Three Performance Max Features For Greater Campaign Insights
This year, AI updates and multi-placement campaigns — such as Performance Max and Demand Gen — were at the forefront of various announcements from Google. Performance Max is framed as a complementary campaign to an advertiser’s current search strategy; however, this previously came at the price of minimal visibility into how and where assets were serving. Below are three emerging Performance Max features to keep an eye on to increase control and visibility of campaign performance.
1. Negative keyword exclusions
Currently, the only way to exclude irrelevant search queries from a Performance Max campaign is to apply those keywords and phrases at the account level. The downside is that the irrelevancy needs to be applicable for all campaigns in the account, which becomes difficult when multiple targeting strategies are in place (brand, nonbrand, conquesting, etc). As an example, if a marketer didn’t want their Performance Max campaign to serve against a competitor search query, but the account was running a competitor conquesting search campaign, those keywords could not be excluded at the account level without blocking the existing conquest campaign to some degree.
The upcoming negative keyword exclusion feature will allow marketers to exclude search queries at the campaign level for Performance Max. This provides greater control over the campaign that can match account strategy and work alongside search campaigns with, hopefully, greater efficiency. The exclusion of irrelevant search terms at the campaign level could be a game-changer for lead gen clients whose inventory would mostly be on search placements.
Anticipated rollout: by the end of 2024
2. Impression share reports
As it stands, Google provides little insight into the placement mix of where ads are showing for Performance Max. The campaign type serves across the Google Display Network, the Google Search Network, Gmail, YouTube, Discovery, and Maps, but marketers have no input into how often an ad appears among this inventory. While this impression share report will not provide marketers with the ability to control how often an ad appears in specific inventory, historically, the lack of reporting depth for Performance Max has made it difficult for marketers to understand what is and isn’t working for the campaign — hindering the marketer’s ability to make key changes for improving performance with ease.
For the first time, Google is bringing impression share reports to Performance Max. Marketers will soon be able to see “how prominently [they’re] showing up for text and shopping ads on the search engine results page to understand the competitive landscape,” according to Google.
The visibility into these reports will assist with understanding different cost and engagement metrics based on where the assets are serving. Some placements may have a greater click cost but convert at a stronger rate, while other placements may cost less at a lower engagement rate. A search placement typically converts higher than YouTube but can be more expensive due to the more down-funnel position.
Anticipated rollout: TBD
3. Asset group report insights
As of October 2024, Google now provides conversion metrics for each asset within Performance Max. Marketers can see conversions and conversion value across the various assets — from headlines to landscape images and even the logo uploaded within each asset group. The visibility into these data will allow for greater understanding of top-performing copy and imagery, so assets can be continuously monitored and optimized.
Alongside this, Google will be rolling out asset group reporting to flag opportunities for expansion in each asset group. Similar to the functionality of responsive search ad recommendations, Performance Max asset groups will provide recommendations to improve ad strength (such as adding more headlines); greater ad strength indicates stronger relevance with the people you’re trying to reach.
Anticipated release: started in October 2024
What this means for marketers
As Performance Max matures as a product, Google is rolling out features that will provide more reporting visibility and control of the campaign. The greater control allows for more precise optimizations based on a brand’s needs. With the ever-growing development of AI, especially in Google’s campaign models, it’s important for advertisers to become privy to where their money is being spent most effectively. With the release of campaign-level negative keywords, impression share reports, and asset group report insights, marketers will have increased confidence in their campaign strategies.
