If you're running eCommerce ads and haven't explored Performance Max yet, you're leaving money on the table. I've spent the past few years helping online retailers navigate Google's evolving ad ecosystem, and I can tell you firsthand that Performance Max campaigns have fundamentally changed how successful businesses approach digital advertising.
The 2025 updates to Performance Max have addressed many of the initial concerns advertisers had, adding more control while maintaining the powerful automation that makes these campaigns so effective. Whether you're completely new to Performance Max or looking to optimize existing campaigns, this guide will give you the practical knowledge you need to succeed.
Think of this post as your roadmap to Performance Max success - we'll cover everything from initial setup to advanced optimization techniques with clear, actionable steps you can implement today.
Performance Max represents Google's shift toward AI-driven, goal-based campaign management. It's a campaign type that gives you access to all of Google's advertising inventory through a single campaign. This includes Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and Maps.
Unlike traditional campaign types that focus on specific networks, Performance Max takes a unified approach. The system automatically optimizes your ads across channels based on where your potential customers are most likely to convert. This saves time while expanding your reach.
Performance Max uses Google's machine learning to find the best combination of creative assets, audiences, and placements to achieve your specific goals. It then automatically adjusts bids and placements to maximize performance. This automation is based on signals from Google's vast data resources combined with your own campaign data.
Performance Max was designed to address the growing complexity of digital advertising. With consumers moving across multiple devices and platforms, traditional campaign structures often struggled to deliver cohesive experiences. Performance Max solves this by creating a single campaign that can follow customers throughout their journey. According to Google, Performance Max campaigns help advertisers find new customers beyond their core search terms by tapping into Google's entire advertising ecosystem. (Source: Google Blog)
The main difference between Performance Max and other campaign types is the level of control versus automation. Traditional campaigns give you granular control over keywords, placements, and bidding. Performance Max shifts much of this control to Google's AI while providing you with different levers to guide the system.
With Performance Max, you focus on providing quality inputs - your conversion goals, creative assets, audience signals, and product feed. Google's systems then determine the optimal way to combine these elements to reach your target audience and achieve your goals.
For eCommerce businesses, Performance Max offers a particularly compelling proposition: the ability to show products across all of Google's properties without having to create and manage separate campaigns for each channel. This consolidated approach makes it easier to maintain consistent messaging and optimize toward business objectives rather than channel-specific metrics.
Google has introduced several significant updates to Performance Max in 2025, addressing advertiser feedback and enhancing the platform's capabilities. These improvements focus on greater control, better reporting, and more advanced targeting options.
The 2025 updates have introduced several important control features that advertisers have been requesting. Campaign-level negative keywords now allow you to exclude certain search terms from triggering your ads, giving you more precision in your targeting. This helps prevent wasted spend on irrelevant searches while maintaining the benefits of automation. (Source: Google Blog)
Another welcome addition is brand and URL exclusions for retail campaigns. This feature lets you prevent your products from appearing alongside certain brands or on specific websites that don't align with your marketing strategy. For brands concerned about where their ads appear, this provides an important layer of brand safety.
The new demographic and device targeting controls offer more granular audience management. You can now focus your campaigns on specific age groups, genders, or devices based on where you see the best performance. This is particularly useful for products that have a clearly defined target audience.
Understanding campaign performance is crucial for optimization, and the 2025 updates bring significant improvements to Performance Max reporting. The enhanced Search Themes Reporting now includes a "usefulness indicator" that shows the incremental traffic impact of different search themes. This helps you understand which themes are bringing in new users versus cannibalizing your existing campaigns. (Source: Medresponsive)
The Source column in search terms insights now identifies where search queries originated. This visibility helps you understand how users are finding your ads across Google's properties and can inform your marketing strategy across channels.
Asset Group Reporting has also been enhanced with performance segmentation by device and time. This allows you to understand how your creative assets perform across different devices and during various times of the day or week. You can now download performance data for deeper analysis, making it easier to identify patterns and optimization opportunities. (Source: Swipe Insight)
Setting up a Performance Max campaign requires careful preparation and strategic thinking. While the automation handles much of the optimization process, providing the right inputs is crucial for success.
