Advertisers can now tag AI Max clicks in their own analytics, because Google Ads added a ValueTrack parameter called {search_term_matchtype}. Search Engine Land reported the change on November 11, after Google updated its ValueTrack documentation. The parameter gives teams a way to separate AI Max expansion traffic from clicks that match keywords the standard way.
The parameter reports how the query behind a click was matched, which is distinct from the keyword’s own setting. It returns one of four values: e for exact, p for phrase, b for broad, and a for AI Max expansions plus matches with no keyword. The a value is the one that matters here, since it is the only marker of AI Max expansion traffic.
It works beside the existing {matchtype} parameter, which reports the keyword’s match type. The two can disagree, and that disagreement is the signal. A click where {matchtype} shows e, p, or b while {search_term_matchtype} shows a counts as AI Max expansion traffic. Any click where the new parameter is not a falls under standard keyword matching in the new classification.
Google’s documentation includes a sample tracking template that adds three values to the final URL after {lpurl}: the keyword, its match type, and the new search term match type. Analytics and reporting systems can then read those values and segment sessions accordingly.
The practical gain is measurement outside the Google Ads interface. Until now, an advertiser testing AI Max had to rely on the platform’s own reports to see expansion behavior. With the value arriving in the URL, a team can compare engagement and conversion between matching mechanisms in its own analytics, and examine whether landing page behavior differs. Search Engine Land lists building more detailed AI Max reports as another use, which would help agencies that must explain results to clients.
The limits are real. What the parameter reveals is the matching route, nothing more. Incremental lift from AI Max stays unmeasured, so a high conversion rate on a-tagged clicks does not show that AI Max added conversions that would not have happened anyway. Conclusions require comparing performance data across campaigns and controlling for other factors. The parameter also adds no bidding or targeting controls.
For search teams that straddle paid and organic, the tag has a second use. AI Max expansions can pull clicks from queries that organic content never targeted, and the landing pages those clicks reach become visible by match type. Comparing those pages against your organic landing pages can show where paid expansion is covering topics your content does not.
Hana Kobzová of PPCNewsFeed first noticed the documentation change, per Search Engine Land.
Teams running AI Max should add the parameter to their tracking templates this week and let a full conversion cycle pass before judging results. Treat the first read as a segmentation baseline, then pair it with a holdout or experiment before crediting AI Max with incremental growth.
Search Engine Land, report by Anu Adegbola, published November 11, 2026.
