What Google Doesn’t Tell You About Performance Max

Google’s Performance Max campaign type promises to do it all—reach audiences across Search, YouTube, Display, Gmail, and Maps with one campaign. Sounds great, right?

Well… yes and no.

As a Google Ads expert, I’ve seen Performance Max (PMax) skyrocket results for some clients—and completely tank others. The difference?

Whether it’s set up and managed by someone who knows what they’re doing. Let’s demystify PMax and show you how to make it work for you (not against you).

What is Performance Max?

Performance Max is Google’s fully automated, goal-based campaign that uses machine learning to serve ads across all Google channels. You provide creative assets, audience signals, and goals—and Google handles bidding, placements, and targeting.

You don’t choose keywords. You don’t choose specific placements. It’s all handled in the black box of Google AI.

Why Is Performance Max So Powerful?

When used correctly, PMax has a few huge advantages:

• Massive reach – You get access to every Google property in one campaign.

• Goal-driven optimization – It’s built to optimize toward conversions, not just clicks.

• Cross-channel insights – It finds the best channel and audience for each asset.

• Dynamic asset combinations – Google tests combinations of your headlines, descriptions, images, videos, etc., to find what works best.

Sounds amazing—and sometimes, it is.

Why It’s Dangerous in the Wrong Hands

But here's the catch: Performance Max requires more strategic input than most realize.

If you don’t guide it correctly, you’re giving Google a blank check and zero accountability.

Here’s what I’ve seen go wrong:

• Campaigns driving tons of branded traffic (people who were going to convert anyway).

• Wasted spend on low-quality placements like mobile games and unrelated YouTube videos.

• Conversions that are poorly tracked, inflating results and hiding true performance.

• Small businesses with no real creative assets letting Google stitch together generic, low-quality ads.

How to Set Up Performance Max Correctly

If you’re thinking about using PMax—or wondering why it isn’t working—here’s what you need to nail:

Strong Creative Assets Are Non-Negotiable

You’ll need:

• At least 5 headlines and 5 descriptions

• High-quality images (lifestyle + product/service shots)

• A short YouTube video (even a basic one is better than none)

• Your logo in square and landscape formats

💡Pro Tip: Don’t leave video blank—Google will create a robotic slideshow that damages your brand.

Add Audience Signals (Even Though Google Can Go Broader)

Audience signals aren’t hard targeting—they’re suggestions to help Google find your ideal customer faster. Include:

• Your customer list or CRM upload

• Website visitors or converters from GA4

• Custom segments based on purchase intent or interest

• Competitor keywords and brand-related search terms

💡 Pro Tip: Segment PMax campaigns by product/service line so you can tailor the signals and creative accordingly.

Dial In Your Tracking (or PMax Will Misfire)

Performance Max is only as smart as your data. If conversion tracking is broken, misleading, or inflated, Google will optimize for the wrong things.

At minimum, make sure you:

• Use Google Tag Manager for clean tracking setup

• Define real conversions (no pageviews or fluff)

• Use enhanced conversions where possible

• Track offline conversions (like phone leads or CRM actions) if applicable

💡Pro Tip: Don’t use “optimize for conversions” until you have at least 30–50 accurate conversions per month.

Bonus: Use Brand Exclusions (If You Qualify)

As of late 2023, Google now allows brand keyword exclusions in PMax for many accounts. This is huge—because otherwise, Google often shows PMax ads on searches for your brand name (which skews performance).

💡 Pro Tip: If you’re spending thousands and only converting branded traffic, you’re not really scaling—you’re just buying what would’ve been free clicks.