Before creating your first Performance Max campaign, ensure you have these essential elements in place:
Without proper conversion tracking, Performance Max cannot optimize effectively. Google recommends having at least 15-20 conversions per month before starting a Performance Max campaign to give the system enough data to learn from. (Source: Google Ads Support)
Let's walk through the process of creating your first Performance Max campaign:
Performance Max campaigns have a different structure than traditional campaigns. Instead of ad groups organized by keywords, Performance Max uses asset groups that combine creative elements with audience signals.
For most businesses, starting with a single asset group is sufficient. As you gather data, you can expand to multiple asset groups based on product categories, customer segments, or different value propositions. Performance Max campaigns use Google's AI to optimize across all elements, automatically creating thousands of ad combinations from your assets. (Source: AI Marketing Engineers)
I've found that the most successful Performance Max campaigns for eCommerce follow these structural principles:
This structure helps the algorithm learn more efficiently while giving you better insights into performance across different product lines or business segments. As your campaigns mature, you can further refine this structure based on performance data.
The creative assets you provide are the building blocks of your Performance Max campaigns. Google's AI will mix and match these elements to create ad combinations tailored to each user, placement, and moment.
Performance Max requires a variety of assets to create ads across different networks and placements. At minimum, you'll need to provide headlines, descriptions, images, and logos. Videos are optional but highly recommended as they can significantly improve performance.
Here are the specific requirements for Performance Max assets as of 2025:
Performance Max requires these diverse creative elements to build effective ads across all Google networks. The minimum requirements include 3-5 headlines (15-90 characters) and 1-20 landscape images (1200x628px recommended) to ensure the system has enough assets to work with across placements. (Source: Channable)
Creating effective assets for Performance Max requires a strategic approach. Here are some best practices I've developed after setting up dozens of successful campaigns:
Including video assets in your Performance Max campaigns can significantly boost performance. Video allows you to tell a more complete story and engage users across platforms like YouTube and the Google Display Network. (Source: Swipe Insight)
If you don't have video content, don't worry. Performance Max offers an AI-generated video feature that can create videos from your existing image assets and text. While these aren't as effective as custom-produced videos, they're better than having no video assets at all. The system creates these videos by combining your images, logos, and text assets into simple motion graphics. (Source: Google Ads Support)
After your campaign has gathered sufficient data, you'll want to optimize your assets based on performance. Performance Max provides asset ratings (Low, Good, Best) to help you understand which elements are working well.
Here's my approach to ongoing asset optimization:
First, identify your top-performing assets in each category. Look for patterns in what's working - is it certain messaging themes, visual styles, or calls to action? Then replace your lowest-performing assets with new ones that follow similar patterns to your winners.
For example, if benefit-focused headlines are outperforming feature-focused ones, create more benefit-focused headlines. If lifestyle images are working better than product-only images, add more lifestyle content.
Remember that the system needs time to learn after you make changes. Avoid making too many changes at once, and give the campaign at least a week to adapt to new assets before judging their performance.
While Performance Max uses Google's AI to find potential customers, you can guide this process through audience signals. These signals help the system understand who your ideal customers are and find similar users across Google's properties.
Audience signals act as a starting point for the algorithm, helping it learn faster and find more relevant users. You can use various audience types as signals, including:
Performance Max combines customer match data with custom segments to create effective audience signals that guide the machine learning algorithms. You can add up to 25 search themes per asset group to further refine targeting based on user search intent. (Source: StoreGrowers)
Your own customer data is incredibly valuable for Performance Max campaigns. By uploading Customer Match lists, you can target existing customers for repeat purchases or create lookalike audiences to find new customers with similar characteristics.
Here's how to make the most of your first-party data:
When using first-party data, always ensure you're complying with privacy regulations and Google's policies. Customer lists should be properly hashed before upload, and you should have the necessary permissions to use customer data for advertising purposes.
Search themes help Performance Max understand what your potential customers are looking for. Unlike traditional keywords, search themes are broader concepts that guide the system rather than exact triggers for your ads.
When creating search themes, consider:
First, the products or services you offer and the different ways customers might search for them. Include category terms, specific product names, and problem-based searches. Then, think about customer pain points and how your products solve them. Finally, include questions your customers frequently ask about your products or industry.
