Performance Max (PMax) 2026: Strengths, Traps & Best Practices

Performance Max (PMax) is a Google Ads campaign type that serves one campaign across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps. In the Traditional Chinese interface it is called 最高成效廣告活動. You supply assets, audience signals and a budget. Google decides where the ads appear and what to bid. In the Hong Kong ecommerce accounts we manage, about half of PMax conversion value came from people searching for the advertiser's own brand.

What is Performance Max?

In a Search campaign you choose the keywords and write the ads. In PMax you supply headlines, descriptions, images, videos and audience signals. Ecommerce advertisers also connect a Merchant Center product feed. The system then builds the ads for each channel from those assets.

When PMax launched you could barely see which channel or search terms produced the results. Google has since added the channel performance report and a search terms report. You can also add campaign-level negative keywords and negative keyword lists (Help Center).

Where do PMax ads appear?

The same assets turn into a different ad in each channel.

How to create a PMax campaign?

The screenshots below come from our own Google Ads account, in the English interface, taken in November 2026. From start to publish there are about twelve steps (Help Center: create a PMax campaign).

1. Click the create button (+), select Campaign and choose Sales or Leads as the objective. Google fills in the account's conversion goals, and goals marked account default use data from the whole account. We keep only goals that stand for business, such as purchases and form submissions, and remove the rest with the three-dot icon.

2. Select Performance Max as the campaign type, then enter a campaign name and a final URL. Ecommerce advertisers tick their Merchant Center account under Add products to this campaign. It cannot be changed after the campaign is created (Help Center). Create your campaign with Google AI is on by default. You can describe your products, audience and offers in the box below it, and Google uses that when it generates assets.

3. Under Bidding, pick what to focus on. Ecommerce accounts that track conversion value choose Maximise conversion value and can add a target ROAS. Lead-gen accounts choose Maximise conversions and can add a target CPA. The interface suggests Set a target CPA. We look at the account's past CPA before accepting it, and we read the August 2026 rule before picking any target.
4. Customer acquisition and Customer retention are optional. Tick Optimise for new customers and the campaign leans its bids toward new customers. The account needs an audience segment with at least 1,000 active members (Help Center). Customer retention is for re-engaging high-value or lapsed customers, and ticking it limits the campaign to lapsed customers only. Unless the client has a clear new-customer or returning-customer goal, we leave both unticked.

5. Under Locations in Campaign settings, choose Hong Kong and set Location options to Presence so ads reach people who are in or regularly in Hong Kong. Skip this if you sell to overseas customers. We select English and Chinese (traditional) under Languages, though PMax no longer uses this setting for ads on Google Search. The asset group section explains why.

6. Open More settings to set the ad schedule, start and end dates, devices, Brand exclusions, Demographic exclusions and Your data exclusions. Accounts with a high brand share can apply a brand list under Brand exclusions (Help Center). Our brand search data shows why.

7. Build the asset group. Enter a name and final URL, then fill in the business name and upload a square logo under Brand guidelines. The campaign cannot be published without both.

8. Under Assets, add headlines, long headlines, descriptions, images and videos. The panel on the right previews the ad on Search, Display, YouTube and Discover. When we built one with a Chinese landing page, the interface warned that asset generation is limited in this language, so plan to write Chinese assets yourself. The asset group section lists the numbers and specs.

9. Asset optimisation has five switches. Text customisation rewrites text to match searches. Final URL expansion sends people to the page on your site Google thinks fits best (Help Center). Image enhancement and Video enhancement modify your images and videos, and Landing page images pulls images from your website. Careers, blog and terms pages that should never be a landing page can be excluded.

10. Add search themes and audience signals under Signals. They do different jobs, and the asset group section covers how we set each.

11. Under Budget, pick a budget type. Average daily budget is an average per day. Campaign total budget covers the whole run and suits a promotion with fixed start and end dates. The type cannot be changed once the campaign starts, only the amount. Google recommends a daily budget of at least 3 times your target CPA, and spend on a given day can reach twice the daily budget (Help Center). If the budget cannot reach that level we start with Search. Channel prioritisation and promotion mode sit on the same page; see the channel report section.

