A historical article from November 2021, when Performance Max had just launched as an experimental campaign type. Today, PMax is the flagship of Google Ads, and our insight from back then has been 100% confirmed: the power of the algorithm delivers exceptional results only when guided by an experienced campaign strategist using precise conversion signals and business data. Learn more about our Google Ads management or request a campaign audit.
Google has published a seminar on its Google Ads YouTube channel titled "Google Partners Academy on Air: Modern Search," which outlines the direction in which Google Ads is evolving as an advertising channel. Many marketing specialists still work with manual campaign settings to achieve greater control. However, Google is increasingly highlighting the advantages of automation and so-called "smart bidding."
Performance Max (PMax) campaigns combine all Google advertising channels (Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and Discover) into a single machine-learning-driven campaign. This tool delivers maximum return only when the company provides high-quality visual assets, precisely filtered goals, and continuous human oversight regarding negative keywords and return on ad spend (ROAS).
Our own experience shows that sometimes smart campaigns work much better than manual ones, but at the same time, we have achieved significantly better results with manual settings for a medium-sized advertising campaign right here in Latvia (with a monthly budget of around 5000 EUR). By switching the campaign from Smart to manual, the conversion rate improved significantly, and the cost-per-click decreased.
The Three Pillars
Google bases its vision on the three pillars shown in the image:
- smart bidding
- broad match
- responsive search ads
In principle, this means giving much more control to the Google algorithm so it can find the audience and fulfill campaign goals on its own. In manual mode, it is not common to advertise using broad match unless the goal is to "go all in," reach new or untapped audiences, or work on brand awareness.
Google Ads: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Google currently positions the Google Ads platform this way: working with manual settings and controlling bids and keywords yourself is a thing of the past. Today, you must trust the algorithm more, and tomorrow we will arrive at Performance Max campaigns, which will attempt to fill the entire marketing cycle from brand awareness to sales using all available Google media channels. Artificial intelligence will decide what, to whom, where, and how often to show ads; you just need to provide the resources: promotional materials, texts, website links, product feeds, etc.
In the image below, Google clearly demonstrates the advantages of the "broad match" approach in keyword selection: an average of 25% more conversions for tCPA campaigns (enabled by high-quality Google Tag Manager setup) and 15% higher value for Target ROAS campaigns.
Here is a more detailed video about Performance Max campaigns, which are currently in test mode and not yet available for all ad accounts in all countries.
In conclusion, our recommendation as a digital marketing agency is to follow the situation, experiment, and be flexible. Smart campaigns will not always be the best solution, but they are increasingly outperforming the manual approach. As Google claims, 80% of specialists are already working with automated solutions. Of course, new-generation specialists have entered an industry where automation was already present in its early stages.
A person who learned to drive a car with an automatic transmission will later have difficulty driving a car equipped with a manual transmission. A professional with manual transmission experience will certainly handle it better. However, automatic transmissions are getting better and better. The same applies to Google's manual and automatic solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions about Performance Max campaigns
Has Performance Max completely replaced standard Google Search campaigns?
No. Exact Match Search campaigns are still critically important for high-value keywords to maintain 100% control over cost-per-click and text relevance.
How can I prevent budget waste on low-quality Google partner network placements?
In a PMax account, you must implement account-level negative keyword lists, exclude mobile games and questionable apps, and prevent brand cannibalization by using Brand Exclusion lists.
What data is required for the Performance Max algorithm to start working profitably?
Precise first-party data integration via Google Tag Manager is required: actual purchase revenue and offline conversion imports from your CRM, so the algorithm optimizes for paid orders rather than random clicks.
Want to check and optimize the profitability of your Performance Max campaigns?
Request a 15-minute strategy call. We will review your account structure, asset groups, and eliminate budget leaks.
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