Ad platforms are pulling a Marie Kondo on manual controls. Or… if a setting doesn’t spark automation, the platform will thank it and throw it out.

Four changes, one direction: Both engines are either removing or quietly discouraging the per-click ceiling..

• Microsoft allows max CPC on new campaigns only via portfolio strategies from 1 October, and its API drops the field on 12 January 2027.
• Google locks Target ROAS during promotion mode, leaving only the tolerance adjustable, and now confirms Demand Gen bills display images by CPM, so there’s no click price to cap.

Scripts, beware: The January API cut covers portfolio strategies too, and past use won’t grandfather you in. Audit bulk uploads and bid tools that set MaxCpc.

Holiday homework? For each campaign, settle what holds the line now: a portfolio cap, a ROAS tolerance, or plain old budget. The defaults won’t do it for you.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Google Ads:

• Match me if you can: Customer Match now accepts IP addresses and timestamps, uploaded unhashed, for bigger audiences. Not for EEA, UK or Swiss users.
• Local rules apply: The Legal Requirements policy adds self-regulatory codes for Argentina, Australia, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and South Africa.
• Supersized: Google is testing bigger Local Services Ads with larger images and a highlight box. Still a test, but home-services advertisers should keep watch.

Plenty to reconfigure before the holiday rush.