Performance Max (PMax) asks advertisers to hand over a lot of control. One campaign, one budget and one set of creative assets, and Google's AI decides where across its inventory your ads appear, what they look like and how much to bid. For some businesses it's the most efficient campaign in the account. For others it quietly spends on brand searches and low-quality placements.
The good news is that PMax in 2026 is far more transparent than at launch. Google has added search terms reporting, channel performance reporting, campaign-level negative keywords, device targeting and more. Used properly, those controls let you get the reach of automation without flying blind.
This guide explains how Performance Max works, how it interacts with your other campaigns, how to build one step by step, and the mistakes that cause most PMax disappointments.
Key Takeaways
- Performance Max is a goal-based campaign that can serve on Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps from a single campaign.
- Its results depend on what you feed it: accurate conversion goals, values, strong assets and a clean product feed.
- Exact match keywords in Search campaigns take priority over PMax when they match a search identically.
- Since 2025, advertisers can use campaign-level negative keywords, search terms reports, channel reporting and device targeting in PMax.
- Avoid frequent changes early; Google advises letting campaigns learn and allowing one to two weeks after major edits.
What is Performance Max?
“Performance Max is a goal-based campaign type that allows you to access all Google Ads inventory”
— Google Ads Help, About Performance Max campaigns
Instead of building separate Search, Display, YouTube and Shopping campaigns, you give PMax a conversion goal, a budget, a bid strategy and a set of creative assets. Google's AI then combines the assets into ads and decides where to show them, using signals about each user and auction.
PMax is used for online sales (often with a Merchant Center feed; see our ecommerce SEO service for the organic side), lead generation, and local store visits. For ecommerce, it largely replaced Smart Shopping, and it now competes directly with standard Shopping campaigns, which we compare in our Google Shopping ads guide.
How Performance Max works
Asset groups
An asset group is a bundle of headlines, descriptions, images, logos and videos built around one theme or audience. You can have several asset groups per campaign, for example one per product category or service.
Audience signals
Audience signals are hints, not targeting. You suggest who your customers are (your customer lists, website visitors, custom segments based on search terms) and PMax uses them as a starting point, then looks beyond them.
Search themes
Search themes let you tell PMax about search topics it might be missing. Google's August 2025 update raised the limit from 25 to 50 search themes per asset group.
How PMax and Search campaigns share traffic
This is a frequent source of confusion. According to Google's match type documentation, exact match keywords identical to the search take priority over Performance Max. Phrase and broad keywords share priority with identical PMax search themes, and Ad Rank decides between them.
“Search campaigns containing an exact match keyword are prioritized to serve over Performance Max”
— Google Ads Help, About Performance Max campaigns
Performance Max asset requirements
Strong assets matter more in PMax than anywhere else, because Google builds every ad format from them. These are the key figures from Google's Performance Max specs page:
| Asset | Limit | Google's recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Headlines | 30 characters; 3–15 | 11 or more, including one of 15 characters or fewer |
| Long headlines | 90 characters; 1–5 | 2 or more |
| Descriptions | 90 characters; 2–5 | 4 or more |
| Business name | 25 characters | Must match your domain or verified business name |
| Landscape images (1.91:1) | Up to 20 | 4 or more, 1200×628 recommended |
| Square images (1:1) | Up to 20 | 4 or more, 1200×1200 recommended |
| Portrait images (4:5) | Up to 20 | 2 or more (optional) |
| Square logo | Up to 5 | 1 required |
| Videos | Up to 15, at least 10 seconds | One each of horizontal, square and vertical |
If you don't upload a video, Google may generate one from your other assets. Those auto-generated videos are rarely as good as a simple video you make yourself, so supply your own.
What you can control in 2026
| Control or report | What it does | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign-level negative keywords | Blocks unwanted Search and Shopping queries; shared lists now supported | Available to all |
| Brand exclusions | Keeps PMax off your own (or other) brand queries | Available |
| Search terms report | Shows queries that triggered PMax ads, including via the API | Available to all |
| Channel performance report | Breaks results down by Search, YouTube, Display and so on | Launched 2025 (beta at launch) |
| Device targeting | Limits ads to chosen device types | Fully available |
| Age targeting / exclusions | Demographic controls | Available; gender in beta |
| Asset and asset group reporting | Conversions, cost and clicks per asset and group | Available |
| Final URL expansion controls | Lets you see and remove auto-created assets and URL expansion | Available |
These come from Google's January 2025 announcement and its August 2025 visibility and control update. Our guide to negative keywords explains how to build the lists you'll apply here.
