Google Ads lets you rank channels and cap Display spend: what a restaurant should check

What happened

On October 14, 2026, Google added two optional controls to Google Ads. They are rolling out over the next few months to Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns.

• Channel priority. You mark a channel as high or low priority. The campaign spends on high-priority channels first, then sends what is left to the low ones.
• Budget allocation. For a low-priority channel, you set the most it may take as a share of the daily budget. Google calls this “best effort,” so it is a target, not a hard cap.

In Performance Max and Demand Gen, Google’s own surfaces are grouped as “Google channels.” That group covers Search, YouTube, Maps, Gmail and Discover. You can’t rank them one by one.

What it changes for a restaurant

A restaurant’s Google ads are often Search campaigns. A guest types “tacos near me” and sees the ad. Those campaigns can also run on the Display Network and Search partners. Until now the choice was on or off. Search Engine Journal notes that many advertisers have been wary of both because of traffic quality.

The new controls give a middle path. You can keep Search on high priority and put Display on low with a small share. Search Engine Journal reported that every channel defaults to high priority. It gave the example of capping Search partners at 20% of a daily budget. It also said a 0% setting will be allowed, which stops spend on that channel. One caveat from both posts: if a Target CPA or Target ROAS campaign is not limited by its budget, priority alone usually won’t change much. The share cap is the part that bites.

The date to plan for is February 2027. From then, Search campaigns with Display turned on lose the current setup, which already favors Search over Display. Since everything defaults to high priority, spend could shift toward Display if you do nothing. Google’s own advice is to set Display to low priority with a 50% allocation to keep things as they are. Search Engine Journal reported that Google plans a one-click way to make that switch at launch.

Which tools this touches

This is a Google Ads setting, not something your marketing platform controls. But it changes what a click is worth, so it touches the tools that turn clicks into orders. If your ads land on an ordering page built by Popmenu or Owner.com, check that each store’s ad goes to that store’s page. If you run guest email through Toast Email Marketing, compare the guests your ads bring with those your emails bring back. Our restaurant marketing rankings list what each tool covers.

Our take

This is a useful control, and most restaurants should use it rather than ignore it. For a store that only wants nearby diners, Display is the part of a Search budget that needs the most watching. Being able to test it with a small cap beats an all-or-nothing switch.

Three steps, in order:

1. List every Search campaign with Display on. Do it per store if each store has its own campaign.
2. Decide what you want. If you have no view, follow Google’s advice: Display on low priority at 50%. That keeps today’s behavior.
3. Watch for a month. If Display brings calls and direction requests, raise its share. If not, lower it.

Don’t wait for February. Google is pitching the controls for holiday spend, so look for them in your account as they roll out. One more thing: Google calls the cap best effort. Check real spend by channel each week, rather than trusting the number you typed.