If you run online ads, especially for e‑commerce, lead generation, or multi‑channel marketing, you’ve probably heard buzz about Performance Max (often “PMax”). It’s hailed as the “set and forget” solution that delivers across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, all from a single campaign. Sounds dreamy, right?
But like most powerful tools, success with Performance Max isn’t automatic. It depends on how well you use it, your assets, structure, signals, and ongoing oversight. In this guide, we’ll demystify how Performance Max really works under the hood, and walk through practical tips (lots of them) so you treat automation as a helpful ally, not a blind gamble.
What is Performance Max — the quick overview
Performance Max is a goal-based campaign type within Google Ads. Rather than focusing on keywords (like traditional search campaigns), it leverages Google’s inventory across all its channels, including Search, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, Maps, to reach audiences who are likely to convert.
You set your campaign’s objective like sales, leads, store visits, conversion value, etc. and upload a set of creative and/or product assets (text, images, video, feed if relevant), optionally give some “audience signals,” and let Google’s AI take over bidding, placements, creative combinations, and real‑time optimisation.
Instead of building separate campaigns for Search, Display, Shopping, YouTube, Performance Max bundles all that together. For businesses, that means one campaign, multiple channels, smarter reach.
Inside PMax: How it works step‑by‑step
To succeed with Performance Max, it helps to understand the core building blocks and mechanisms at play:
Asset Groups: the creative engine
At the heart of each PMax campaign are one or more asset groups. Think of an asset group as a mini campaign within the campaign, grouping together creative assets + optionally product feeds + messaging + audience signals.
Each asset group can contain:
- Multiple headlines (short & long)
- Descriptions
- Images of various formats (square, landscape, portrait), ideally multiple to suit different placements
- Videos (optional but strongly recommended)
- Logo(s), business name, call‑to‑action, final URL or feed
- Search‑theme keywords or feed links (for Shopping / e‑commerce)
- Audience signals to guide targeting (more on these shortly)
Google’s AI dynamically combines these elements, mixing headlines, images, videos, and descriptions to create ads across different placements (Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, etc.). That’s why one asset group can serve many ad formats depending on where and how users appear.
This dynamic creative optimisation saves time, but also demands that you supply good creative (not half-baked). Weak assets = weak performance.
Automation, Smart Bidding & AI‑powered optimisation
What sets PMax apart is deep automation and that’s where the “Max” lives. Google uses its AI and machine learning to:
- Determine when and where to show ads (which channel, what format)
- Choose which creative combination tends to work best for a given user/context
- Adjust bids and budget dynamically to align with your target goal (sales, ROAS, CPA, etc.)
- Optimise placement, attribution and conversion paths across channels, meaning PMax analyses entire user journeys (from first touch to conversion) and optimises accordingly.
Because it’s goal-based, you don’t pick keywords (in the traditional sense). Instead, you let Google’s algorithm decide the best match between user intent, placement, and your creative, which means less hands-on management from you, and potentially more scalable results.
Audience signals: guiding the AI, not locking it
PMax doesn’t work like manual campaigns where you hand-pick every audience. Instead, you give audience signals. Think of them as clues or suggestions. These could be:
- First‑party data (customer lists, past purchasers, newsletter lists)
- Website visitors or remarketing lists
- Custom segments (e.g. those interested in particular topics, in‑market segments, demographics, etc.)
- Interest or demographic segments (from Google Audiences)
Important: these signals do not constrain Google’s reach. PMax can, and often does, expand beyond those signals if its machine learning finds other users who match its predicted “likely-to-convert” profile.
In short, signals help the AI learn faster and start on the right foot, especially during the “learning phase.” They give PMax a head start toward the kinds of customers you know convert, but don’t limit its ability to find new ones.
Cross‑Channel, Multi‑Touch Attribution & Real‑Time Optimisation
One of PMax’s biggest advantages, especially for complex buyer journeys, is that it tracks and optimises across channels and touchpoints. The AI watches interactions across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and more, analyses which pathways lead to conversions, and allocates budget and ads accordingly.
That means if a user first sees a video on YouTube, then later does a branded search, then converts, PMax can attribute value properly and optimise for such paths. For businesses with long consideration cycles (services, high-ticket products, subscriptions), this kind of full‑funnel, multi‑channel attribution is often more valuable than single‑channel conversions.
Automation also works in real time: bids, placements, creatives and audience combinations get adjusted dynamically based on performance data, which in theory should give you the best ROI per your goals.
The trade‑offs & challenges: where PMax isn’t “magic”
As powerful as Performance Max is, it is not a plug‑and‑play silver bullet. There are trade‑offs and being aware of them makes all the difference.
Less visibility and control compared to manual campaigns
Because the AI handles placements, bidding, and ad combinations, you end up with less transparency than traditional campaigns. You don’t get search‑term reports (for Search placements), and detailed attribution per placement or keyword is limited.
That means if you’re used to granular control, deciding which keywords show ads, excluding placements, fine‑tuning bids by segment, PMax can feel like handing over the steering wheel.
Some advertisers also warn of “black box” delivery: ads may show in placements or contexts you don’t expect (or don’t want), especially when creative or targeting guidance is weak.
Creative dependency — quality matters more than ever
Since PMax relies heavily on creative assets (text, images, video), the quality of what you upload greatly affects performance. Low-quality images, missing videos, weak headlines, all these hurt. Google’s auto-generated assets (when you leave assets blank) tend to underperform compared to properly curated creative.
If you don’t invest in strong, versatile creative (and refresh periodically), PMax may deliver mediocre results, or worse, overspend on poor placements.
Risk of mixing products, goals, or audiences
Because a PMax campaign can cover many placements and asset groups, mixing dissimilar products or business goals in one campaign may dilute performance. For example: combining high‑margin products and low‑margin products under the same ROAS target can skew bidding, and the AI might over-prioritise volume over value (or vice versa).
