MarketingIndustry Guide4 min readPublished October 3, 2026

Six dated changes this quarter, six more already set for 2027

Q4 2026 Deadline Calendar: Google, Meta, Microsoft, Reddit

The Q4 2026 platform deadlines marketers need: API sunsets, a bidding change, RSS shutdown and price expiries at Google, Meta, Microsoft and Reddit, dated.

DA
Digital Applied Team
Research and practical guidance
CoverageOctober 3, 2026

Six platform changes fall between October 1 and December 31, 2026 that marketing teams should plan around, and most of them hit the tools behind the ads rather than the ads themselves: API versions that expire, a bid setting that disappears and Reddit’s RSS feeds going dark on November 13. Six more are already dated for early 2027. Each date below comes from the platform’s own page.

Key takeaways
  1. 01
    Reddit is the busiestNew API access requests close October 31 and RSS support ends November 13.
  2. 02
    Check your tools’ API versionsMeta’s Marketing API v24.0 expires October 6; Google Ads API v22 is due to sunset this month.
  3. 03
    One bidding changeMicrosoft Advertising removed Max CPC from new non-portfolio automated campaigns on October 1.
  4. 04
    Q1 is already crowdedMerchant Center image rules, the Dynamic Search Ads sunset and more API expiries follow in early 2027.

01 — The dataThe Q4 2026 calendar

The table lists each dated change, what it is and who needs to act. Most rows matter to whoever owns your reporting, feeds and integrations, so share it with them as well as the media team.

Sources: Microsoft Advertising blog (August 31, 2026), Meta and Google developer pages, Reddit Help Center and the Gemini API pricing page, read October 3, 2026.
DatePlatformChangeWho must act
Oct 1Microsoft AdvertisingMax CPC no longer available when creating new non-portfolio campaigns on Maximize Conversions, Maximize Conversion Value or Maximize ClicksSearch teams that cap bids on automated strategies
Oct 6MetaMarketing API v24.0 expiresAnyone whose reporting or ad tools call the Marketing API
Oct (tentative)Google AdsGoogle Ads API v22 sunsetIn-house scripts, dashboards and bid tools on the API
Oct 31RedditNew requests for public Data API access no longer acceptedTeams planning a Reddit listening or research integration
Nov 13RedditRSS feeds stop being supportedAnyone tracking subreddits or brand mentions through RSS
Dec 31Google Gemini APIIntroductory prices for Gemini 3.7 and 3.8 Flash end; rates double on Jan 1Teams running their own AI tools on Gemini Flash

02 — PlatformReddit closes two doors this quarter

Reddit’s Help Center says it will stop supporting RSS feeds on November 13, 2026, and points moderators to a Discord or Slack alert app instead. For marketers, RSS is often the quiet plumbing behind subreddit monitoring, brand-mention alerts and social listening dashboards. Anything built that way stops updating on that date.

Earlier, on October 31, Reddit stops accepting new requests for public Data API access, per its September 30 developer announcement. Update, October 3, 2026: this date first ran as reported; we have since confirmed it in an Internet Archive copy of that post, captured the day it was published. Its later steps, removing access for unregistered apps from January 12, 2027 and ending the public API in March 2027, are covered in our breakdown of Reddit’s deadlines.

Ask your listening vendor

If a social listening or research tool reports on Reddit, ask the vendor in writing how it collects Reddit data after November 13 and after March 2027. A tool that relies on RSS or the public API without an agreement may quietly lose coverage.

03 — PlatformAd platform API versions that expire

Ad platforms release new API versions on a schedule and switch off old ones. When a version expires, any dashboard, script, bid tool or feed connector still calling it stops working until it is upgraded. Two expire this quarter.

  • Meta Marketing API v24.0, October 6. Meta’s versions page lists v25.0, released February 18, 2026, as the newest Marketing API version.
  • Google Ads API v22, October 2026. Google’s sunset schedule marks the date as tentative. Version 25.2, released September 23, is the newest version already out.

Most teams do not call these APIs directly; their reporting and management tools do. A one-line question to each vendor (which API version are you on, and when do you upgrade) covers it.

04 — PlatformMicrosoft Advertising’s bidding change

From October 1, Microsoft Advertising no longer offers a maximum cost-per-click cap when you create a new campaign that uses Maximize Conversions with a target CPA, Maximize Conversion Value with a target ROAS, or Maximize Clicks, unless it uses a portfolio bid strategy. Microsoft’s August product update says existing campaigns that already use the cap keep it.

The practical effect: if your team relies on a bid cap to stop an automated strategy overspending on single clicks, new campaigns now need a portfolio bid strategy to keep that control. The same post covers Microsoft’s AI Max for Search, which we compared with Google’s version in our AI Max comparison.

05 — TimelineAlready set for early 2027

Several bigger changes land just after the quarter ends. Planning for them belongs in Q4, because each needs work before the date.

Gemini 3.7 and 3.8 Flash prices doubleGoogle Gemini API pricing
Jan 1, 2027
Reddit removes unregistered apps’ API accessReddit’s September 30 announcement
Jan 12, 2027
Meta Graph API v21.0 expiresMeta versions page
Jan 21, 2027
Merchant Center images must be at least 500 × 500Google Merchant Center Help
Jan 31, 2027
Dynamic Search Ads sunset and AI Max auto-upgrade beginGoogle, updated June 11, 2026
Feb 2027
Reddit’s remaining public API access endsReddit’s September 30 announcement
Mar 2027

Two of these moved. Google first planned to auto-upgrade Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max from September 2026, then pushed the DSA sunset to February 2027 after advertiser feedback; campaigns using automatically created assets and campaign-level broad match still began upgrading in September. The Merchant Center image rule is stated on Google’s image requirements page: products need images of at least 500 by 500 pixels from January 31, 2027. Our Q3 deadline calendar has the changes that came before this quarter.

06 — Practical implicationsWhat to do this quarter

You monitor Reddit through RSS or a listening tool
Move alerts off RSS and get the vendor’s plan in writing
Before Nov 13
Your reports or bid tools use ad platform APIs
Confirm each tool’s Meta and Google API versions
October
You run Shopping or Performance Max
Clear Merchant Center image warnings below 500 × 500
Before Jan 31
You still run Dynamic Search Ads
Test AI Max on your own schedule, not Google’s
Before Feb 2027

None of these changes is large on its own; the risk is a report or alert that stops without anyone noticing during the busiest selling weeks of the year. Put each date in the shared calendar with an owner. For help auditing which tools and feeds depend on these platforms, our analytics and paid media teams can review your stack.

Next step

Give every date an owner before November

Copy the six Q4 dates and the six early-2027 dates into your team calendar, assign each one to the person who owns the affected tool or feed, and ask every vendor on the list which API version and data source it relies on.

Marketing operations

Find the reports and feeds these deadlines will break

Digital Applied audits your ad, analytics and listening stack, maps each tool to the platform changes above and fixes what would fail.

Tool inventoryAPI version checksFeed fixes
Before November

Check four things

  • →Reddit data sources
  • →Ad API versions
  • →Bid caps on new campaigns
  • →Merchant Center images
Questions and answers

Practical questions

November 13, 2026, according to Reddit’s Help Center. Reddit points moderators to a Discord or Slack alert app instead.
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