For example, if you sell athletic shoes, your search themes might include general terms like "running shoes" and "athletic footwear," specific features like "cushioned running shoes" and "shoes for marathon training," and problem-based themes like "shoes for knee pain" and "preventing running injuries."
Unlike standard Search campaigns where exact match keywords would override Performance Max, in 2025 Google has updated how these campaigns interact. Exact match keywords in separate Search campaigns can now take priority over Performance Max, giving advertisers more control over high-intent searches while still benefiting from Performance Max's broad reach. (Source: Google Ads Support)
Choosing the right bidding strategy is crucial for Performance Max success. Your bidding strategy should align with your business objectives and the type of conversions you're tracking.
Performance Max offers two primary bidding strategies, each designed for different goals:
Performance Max supports only "Maximize Conversions" or "Maximize Conversion Value" as bidding strategies. For more advanced setups, Target ROAS can be implemented by providing a ratio input via the Google Ads API. (Source: Google Ads API)
For eCommerce businesses, Maximize Conversion Value is typically the better choice since it optimizes for revenue rather than just conversion count. This strategy works best when you have accurate values assigned to your conversions.
If you're new to Performance Max or don't have variable conversion values, start with Maximize Conversions. This simpler strategy focuses on getting as many conversions as possible within your budget without considering their value differences.
As your campaign gathers data, you can transition to more advanced strategies like Target ROAS or Target CPA (as part of Maximize Conversions). These allow you to set specific performance targets rather than just maximizing raw conversion numbers.
Your budget allocation and bid adjustments can significantly impact Performance Max results. Here's my approach to budget management:
Start with a higher budget during the learning phase. Performance Max needs data to learn, and a limited budget can slow this process. I typically recommend allocating 20-30% more budget than you ultimately plan to spend during the first 2-3 weeks.
Once the campaign stabilizes, you can adjust the budget based on performance. If you're seeing strong ROAS, gradually increase the budget to scale results. If performance is below targets, consider reducing the budget while you optimize other elements like audience signals or creative assets.
For seasonal businesses, plan budget increases 2-3 weeks before peak seasons to give the algorithm time to adapt. Similarly, don't cut budgets immediately after seasonal peaks - taper them gradually to capture late-season conversions.
Effective reporting is essential for understanding campaign performance and making data-driven optimizations. Performance Max offers several specialized reporting views designed to provide insights beyond standard Google Ads metrics.
While the specific metrics you track will depend on your business goals, these are the essential measurements for most Performance Max campaigns:
Beyond these standard metrics, Performance Max provides more detailed reporting on asset performance, audience insights, and cross-channel attribution.
Performance Max offers several unique reporting capabilities that help you understand and optimize campaign performance:
Placement reporting is tracked via the specialized `performance_max_placement_view` report, which shows how your ads are performing across different Google properties. For eCommerce advertisers, product performance metrics are available through the `shopping_performance_view` report, providing insights into which products are driving the most value. (Source: Google Ads API)
The Insights page provides AI-driven recommendations and performance trends. This automated analysis can identify opportunities you might otherwise miss, such as shifts in audience behavior or emerging search trends.
The new Asset reporting features let you see how different creative elements perform across placements. This helps you understand which messages and visuals resonate best with your audience in different contexts.
To effectively analyze Performance Max campaigns, I use this structured framework:
This structured approach ensures you're regularly reviewing all aspects of campaign performance and taking appropriate action based on the data. By establishing a consistent review schedule, you can identify trends over time and make more strategic optimizations.
Once your Performance Max campaigns are running smoothly, these advanced optimization techniques can help you squeeze even more performance from them.
While Performance Max automatically tests creative combinations, you can implement a more strategic testing approach:
First, identify the elements you want to test - this could be messaging themes, visual styles, or different value propositions. Next, create dedicated asset groups for each test variant with controlled variables. Run these tests for at least 2-3 weeks to gather sufficient data.
When analyzing results, look beyond simple conversion metrics. Consider the full funnel impact, including click-through rates, conversion rates, and average order values. This comprehensive analysis will give you deeper insights into what's working and why.
Based on the results, implement your learnings across all campaigns and continue testing new variables. This continuous improvement cycle helps you stay ahead of competitors and adapt to changing market conditions.
