Performance Max campaigns have been available in Google Ads for some time now, and I’ve previously written about how it’s missing features you’d think would be pretty essential when it comes to being able to manage, optimise, and report effectively on this campaign type.
It took them long enough, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Google has announced that several updates are coming soon – and thankfully, some of them address major issues with Performance Max campaigns.
Let’s take a look.
Improved reporting
You’d think being able to report on conversions at Asset Group level might have been handy to have from the get-go, but whatever, it’s set to be rolled out soon.
However, what this will actually look like is yet to be seen. I’m hoping at the very least, we won’t need to rely on the ambiguous ‘Best, Good, Low’ ratings on individual assets or ‘Top combinations’ to make decisions on optimisation anymore.
Also, by the sound of it, this might only be useful if comparing two different Asset Groups, rather than the Assets within the Asset Group itself. Still, this could come in handy when A/B testing creative.
Experiments
This could come in handy if you’re not sure what the impact will be of adding a Performance Max campaign to your account. Google mentions this could be used to text a standard Shopping campaign vs Performance Max to see which delivers the best results.
Insights on budget pacing
Seeing as Performance Max campaigns work on conversion-based bid models (maximising volume or value), I’m not entirely sure how budget pacing will be particularly helpful.
I’m going to predict that it will encourage you to shift your budget from one campaign to another, and other than that, tell you to increase budgets based on its forecasting (which I have found to be wildly inaccurate in the past).
Exclusions
Again, why this wasn’t available at launch baffles me. There are now, thankfully, soon-to-be two new ways to stop Performance Max campaigns showing for wacky search terms and creating mad ad copy (to a point).
One new feature will allow you to add Campaign level brand exclusions. I’ve found that despite running a Brand search campaign, and competitor campaigns, Performance Max ads are showing for those searches, so for me, this is a very welcome addition.
The other new feature is page feeds, which will allow you to send traffic to specific URLs on your site, rather than choosing between adding a single final URL, or having to add loads of URL exclusions when using the final URL expansion setting. You can also add labels to make it easier to use in specific Campaigns or Asset Groups.
Final thoughts
Overall, I am chuffed that Google Ads has taken feedback from its users on board. I’ll be interested to see how these new features improve the management and measurement of Performance Max campaigns.
