Google Performance Max Campaigns Will Receive Several Updates

Google's newest campaign type, Performance Max, is a major focus of this year's Google Marketing Live. Here's a rundown of all the Performance Max announcements from Google's event, as well as one update shared exclusively with Search Engine Land.

Goals for the Store Since its inception, Google has been steadily rolling out Performance Max changes for online optimization, and now it's time for a local add-on.

PMax campaigns will be able to optimize toward store sales goals, resulting in increased in-store sales, store visits, and local actions. These enhancements will now provide a reason for brick-and-mortar businesses to test Performance Max campaigns in their accounts. Performance Max optimization score Google is doubling down on automation with this addition, placing automated optimization tips in their most automated campaign type.

The provided example provides advertisers with the helpful recommendation of optimizing for new customer acquisition. This is now being implemented globally. Campaigns that burst. A new "burst" feature within Performance Max campaigns will work in tandem with in-store goals, allowing advertisers to advertise for a set timeframe in order to meet in-store goals. Users who set up in-store goals will be able to increase seasonal in-person traffic.

Additional explanations and insights. Because of expanded insights, advertisers will receive more intelligence on their Performance Max campaigns. Within Performance Max campaigns, these include consumer, audience, and auction insights. While this information may not be actionable due to the nature of the campaign, it will show users what is driving performance.

Tools for experimenting with Performance Max. Yes, "Performance Max" and "experiment" were used in the same sentence at the event. However, no experiments are planned for Performance Max campaigns. These are "Experimentation tools" that demonstrate how PMax can increase conversions from your existing Google Ads campaigns.

While this may appear to be ideal, advertisers should exercise caution. Instead of comparing apples to apples, these tools will take existing "comparable campaigns" and layer Performance Max on top to show how much lift can be seen. Because the comparable campaigns are currently fixed, advertisers have no control over the 'control' in this experiment. PMax campaigns can include branded/competitor/remarketing audiences, which often have low CPA/ROAS.

Given that Performance Max campaigns provide no meaningful data, one should be diligent in determining where the additional volume is coming from and whether it is incremental. Finally, these tests are for non-retail campaigns and are currently in open beta for advertisers worldwide.

More accessibility and availability. Advertisers who use the Google Ads app or Search Ads 360 can now manage Performance Max campaigns. Since the rollout, PMax campaigns have had less access reporting availability, but Google has been quickly filling these gaps. This patch will allow Google Ads App and Search 360 users to test as well.

The addition of hotel advertising will be another update to Performance Max campaigns in the second half of 2022. With the expansion, hotels will be able to use Performance Max to promote their properties across all Google channels, including property-specific queries on Search.

Hotel implementation in PMax will include pre-populated asset groups for all hotel properties, as well as auto-generated images, descriptions, and videos. Advertisers will also be able to review and edit these property assets.

Wanna learn more about how to use the tips in this article, or have some questions on how we can help you achieve your goals? Reach out to us below! Also make sure to subscribe to our newsletter here!

Sources:

Finn, G., 2022. 7 updates coming to Google Performance Max campaigns. [online] Search Engine Land. Available at: <https://searchengineland.com/google-performance-max-campaigns-updates-385351> [Accessed 24 May 2022].