For businesses with seasonal fluctuations, these strategies can help maximize performance during peak periods:
Start by analyzing your historical data to identify seasonal trends and plan accordingly. Increase budgets 2-3 weeks before anticipated peaks to give the algorithm time to adapt. Create seasonal asset groups with relevant messaging and visuals that align with holiday themes or seasonal needs.
During peak seasons, monitor campaigns more frequently and be prepared to make quick adjustments. After the season ends, don't immediately cut budgets - taper them gradually to capture late-season conversions and begin planning for the next seasonal opportunity.
These sophisticated audience strategies can significantly improve campaign performance:
Create a customer journey mapping to understand different touchpoints and tailor messaging accordingly. Use sequential messaging that changes based on previous interactions. For example, show product-focused ads to new visitors and promotion-focused ads to returning visitors who haven't purchased.
Implement value-based bidding for customer segments based on predicted lifetime value rather than just immediate conversion value. This approach prioritizes customers who are likely to make repeat purchases over one-time buyers.
The introduction of campaign-level brand exclusions in 2025 has been particularly valuable for businesses concerned about brand safety. This feature gives you more control over where your ads appear, reducing the risk of your brand being associated with inappropriate content. (Source: Google Business Resources)
For advertisers with technical resources, these advanced techniques can provide an edge:
Use the Google Ads API to automate campaign management and implement more sophisticated strategies. The API allows for programmatic creation and management of Performance Max campaigns, including specifying detailed campaign parameters during setup. (Source: Google Ads API)
Implement advanced conversion tracking that captures post-conversion actions to better understand customer lifetime value. Integrate your CRM data with Google Ads to improve audience targeting and performance measurement.
For eCommerce businesses, ensure your product feed is optimized with complete attributes, high-quality images, and competitive pricing. The quality of your feed directly impacts Performance Max effectiveness for product-based campaigns.
Google Performance Max represents a significant evolution in how we approach digital advertising. By combining the power of Google's machine learning with access to their entire advertising ecosystem, Performance Max offers unprecedented opportunities to reach potential customers wherever they are.
The 2025 updates have addressed many of the initial concerns advertisers had about Performance Max, adding more control features while maintaining the powerful automation that makes these campaigns effective. With campaign-level negative keywords, brand exclusions, and enhanced reporting, advertisers now have better tools to guide the AI while maintaining visibility into performance.
I've found that the most successful Performance Max implementations follow a clear pattern: they start with thorough preparation, provide high-quality assets and audience signals, choose appropriate bidding strategies, and implement a consistent optimization process. By following the guidelines in this post, you'll be well-equipped to achieve similar results.
Remember that while Performance Max automates much of the campaign management process, your strategic input remains crucial. The system works best when given quality inputs and thoughtful guidance. It's not a "set it and forget it" solution, but rather a powerful tool that amplifies your marketing expertise.
As you implement Performance Max for your business, start with clear goals, be patient during the learning phase, and use the reporting tools to continuously refine your approach. With the right strategy and ongoing optimization, Performance Max can become one of your most valuable marketing channels.
Have you implemented Performance Max for your business? I'd love to hear about your experience in the comments below. And if you have questions about getting started, don't hesitate to reach out - I'm always happy to help fellow marketers navigate the ever-evolving digital advertising landscape.
Based on common questions I receive from clients, here are quick answers to some FAQs about Performance Max:
How long does it take for Performance Max to start performing?
Most campaigns need 2-4 weeks to exit the learning phase and start delivering stable results. During this time, the system is gathering data and optimizing for your goals. (Source: Google Ads Support)
Should I run Performance Max alongside Search campaigns?
Yes, they can work well together. With the 2025 updates, exact match keywords in Search campaigns can now take priority over Performance Max, giving you better control over high-intent searches.
How often should I update my Performance Max assets?
Review asset performance bi-weekly and replace underperforming assets monthly. Also update assets for seasonal periods and major promotions.
Can Performance Max replace my existing campaigns?
It's generally best to run Performance Max alongside your existing campaigns rather than as a complete replacement, especially for high-performing Search campaigns targeting specific keywords.
What's the minimum budget for Performance Max?
While there's no official minimum, I recommend at least $50/day during the learning phase to give the system enough data to optimize effectively.