12. On the summary page, fix everything under Issues, such as a missing logo or too few assets, then click Publish campaign. Recommendations are Google's suggestions, and we check them against the account's data before applying any. A new campaign can show Learning status for up to 7 days. Google suggests giving automated bidding one to two weeks and avoiding big changes in that time (Help Center). If you need to change the budget or target in that period, read the target ROAS section first.

What to prepare for a PMax asset group

An asset group needs at least 3 headlines, 1 long headline, 2 descriptions, a business name, a square logo and one landscape and one square image. With only the minimum the system has very few combinations to work with. We fill each asset group up to Google's recommended numbers (Google Ads Help: Performance Max specs).

Chinese characters count as 2 each. A Chinese headline therefore holds about 15 characters. Every asset group we build has one headline with the brand name. The rest describe what is being sold: the product, the price and the offer. Google mixes headlines and descriptions freely, so each line has to make sense on its own. We write Chinese headlines of about 12 to 15 characters and stop when the sentence is finished, with no adjectives added to fill the space. Because the images already show the product, the text covers what they cannot show, such as when the offer ends or the free delivery threshold.

Upload your own videos. Without one, Google may generate a video from your other assets. New campaigns also let Google collect videos from your YouTube channel and website by default (Help Center). From 4 December 2026 new PMax campaigns will pull images from your landing page by default too (Google Ads Developer Blog). Brands with strict creative rules can switch the relevant options off under Asset optimisation.

From September 2026 PMax ads on Google Search no longer follow the campaign language setting. They match on the language of the ad itself (Help Center). Chinese ads reach Chinese searches only when the headlines, descriptions and landing page are written in Chinese.

Product feed and image requirements

For ecommerce accounts, PMax builds product ads, the ones with a product image and price, from the Merchant Center product feed. In our data these ads account for a median 41% of PMax conversion value (see the channel data), so accurate product names, images and prices have a direct effect on PMax results.

From 31 January 2027 Merchant Center requires product images of at least 500 x 500 pixels (Merchant Center Help). If "Image too small for upcoming enforcement" appears under Needs attention in Merchant Center, replace those images before that date. For PMax against Standard Shopping, see our PMax vs Shopping test.

How to set PMax search themes?

Search themes tell Google the words people use when they search for what you sell. PMax already decides which searches to enter from your assets, website and product data. Search themes add to that and do not limit PMax to those words (Help Center). Each asset group takes up to 50.

Google ranks search themes against Search campaign keywords. When a search is identical to an exact match keyword in a Search campaign, the Search campaign serves the ad. A search theme ranks the same as a phrase or broad match keyword (Help Center). If the account already runs Search, adding the same words again as search themes does little.

Google says search themes help most when your landing page has little detail on what you sell, when you have just entered a new market or launched a new product, and when you run a holiday promotion without much performance history (Help Center). We pull terms from the search terms report that convert but are not covered by a Search campaign. We also add what Google cannot easily read from the website, such as a product that has just launched or the names Hong Kong customers actually use. Near-synonyms add nothing; Google's example is that "car" and "automobile" reach the same people. The account's negative keywords and exclusions still apply.

What to add as a PMax audience signal?

An audience signal is a hint that tells Google roughly who your customers are. PMax still serves to people outside it when they are likely to convert (Help Center), so a signal is not targeting. A campaign with no signal starts with nothing to go on. Google says it can take up to two weeks to fully use a new audience signal (Help Center).

An audience signal has three parts.

Your data is first-party data you have collected yourself. You can add a customer list (member emails, for example), people who interacted with your YouTube channel or videos, a Google Analytics 4 segment, website visitors, app users and people who submitted a lead form. Website visitor, app user and lead form segments are built in Audience manager first and then appear here.

Interests & detailed demographics are categories Google builds from user behaviour: In-market (people comparing or about to buy something like yours), Life events (moving house or getting married, for example), Detailed demographics, Affinity and Custom interests. Custom interests are custom segments built from search terms, URLs or app names. The last part, Demographics, narrows by age and gender, and the interface recommends leaving it on All demographics.

