and budget allocation Google Ads Help: About Display Expansion on Search campaigns Google Ads Help: About average daily budgets Google Ads Help: About the Google Search Network Google Ads Help: Fix "Limited by budget" status

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