On June 1, 2026, Google Ads permanently deleted older historical reporting data as part of an updated data retention policy. The change went live without prominent in-platform notification, and many US advertisers are discovering the loss when attempting to access historical performance data they expected to still be there.
This guide covers exactly what was deleted, what US advertisers can still access, and the steps to take now to avoid further data loss.
What the June 1 Data Retention Change Means for US Advertisers
For US-based advertisers, several high-value reporting types were affected. US accounts are typically larger with longer run histories, which means the impact of shorter retention windows tends to be more significant than for smaller accounts:
- Search terms report -- truncated to 18 months. US advertisers using search term data for keyword research, match type audits, or identifying new negative keywords lost access to 2024 data.
- Auction insights -- 13-month rolling window now applies. Competitive benchmarks from 2024 are gone. For US advertisers in competitive verticals (insurance, legal, e-commerce, SaaS), this is a meaningful loss of competitive context.
- Display and Video placements -- URL-level placement data limited to 24 months. Advertisers using placement reports for brand safety audits or exclusion lists lost older data.
- Custom columns -- columns referencing deleted underlying data return errors or blanks for older date ranges.
The notification was published in Google's help center but did not appear as an in-platform alert. Advertisers using automated scripts, Looker Studio dashboards, or third-party reporting tools saw no on-screen notice.
What Is Still Accessible in the US Google Ads Interface
The following data is not affected by the June 1 change:
Campaign, ad group, keyword, and ad-level performance metrics (clicks, impressions, conversions, cost, ROAS) continue to be accessible for the full historical window. For US advertisers running Google Smart Bidding campaigns, target CPA and target ROAS data in the Recommendations and Bidding sections is not affected.
Conversion tracking history is retained according to the conversion action's individual settings. The June 1 change does not apply to conversion tracking storage.
Google Merchant Center product data and Performance Max shopping data are not affected by the Google Ads reporting retention change.
Data Recovery: What Is Possible and What Is Not
For US advertisers who did not export before June 1, deleted data cannot be restored by Google Ads support. The deletion is permanent. There is no API endpoint to recover data beyond the current retention window.
What may be recoverable from third-party sources:
- If your account was connected to Google Analytics 4 with auto-tagging, GA4 may have query data captured through site search or session data.
- If you used a third-party PPC management tool (Optmyzr, WordStream, or similar), check whether those platforms retained a cache of your historical report data.
- If your Looker Studio or Data Studio reports cached data before June 1, that cached data may still be accessible within the reporting tool's own storage.
These are partial recoveries at best. For the most complete data sets, exported CSVs prior to June 1 are the only reliable recovery path.
Immediate Action Plan for US Google Ads Accounts
Step 1: Export current data before more falls outside the window.
The 18-month, 13-month, and 24-month windows are now rolling. Every month, the oldest data drops off. For search terms data, this means:
- June 2025 data: accessible until November 2026 (when it falls outside 18 months from today)
- Action: export all search terms data now for the full available range
Step 2: Set up BigQuery data transfer.
Google Ads offers a free data transfer to BigQuery that can retain data permanently. US advertisers running any significant ad spend should configure this:
- In Google Cloud Console, enable the BigQuery Data Transfer API
- Set up a Google Ads data transfer for your account
- Include search terms, auction insights, and placement reports
- Configure daily transfers to ensure no new data is missed
Step 3: Implement a monthly export routine.
For accounts not using BigQuery, set up a Google Ads script that runs monthly and saves key reports to Google Sheets or downloads them. Auction insights, search terms, and placement reports should be included.
Checking Whether Your Dashboards Are Affected
For US advertisers using Looker Studio connected to Google Ads:
Test your dashboards with a date range that includes data from before June 1 but within the now-deleted window. If you see "No data" or blank cells for older dates where data existed before, your dashboard is affected. The underlying data is gone and the dashboard cannot display it.
For third-party platforms like Optmyzr, Adalysis, or Supermetrics: contact their support to confirm whether they cached historical data from your account before the June 1 deletion.
Search Term Data: The Biggest Loss for US PPC Accounts
For most US advertisers, the search term report is the most critical affected report. Search term data is essential for:
- Identifying irrelevant queries to add as negative keywords
- Finding new keyword opportunities from actual user searches
- Auditing match type performance and identifying match type expansion
With search term data limited to 18 months rolling, year-over-year search term analysis is now limited to comparing only recent periods. Full year-over-year comparisons (June 2026 vs. June 2025) remain accessible until December 2026, but will eventually fall outside the window.
Priority action: export all search term data segmented by campaign, device, and match type for the full available window before December 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Google notify US advertisers about the June 1 data deletion?
Google published the policy change in the Google Ads help center. It did not send direct email notifications to affected accounts or display in-platform alerts. Most US advertisers learned of the change only after discovering missing data.
Can I recover deleted search term data through the Google Ads API?
No. The API accesses the same underlying data as the Google Ads interface. Data that has been deleted from Google's systems cannot be retrieved through the API.
Does this affect Google Ads accounts managed through agencies?
Yes. Agency-managed accounts are subject to the same retention policy change regardless of who manages the account. Agencies should check all client accounts for missing data.
Is there a way to extend data retention in Google Ads?
Within the Google Ads platform itself, no -- the retention windows are fixed by Google's policy. BigQuery Data Transfer is the supported way to retain data permanently outside of Google Ads' own storage limits.
Will this affect Smart Bidding performance if older conversion data is deleted?
Smart Bidding for active campaigns uses recent conversion signals, not archived report data, so active bidding algorithms are not affected. Historical analysis of bidding performance for inactive campaigns will be limited by the retention window.
