Performance Max: how to set up your first campaign
Performance Max is a Google Ads campaign type that serves ads across all of Google's inventory from a single campaign. You supply the goal, the budget and the creative assets; Google's AI decides where, to whom and in what combination each ad appears. It can work very well or burn money quietly. The difference usually comes down to your measurement and to what you give it to work with.
Key takeaways
- It is a goal-based campaign: without properly measured conversions it optimises towards the wrong thing.
- One campaign reaches YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps.
- It complements keyword-based Search campaigns rather than replacing them.
- You keep control through goals, assets, signals, exclusions and budget.
What Performance Max is
Google Ads Help describes it as a goal-based campaign type that lets advertisers access all Google Ads inventory from a single campaign, including YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps. It is designed to complement keyword-based Search campaigns and find more converting customers across the other channels.
How it works
- Automated bidding: Google's systems adjust bids and placements to win conversions or conversion value, depending on your goal.
- Asset groups: you upload headlines, descriptions, images, logos and video; the system assembles them per format.
- Audience signals: lists and segments that guide early learning. They are hints, not hard targeting.
- Search themes: they tell the system which queries you care about.
- Final URL expansion: the system may send people to other pages on your site if it judges them a better match. You can limit this.
On the Search side, Google states that if a query matches an exact-match keyword in a Search campaign, that campaign takes priority over Performance Max.
When it fits and when to wait
| Use it if | Better to wait if |
|---|---|
| You measure conversions that carry value | You measure only clicks, or nothing |
| You sell online with a Merchant Center feed | Your budget is too small to get through learning |
| You want reach beyond Search | You need control over every placement |
| You have decent creative assets | You get a handful of enquiries a month |
Swipe the table sideways to see all columns.
Before you create it
- Conversions: track actions worth money (purchases, submitted forms, qualified calls), not page views.
- Values: assign a value to each conversion so you can bid on value rather than volume.
- Consent: with European users, implement Consent Mode v2 first.
- Enhanced conversions and offline conversion import if deals close away from the website.
- Merchant Center linked if you run a store.
- Assets: several headlines and descriptions, images in the required formats and, ideally, your own video.
Step-by-step setup
- In Google Ads, create a campaign and pick the objective (sales, leads or other).
- Select Performance Max as the campaign type and check which conversion actions it will use.
- Set the daily budget and the bidding strategy: maximise conversions or conversion value, with a target CPA or ROAS once you have history.
- Set locations and languages. Choose presence rather than interest if you only serve one area.
- Decide what to do about final URL expansion and exclude pages that should not receive traffic (careers, blog, legal).
- Build the first asset group per product or service line, with its own copy, images and video.
- Add audience signals: your customer and visitor lists, plus affinity segments.
- Add search themes describing what you offer.
- Configure brand exclusions and account-level brand safety settings if you need them.
- Publish and avoid large edits for the first few weeks. Every change restarts part of the learning.
Keeping control
- Campaign-level conversion goals so it optimises only towards actions that matter.
- Negative keywords and brand exclusions so you stop paying for queries you do not want.
- Placement exclusions in the account's content settings.
- Reports: review search terms, channel performance where available, assets and placements.
- Its own budget: do not share one with brand Search, or you cannot compare.
Available controls have shifted over time; check what is live in your account.
Measuring whether it earns its place
- Cost per conversion or ROAS against your other campaigns.
- Lead quality: how many become customers, tracked through your sales funnel.
- Incrementality: compare periods or regions with and without the campaign. Google Ads experiments let you do this in a controlled way; the logic is the same as in A/B testing.
- Brand weight: if most conversions come from searches containing your name, the campaign is contributing less than it appears.
Common mistakes
- Launching without reliable conversion tracking.
- Optimising towards low-quality leads such as unfiltered form fills.
- Supplying few assets and letting everything be auto-generated.
- Changing budget and targets every few days.
- Not excluding brand terms, then crediting the campaign with sales you would have won anyway.
- Running many small campaigns instead of consolidating.
Frequently asked questions
Does Performance Max replace Search campaigns?
No. Google positions it as a complement, and exact-match Search keywords take priority over it.
How much budget does it need?
There is no single official minimum. It needs enough conversions to learn; with very few, results stay unstable.
Can I see where my ads appear?
There are reports for placements, search terms and assets. The level of detail has increased over time, so check your account.
Does it work for local businesses?
Yes, with call, form or visit goals and locations limited to the area you actually serve.
How long until it settles?
Usually several weeks of learning. Avoid major changes during that period.
Sources
About this article. Produced by the MetaEX team with AI assistance, from the official documentation listed under Sources. Examples marked as illustrative are not client data. Last updated on 11 November 2026.
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