Performance Max campaigns explained, set up and measured honestly

Performance Max is the campaign type most advertisers either love or distrust, often for the same reason. It does a lot for you, and it tells you less about what it did. Used well, it finds conversions that keyword campaigns miss. Used carelessly, it takes credit for sales you would have had anyway.

This guide is built from the searches people actually make about it, from "performance max campaigns" and "what is performance max" to "how to exclude brand from performance max", "does performance max use keywords", "can you add negative keywords to performance max campaigns" and "how to optimize performance max campaigns", and from Google's own documentation, listed at the end. It includes a calculator that adjusts reported ROAS for brand and returning customers.

What is Performance Max?

Performance Max is a goal-based campaign type. Google describes it as a way to access all Google Ads inventory, including YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps, from a single campaign, and to complement keyword-based Search campaigns. People also search for it as "google performance max" and "google max performance". It is the same thing.

You can create one when your campaign objective is Sales, Leads, Website traffic or Local store visits and promotions, or when you create a campaign without goal guidance. It suits you when you have clear conversion goals, want to reach beyond keywords, and are happy to let the system choose placements.

How do Performance Max campaigns work?

You provide four kinds of input and Google AI does the matching and bidding:

1. Goals and values. The conversion actions you care about, with an optional ROAS or CPA target. Smart Bidding bids in each real-time auction based on your chance of converting.
2. Creative assets. Text, images, logos and videos grouped into asset groups. Google AI combines and, if you allow it, generates more.
3. Audience signals. Hints about who is likely to convert, such as your customer lists. They speed up learning and do not restrict delivery.
4. Safety and budget. A daily budget, plus brand exclusions, placement exclusions and content suitability settings.

Performance Max or Search campaigns

This is not either or. Search campaigns reward intent you can name in keywords. Performance Max adds reach and automation. The table shows where each is strongest.

Our full comparison of the formats is in the PPC guide, and the cost side is covered in how much Google Ads costs.

Who wins when Search and Performance Max both match?

Google's documentation is specific. Search campaigns containing an exact match keyword are prioritised over Performance Max when a query hits that exact match keyword. Search themes carry the same priority as phrase and broad match keywords. Otherwise the system chooses by predicted performance. This is why a branded Search campaign with exact match keywords keeps control of your brand queries, and why brand exclusions matter.

When Performance Max is a good fit

• You have conversion tracking you trust, with values for ecommerce or qualified leads.
• You want to reach beyond keywords, for example on YouTube, Discover or Maps.
• You have an ecommerce catalogue and a Merchant Center feed. See Shopping ads management.
• You can produce a range of real creative, not only a logo and two stock photos.
• You can keep brand traffic in its own Search campaign and measure Performance Max separately.

When to wait

• Tracking records every page view or phone tap as a conversion.
• The daily budget cannot buy a few conversions at your target cost per acquisition.
• You have no usable images or video and would rely on auto-generated assets.
• You need strict control over where ads show, for compliance or brand safety reasons.

How to set up a Performance Max campaign

1. Fix tracking first. Import or create conversion actions for the outcomes you want, and give them values. See Google Ads conversion tracking.
2. Choose the objective. Sales, Leads, Website traffic or Local store visits and promotions.
3. Pick the bidding goal. Maximize conversions or conversion value, with an optional target CPA or ROAS once you have data.
4. Set the budget. Use the budget panel's Low, Medium and High suggestions and forecasts to avoid a low start.
5. Build asset groups. One theme or audience per group, with its own text, images, logos and video.
6. Add audience signals. Customer lists, website visitors and in-market interests that describe your best buyers.
7. Add search themes. Short topic phrases that point to high-value search intent.
8. Set exclusions. Brand exclusions, negative keywords and placement exclusions where needed.
9. Review the settings Google adds. Decide on Final URL expansion, text customization and auto-generated video.
10. Launch and wait. Google suggests about two to three weeks before judging asset performance and group status.

Asset groups and creative requirements

Asset groups are collections of creative assets, such as images, text, logos and videos, centered on a specific theme or audience. Google mixes and matches them to render ads across all inventory. Think of them as ad groups for Performance Max, and split them by product category, service line or audience, not by trivial variations.

Those are Google's current limits for text assets, which can change. Providing more than the minimum gives the system more to combine. Add real photos, a logo, and at least one video you made. If you do not, Google can generate a video from your assets, which is rarely as good as your own.

What good assets look like

• Real product or work photos at several aspect ratios, not stock.
• Headlines that each stand alone, because they will be mixed in any order.
• Different angles in each description, such as price, proof, speed and guarantee.
• A short video with the message in the first seconds and readable without sound.
• Consistent brand colours and logo so mixed ads still look like you.

