Google Performance Max
Google Performance Max(PMax)
Google Performance Max (PMax) campaigns launched in late 2021, a significant evolution in Google's advertising technology. The campaign was designed to supersede Google's Smart Shopping and Local campaigns. However, many brands have also started using it as a replacement for Search campaigns.
What is Performance Max(PMax) campaign?
The idea behind PMax was to integrate multiple advertising channels under one umbrella and enhance it capability using Google's advanced algorithms.
By unifying various ad platforms like YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps, PMax aimed to streamline the advertising process, making it more efficient and result-oriented.
In short, it is a full-funnel campaign. PMax campaign removes the need for three different campaigns in the campaign structure: top of the funnel, Mid funnel, and button funnel.
Features of PMax campaign
Cross-Channel Optimization: PMax campaigns use Google's machine learning to automatically place ads across all Google networks, optimizing for the highest performance based on the set goals.
Audience Signal: Advertisers can provide audience data, such as customer match or website visitors, which Google's AI uses to find similar potential customers.
Asset-Based: Unlike traditional keyword-based campaigns, PMax uses assets like images, videos, and texts as the primary targeting medium. Google's AI tests different combinations to find the most effective one.
Goal-Oriented: These campaigns focus on specific conversion goals, such as sales, leads, or website traffic, aligning ad delivery to these objectives.
Advantages of Performance Max campaign
1. Wider Reach
PMax campaigns leverage all Google networks, offering unparalleled reach and visibility. Scaleup the campaign is comparatively easier in PMax.
2. Efficiency
By automating bid adjustments and placements, PMax saves time and reduces the need for manual intervention.
3. Improved ROI
The AI-driven optimization process often leads to better conversion rates and return on investment.
4. Flexibility
PMax is suitable for various goals, whether driving online sales, generating leads or increasing foot traffic to physical stores.
Disadvantages of PMax
While the PMax campaign has many advantages, it also comes with certain drawbacks.
Less Control - The automation in PMax means advertisers have less control over where and how their ads appear. For example, we can only run the campaign for particular inventory like search video alone.
Transparency - The AI-driven decisions can sometimes be a black box, making it hard to understand why certain ads perform better than others. Even the data is not available at all the cuts. Spend details at the keyword levels are not shared with the advertisers. The data is available only at 4 levels.
Asset Dependency - The effectiveness of PMax heavily relies on the quality of the provided assets (images, videos, texts). Mostly on the feed followed by the videos and images.
How to optimize Performnace Max campaign effectively?
While on the surface, Performance Max campaign looks rigid, there are 4 ways you can optimize your PMax campaign effectively.
1. Value Rules
In Search, Display, or YouTube campaigns, you can easily make bid adjustments at device, location, and audience segment levels. However, the Pmax campaign doesn't allow you to make them directly.
However, it is possible, albeit with two constraints.
The campaign should be in value(ROAS) based bidding
We can only do a maximum of 50% bid reduction (on the negative side). There is no constant on the bid increase side, however.
We can optimize value rules based on three segments: Device, location, and audience. One good thing about the value rules is that you can cascade two conditions and set a rule, which is not available in other campaign types.
For example. If you want to decrease your bid for a mobile device from Bangalore, you can do it with one value rule.
Conversion Value Rules
However, it is possible, albeit with two constraints.
The campaign should be in value(ROAS) based bidding
We can only do a maximum of 50% bid reduction (on the negative side). There is no constant on the bid increase side, however.
We can optimize value rules based on three segments: Device, location, and audience. One good thing about the value rules is that you can cascade two conditions and set a rule, which is not available in other campaign types.
Bid Adjustment in PMax
For example. If you want to decrease your bid for a mobile device from Bangalore, you can do it with one value rule.
Sample Mobile Bid Adjustment Based on Location
2. Product Feed-Based Optimization
This is the most critical optimization method for e-commerce brands. With the removal of Smart shopping ads, almost all the e-commerce brands use PMAx campaigns for shopping ads.
Here, you can optimize the campaign's performance by removing and adding items in the feed.
This can be done at 5 levels.
Product Feed Based Optimization
Five Levels of Optimization
1. One individual product level (i.e.) at item ID level
2. Product category level. E.g., Home appliances Vs. Books
3. Product Brand level. E.g., Adidas Vs. Nike
4. Product type level. Basically, the subcategory level in a category. E.g., Running Shoes Vs. Formal shoes
5. Lastly, custom label level - Based on the customer label you put in the feed.
Multiple strategies can be used here: AOV-based, Best-selling items-based, or simply ROAS-based.
You just need to crunch the numbers and decide.
3. Adding Negative Keywords
This is the most reliable and comparatively more straightforward method. App Marketers have been doing this in the UAC campaign for many years, and it works perfectly.
You get 4 data points at the keywords level in PMax.
Impressions
Clicks
Conversions
Conversion Value
Based on the optimization you want to do, you should create a keyword list and ask your account manager/Google support to get them excluded from the campaign. This way, you can modify the list later too.
4. Brand Exclusions.
Google rolled this out a few months back. You can give a meta instruction to the campaign to restrict ads in specific brands.
Originally designed to help brands not bid on their partners and competitors, many brands are using it to remove their brand keyword targeting from PMax. But we should note that it may not block sub-brands, product collections, or abbreviated versions of your brand name.
If you feel Google knows all your business nuances better than you do, you can skip all these and manage the campaign simply with bids and budget changes.
That way, you get average results.