How to set up a Performance Max campaign: step by step
- Fix measurement first. Make sure your primary conversion actions are the ones you actually want (purchases or qualified leads, not page views) and assign values. Enable enhanced conversions where possible.
- Prepare your feed (ecommerce). Link Merchant Center and fix disapprovals and missing attributes before launch.
- Create the campaign. Choose an objective such as Sales or Leads, then select Performance Max.
- Choose bidding. Maximize conversions or Maximize conversion value, optionally with a target CPA or ROAS once you have history. Our bidding strategies guide explains the trade-offs.
- Set brand exclusions and negatives. Decide whether brand searches belong in PMax or in a separate brand Search campaign.
- Build asset groups by theme. One per category, service or audience, each with its own final URL and full asset set.
- Add audience signals and search themes. Use your customer lists, remarketing segments and custom segments.
- Review URL expansion. Decide whether Google can send traffic to other pages on your site, and exclude pages like careers or blog posts if needed.
- Launch and leave it. Avoid big changes during the learning period, then review channel, search term and asset reports.
“Avoid making frequent changes to budget, bid strategy, or campaign status within this initial period”
— Google Ads Help, Optimization tips for Performance Max campaigns
Best practices that make a difference
- Feed it real business value. If every lead is worth the same in Google Ads but not in your CRM, PMax optimises for the wrong leads. Import offline conversions where you can.
- Separate brand from non-brand. Brand traffic converts easily and can make PMax look better than it is.
- Use the new customer acquisition goal if growth matters more than repeat purchases.
- Review search terms monthly and add negatives for irrelevant themes.
- Check the channel report. If most spend goes to placements that don't convert, revisit assets, signals and goals.
- Measure incrementally. Use Google Ads experiments or geo tests rather than trusting platform-reported conversions alone. Our guide to marketing attribution models explains why.
Common mistakes with Performance Max
- Optimising for soft conversions such as page views or clicks to call, which PMax will happily generate cheaply.
- Running PMax without brand exclusions and then crediting it for sales your brand campaign would have won anyway.
- Weak or missing assets, leading to auto-generated videos and poor Display placements.
- Lumping everything into one asset group, so messages and landing pages don't match intent.
- Constant tinkering, which keeps the campaign relearning.
- Ignoring landing pages. PMax can't fix a slow, confusing page. That's a job for conversion rate optimization.
Related Guides
- Google Ads Bidding Strategies Explained
- PPC Landing Pages: How to Build Pages That Convert
- Remarketing: How to Re-Engage Visitors With Ads
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Performance Max good for small businesses?
It can be, if conversion tracking is accurate and there is enough budget for the campaign to learn. With very small budgets, a focused Search campaign is often easier to control.
Can I see search terms in Performance Max?
Yes. Google made search terms reporting available for all Performance Max campaigns in 2025, including through the API.
Can I add negative keywords to Performance Max?
Yes. Campaign-level negative keywords are available to all advertisers, with up to 10,000 per campaign, and shared negative keyword lists are supported.
Should I run Performance Max and Search campaigns together?
Many accounts do. Exact match keywords in Search campaigns take priority over PMax for identical searches, so Search can protect your most important terms.
How long does Performance Max take to learn?
Google advises avoiding frequent changes in the initial period and allowing one to two weeks, or a full conversion cycle, after major changes.
Conclusion
Performance Max is only as good as the goals, data and creative you give it. Get conversion tracking and values right, keep brand and non-brand separate, supply full asset sets, use the new negative keyword and reporting controls, and judge results over weeks rather than days. If you're new to Google Ads, start with our beginner's guide to Google Ads; if you'd like PMax built and managed for you, our PPC management service can help. Get a free quote.
References
- About Performance Max campaigns – Google Ads Help
- Performance Max campaigns specs and format requirements – Google Ads Help
- Optimization tips for Performance Max campaigns – Google Ads Help
- Unlock more visibility and control in Performance Max – Google Ads Help
- New Performance Max features for 2025 – Google Blog
- About keyword matching options – Google Ads Help
- Google Ads Campaign: Definition, Types, & Best Practices – Semrush Blog
