Google Ads Now Pulls Your Images and Videos Automatically: Here's What to Check
Performance Max campaigns can now grab creative from your landing pages and social channels without manual upload. Business owners need to verify they own the rights to what Google selects.
The 5-second version
- Google Ads Performance Max now auto-sources images from your landing pages and videos from social media, landing pages, or YouTube channels.
- The feature saves setup time but requires you to review what Google selects and confirm you have rights to use it.
- Advertisers should audit their enabled settings to avoid running ads with assets they don't legally own or control.
Google Ads is making Performance Max campaigns faster to set up by automatically pulling images and videos from places you already own. The platform can now grab images from your landing pages and source videos from social media, landing pages, or a linked YouTube channel without you uploading them one by one.
The trade-off is automation, Google picks what it thinks works best. That means you need to double-check what the system chooses before it runs in your ads.
What You Need to Do
Review your Performance Max settings and confirm that Google has permission to use every image and video it auto-selects. This is not optional. If Google pulls an image from your landing page that you licensed from a stock photo site for web use only, or a video you don't own outright, you could face legal problems.
- Check which sources are enabled (landing pages, social media, YouTube).
- Audit a sample of assets Google selected to confirm they match your brand.
- Verify you own or have licensed every asset for advertising use.
- Disable auto-sourcing for any channel where you cannot confirm rights.
If you prefer full control, you can turn off auto-sourcing entirely and upload assets manually. Performance Max will still work, it just won't pull from your other channels.
Why Google Made This Move
Performance Max is Google's machine-learning campaign type. It runs ads across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and other channels at once, and it needs lots of creative options to test and optimize. By pulling assets from places you control, Google reduces the friction of setup and gives its algorithm more material to work with.
For advertisers, the payoff is faster campaign launch and less manual asset management. For Google, it's more data and more reasons to keep campaigns running.
Questions owners ask
What does this new feature do?
Google Ads can now automatically pull images from your landing pages and videos from your social media accounts, landing pages, or linked YouTube channel to fill out Performance Max ads. You no longer have to manually upload every asset.
Why do I need to check what Google selects?
Google's automation may pick images or videos you don't own outright, licensed from a third party, or that don't fit your brand. Confirming you have the legal right to use each asset protects you from copyright or licensing problems.
Where does Google find these assets?
Images come from your landing pages and website. Videos come from your linked YouTube channel, social media profiles, or landing pages. The more consistent your asset library across those places, the better Google's selection will be.
Do I have to use auto-sourcing?
No. You can review the enabled settings in Performance Max and disable auto-sourcing for images, videos, or both if you prefer to upload assets manually and keep full control.
