Google has made it easier to put a little money back into a network you stopped buying. That is useful. It is also an easy way to reopen a bad decision without noticing: the interface now offers a reassuring percentage, so the old objection starts to feel resolved.
A smaller exposure can make a test affordable. It does not make the inventory worth testing. Before reopening Search Partners or Display, write down what the new experiment could teach that the previous spend did not.
Keep the exclusion unless something deserves another test
Leaving a network off is a defensible starting point when the account has no commercial reason to return. A new control changes how you can buy; it does not change what your earlier leads or orders were worth.
The strongest case for reopening is narrower than giving both networks another chance. Perhaps Partners deserves a small test while Display remains excluded. Perhaps Display has a remarketing role worth examining in Performance Max. Those are separate buying hypotheses, and neither needs the other network switched on.
Google's announcement of the new controls offers an alternative to all-or-nothing allocation. It also describes a limit worth noticing: Search, YouTube, Maps, Gmail and Discover remain grouped as Google channels in Performance Max and Demand Gen. Do not mistake the new controls for a separate budget switch on every surface.
Read the percentage before trusting it
The important distinction is between priority and allocation. Google's current help page says priority alone generally does not change spending distribution for target CPA or target ROAS campaigns that are not limited by budget. A low-priority allocation can still apply.
That allocation is calculated against average daily budget, not actual spend. Nonzero limits operate on a best-effort basis and can be exceeded. Shared budgets apply the allocation to the whole pool. Google separately states that a zero allocation prevents spend on the channel.
Read those distinctions as different decisions: preference, bounded exposure and exclusion. If the business needs an absolute daily loss ceiling, a best-effort percentage is not a promise you can put in the client's budget. Inspect the effective account, campaign or shared-budget setting before assuming the intended boundary is in place.
A migration setting is not a test budget
There is another reason to inspect before saving. Google's announced February 2027 transition for Search campaigns using Display Expansion includes a low-priority Display setting with a 50 percent allocation to preserve the existing configuration. That number describes a migration path. It is not an editorial recommendation to give Display half your budget.
Adopting Search priorities earlier applies the new behavior immediately, according to the help page. Treat that as an actual settings change, with a recorded baseline, rather than harmless preparation for a future rollout.
An interface appearing in the account proves that you can inspect it. It does not prove that the account has produced a better commercial result with it. Keep setup observations separate from performance conclusions.
Give the reopened network one job
Write the experiment before changing the allocation:
- Name the network and the reason it might now produce worthwhile business.
- Record the current exclusions, effective priorities and allocation scope.
- Choose an exposure the business can tolerate, including the possibility of exceeding a nonzero allocation.
- Compare channel conversion costs and the usefulness of those conversions, not just the campaign's blended total.
- Define the observation window and the result that ends the experiment before the spend begins.
Avoid giving the test a universal two-week deadline merely because that is an easy calendar slot. The result needs enough relevant outcomes to answer its buying question. Changing several networks and other campaign settings together makes that answer harder to read.
The controls are still rolling out, and neither early setup experience nor the feature announcement establishes incremental value for your account. That is what the experiment must establish.
Reopen the network when you have a reason to buy and a way to judge the result. A new percentage box is permission to run a smaller experiment. It is not the result of one.