Audience signals

Audience signals share customer intent preferences to guide learning. Google says they accelerate learning by using high-intent audiences. They are suggestions, not walls, so the campaign can and will show to people outside them. Useful signals are customer lists, website and app visitors, and custom segments built from searches and websites your best customers use. Update customer lists regularly so the system sees your newest buyers.

Does Performance Max use keywords?

Not as match types you manage, but it does respond to search intent. The campaign-level controls Google lists are keywordless targeting, final URL expansion or asset optimisation, search themes, negative keywords and brand exclusions.

• Search themes are topic phrases that guide the AI toward high-value intent. Write them like your best phrase match keywords.
• Negative keywords block queries you do not want. See Google's negative keywords guidance.
• Brand exclusions stop the campaign from serving on your brand terms.

Can you add negative keywords to Performance Max campaigns?

Yes. Add the junk you already know from Search, such as jobs, free, DIY and competitors, then keep reviewing reports. Negatives reduce wasted spend only if you maintain them.

How to exclude brand from Performance Max

1. Create a dedicated Search campaign for your brand with exact and phrase match keywords.
2. In the Performance Max campaign, set brand exclusions for your brand and trademarks.
3. Compare new customer share and total conversions for two to four weeks.

Brand traffic is usually the cheapest and most converting traffic in an account. If Performance Max serves it, the campaign can look very good without adding new revenue.

How to calculate Performance Max ROAS honestly

Reported ROAS is conversion value divided by cost. It cannot tell a new customer from someone who searched your name and was always going to buy. The calculator removes the share of value you believe came from brand searches and existing customers, then compares the result with your break-even ROAS.

With the example inputs, a reported 4.00x looks comfortable, yet removing 35 percent of the value leaves 2.60x against a break-even of 2.50x. That is a thin margin, and the calculator shows it in seconds.

How to measure incrementality

• Brand exclusion test. Turn brand exclusions on and watch total account conversions, not only the campaign's.
• Holdout by region. Pause Performance Max in a comparable region for a few weeks and compare sales.
• Channel and asset reporting. Google offers channel performance, asset group and placement reports.
• New customer goals. Give higher value to new customers if your setup supports it.

None of these is perfect. They are cheap ways to stop guessing. The aim is to know which share of conversions Performance Max really adds.

How to optimize Performance Max campaigns

Avoid changing everything at once. Google's guidance to wait a few weeks before judging assets is sound, and edits to targets or budgets can restart learning.

Final URL expansion and text customization

Final URL expansion lets Google replace your landing page with a more relevant one for a query and generate a dynamic headline and description. Text customization generates extra text from your landing page, domain and ads. Google reminds advertisers that they stay responsible for reviewing the accuracy and compliance of landing pages and generated assets. For regulated industries, price-sensitive offers or pages that should not receive paid traffic, turn them off or exclude URLs.

Performance Max for ecommerce and for lead generation

Ecommerce

Connect a clean Merchant Center feed, group products into asset groups by category or margin, and use conversion values from your store. Exclude low-margin products or non-converters through product filters, and exclude brand to see real new-customer sales. When creating video assets, make sure the products shown match the landing page.

Lead generation

Leads need quality signals, not form fills. Import offline conversions such as qualified leads and closed deals with values, so bidding learns which leads matter. Without that, the system finds the cheapest leads, which are often the worst. See our lead generation work.

Local and service businesses

The Local store visits and promotions objective and location assets help local advertisers. Pair Performance Max with a Search campaign for call and service keywords and keep tight location targeting.

Common Performance Max mistakes

1. Counting brand wins as growth. Use exclusions and a brand Search campaign.
2. Weak tracking. Optimising for page views or low-value actions.
3. One giant asset group. Split by theme so ads match intent.
4. Stock images only. Use real product and work photos.
5. No negatives or exclusions. Review reports and block junk.
6. Changing targets weekly. Give learning time.
7. Tiny budget. If your CPA is $40 and the budget is $20 a day, you buy half a conversion a day.
8. Ignoring landing pages. Check what Final URL expansion sends people to.

A 60-day Performance Max plan

Checklist

• Conversion actions and values verified
• Branded Search campaign running separately
• Brand exclusions and negatives set
• Asset groups by theme with real photos and video
• Audience signals from customer data
• Search themes written as intent phrases
• Final URL expansion decided deliberately
• Budget in line with target CPA
• Calculator run with brand share removed
• Two to three weeks before judging results

If you want help auditing an existing account, see our Performance Max management service or the wider Google Ads management offer.

Sources

1. Google Ads Help: About Performance Max campaigns. support.google.com
2. Google Ads Help: Search targeting and controls for Performance Max. support.google.com
3. Google Ads Help: How asset groups work. support.google.com
4. Google Ads Help: About ad group and asset group prioritization. support.google.com
5. Google Ads Help: About text assets for Performance Max. support.google.com
6. Google Ads Help: About Smart Bidding. support.google.com
7. Google Ads Help: About negative keywords. support.google.com