Google Performance Max Campaigns: What to Know Before You Launch

Performance Max is the newest campaign type at Google - and it’s completely different from everything that came before. You don’t choose keywords and placements - Google’s AI looks at your creative assets and shows them where it thinks they’ll work best… across the entire network. 

How Performance Max Actually Works

Performance Max runs across YouTube, Gmail, Search, Display, Shopping, and Discover - all at the same time. You don't create ad groups or choose keywords - Google wants your headlines, descriptions, images, videos, and audience signals about who you want to reach instead. Then Google’s machine learning decides where, when, and to whom your ads should appear.

You tell it what you want to achieve, what your performance goal is - stuff like maximizing conversions or hitting a target return on ad spend - and Google optimizes toward that goal automatically. Using real-time auction data and user behavior signals, it can make thousands of bidding and placement decisions every second. It's like having Google run search, display, shopping, and video campaigns for you simultaneously - using one unified budget and optimization strategy.

When Performance Max Works Best

Performance Max excels for ecommerce businesses with clear conversion goals and broad target audiences. If you sell products online and want maximum reach without managing multiple campaign types, it's powerful. Local businesses also see good results because Google can automatically show your ads to people near your location across all their properties.

It needs strong creative assets to excel - think high-quality images, compelling videos, and clear value propositions. The more assets you give, the better it can do - Google can test more combinations to find what resonates with different audiences.