Similarly, mixing different audience segments or funnel stages can confuse the algorithm: retargeting existing customers vs acquiring new ones, for example, are different jobs and may need separate campaign treatment.
How to get more control and better ROI — pro tips (2025 edition)
If you want to benefit from PMax while avoiding common pitfalls, here’s how to work smart, not just rely on “automation magic.”
1. Build well‑structured asset groups
Treat each asset group as its own little campaign: one theme, one product line, or one audience segment. Don’t lump everything into a single group.
Within each asset group:
- Upload multiple formats (images + video + text), varied ratios (square, landscape, portrait) to cover all placements.
- Provide 5–10+ assets where possible (headlines, descriptions, images, etc.) so Google has enough options for testing and optimisation.
- Include brand guidelines (logo, colours, tone) if possible, to maintain consistency across channels, especially when Google’s auto-generated creatives come into play.
A well-built asset group gives the AI material to work with, but also safeguards quality, tone and coherence.
2. Use audience signals — but don’t overthink them
Set up relevant audience signals from the start: remarketing lists, past purchasers, high-intent website visitors, custom segments, demographic/interest-based audiences.
But treat these as hints, not fixed targeting. The sooner you give the algorithm a good starting point, the faster it learns, yet it should remain free to explore beyond those signals if the data suggest high potential.
Monitor performance after 2–4 weeks: drop non-performing signals, refine audiences based on actual converting traffic, and feed new audiences as you gather more data.
3. Prioritise quality creative — especially video
If you skip video, Google will auto‑generate a video — but auto doesn’t always mean good. For many advertisers, manually-uploaded short videos (15–30 seconds) dramatically outperform auto-generated ones.
Video helps especially for placements on YouTube, Discover, and Display. And, also boosts CTR and engagement. Almost 9 out of 10 marketers report strong ROI from video-rich PMax campaigns.
So: treat creative like an asset, not a cost. Good creative = better automation.
4. Use proper campaign structure & avoid overloading
Rather than building a “one‑size‑fits‑all” PMax campaign, use multiple campaigns (or at least multiple asset groups) to separate:
- Product categories (e.g. high-value vs low-value)
- Funnel stages (e.g. new customer acquisition vs remarketing)
- Geographic or market segments (if relevant)
This gives you more control over budget, bidding, and messaging, while still benefiting from AI automation.
5. Control final URL expansions & placements when needed
By default, Performance Max may expand final URLs (Google chooses what landing page to send a user to), which helps scale but can misalign with your objectives. If you want more control, for example, sending certain products to specific landing pages, turn off auto URL expansion and manually define final URLs per asset group.
Similarly, if you have brand safety or audience sensitivity concerns, use placement exclusions and negative keywords at the account level (since PMax doesn’t support per‑asset group negatives).
6. Monitor, test and iterate — don’t “set and forget”
Even though PMax automates many decisions, it’s not a “set and forget” tool. The best results come when you treat it like a living campaign:
- Check asset performance every 3–4 weeks, replace weak images, refresh headlines or video, add new variations.
- Review which asset groups are delivering conversions (or wasting spend). Consider splitting or pausing underperforming ones.
- Watch audience segments. Refine signals based on real data, remove underperformers, and test new segments.
- Keep an eye on budget, especially if bids or volume fluctuate. Poorly optimised PMax can drain budgets quickly.
- If you make big changes (new creative, change bidding strategy), give the campaign time to relearn (14‑day learning ramps are common).
Think of PMax as a high-performance car. Great if tuned correctly, but needs regular maintenance.
How We Use Performance Max at AdVisible
At AdVisible we treat Performance Max not as a “set‑it‑and‑forget” fix, but as a strategic tool that, when handled with expertise, delivers scale, efficiency, and measurable growth. Here’s how we approach it for clients:
- Discovery & Goals: We start by defining clear conversion goals (sales, leads, store visits) and mapping customer journeys across channels to ensure PMax aligns with business objectives.
- Creative & Asset Strategy: We build high-quality asset groups, images, video, copy, tailored to brand voice, audience segments, and conversion goals. We supply enough variety so the AI has real choice.
- Audience Signal Planning: We feed first-party data, remarketing lists, custom segments and in-market audiences as signals, to guide the AI’s learning from the start.
- Testing & Structure: We split campaigns or asset groups by product line / funnel stage / audience type to avoid mixing, and to give every “type” of user the right messaging.
- Ongoing Monitoring & Optimisation: Every few weeks, we review performance, refresh weak assets, refine signals, adjust budgets, and ensure the campaign doesn’t drift off course.
- Cross-Channel Integration: We combine PMax with organic strategy, SEO, content marketing, and user‑experience optimisation so ads, content and user journey all work together.
This mix of automation + human direction is what helps us deliver consistent ROI for clients even as Google evolves the platform.
Final Thoughts: Is Performance Max Worth It in 2025?
If your goal is growth, efficiency, and cross‑channel performance, and you have the creative assets and data discipline to back it up, Performance Max is arguably the most powerful ad solution Google offers today.
But it’s not magic. It’s a tool. And like any tool, it requires care and skill. Without proper structure, creative assets, goals, and ongoing optimisation, you’ll likely end up disappointed.
Treat PMax as a collaboration. You give the foundation (assets, goals, signals), Google’s AI brings scale and reach, and you steer the ship with oversight, data, and creativity.
For business owners and marketers who want to scale without blowing out budgets, it offers a smarter, data-driven, omni-channel path to results.
If you’d like help setting up, auditing or optimising Performance Max campaigns (or integrating them into a broader growth strategy), we’d be happy to chat. Get in touch with AdVisible to see how Performance Max can work for your business.