Every PMax we build gets the account's customer list and website visitor list, a custom segment made from the 20 or so past search terms with the most clicks, and In-market categories picked from the list Google actually offers in that account. We usually leave Demographics on the default.

PMax data from Hong Kong ecommerce accounts

These are medians across the Hong Kong ecommerce accounts we manage that ran PMax from August to October 2026. Conversion value is as reported by Google Ads and has not been matched to store sales, so it shows how the platform records conversions and cannot prove which sales the ads added.

How much PMax conversion value comes from brand searches?

By search term, terms that contain the advertiser's brand name account for a median 49% of all PMax conversion value. The search terms report covers about 75% of PMax conversion value, and we did not count anything outside the report as brand.

Among PMax search terms, brand terms return a median 2.2 times the ROAS of non-brand terms. People who search a brand name usually know the brand already. Some of those conversions could have come through organic search or a brand Search campaign without PMax, but the platform data cannot show how many were added sales.

When you assess PMax, split brand from non-brand terms in the search terms report and compare the non-brand ROAS with your Search campaigns. Blended ROAS alone is not enough. Where the brand share is high, we consider a brand exclusion so brand searches go to a separate Search campaign, then watch the account's total brand conversions for a few weeks.

Which channels record the most conversion value?

By channel, a median 87% of PMax conversion value is recorded through the Search network, which includes text ads and product ads in search results. Discover accounts for about 5%, and Display, YouTube and Gmail for 2% or less each. This is platform attribution and does not show whether YouTube or Display helped indirectly.

Product ads with a product image and price (ads using product data) account for a median 41% of PMax conversion value. The product feed section covers how to prepare the feed.

PMax vs Search: CPC, CTR and ROAS

In the same ecommerce accounts, the median average CPC is about HK$1.47 for PMax and HK$3.41 for Search campaigns. Median CTR is 2.7% for PMax and 14.6% for Search. Dividing each account's PMax ROAS by its Search ROAS gives a median of about 0.72, so PMax ROAS is roughly 70% of Search ROAS. Search here includes brand campaigns, which usually have higher ROAS, so the comparison works against PMax.

To see how much of your PMax conversion value comes from brand searches, request a free Health Check and we will work out the brand and non-brand split for your account.

The PMax channel performance report and channel prioritization

The channel performance report lists PMax cost, conversions and conversion value by channel (Help Center). If a channel's share of PMax cost is clearly higher than its share of conversion value, its budget is worth reviewing.

On 14 October 2026 Google announced channel prioritization and budget allocation. Both are rolling out to all accounts over the following months (Google announcement). Budget goes to high-priority channels first and only what is left goes to low-priority ones. Budget allocation caps a low-priority channel at a share of the daily budget. Google only says it will try to keep spend within the cap.

Only three groups can be set separately: Google channels, Search partners and Google Display Network. YouTube sits inside Google channels with Search, so you cannot lower YouTube on its own. When the report shows Search partners or Display bringing clearly fewer conversions we set that channel to low priority with a smaller budget share, run it for two to three weeks and check whether total conversion value drops.

Google is also moving standalone Display campaigns into Demand Gen (Help Center). See our Demand Gen guide and Google Display Network guide.

Ecommerce advertisers can try promotion mode (beta) for 11.11, 12.12, Christmas and Chinese New Year. On the dates you choose the campaign puts sales ahead of the target ROAS and returns to its normal settings afterwards (Google announcement). ROAS may drop below target during the promotion. Set the lowest ROAS you can accept and the total budget before you start.

Which accounts suit PMax?

PMax is usually the main campaign for ecommerce accounts, which have a product feed and clear online sales. In the Hong Kong ecommerce accounts we manage, PMax took a median 64% of Google Ads spend and produced 60% of conversion value. About half of that value came from brand searches. We set the PMax budget ceiling from its non-brand results.

On lead-gen accounts we keep Search as the main campaign. A form submission or WhatsApp click counts as a conversion, so PMax often reports a very low CPA. In the lead-gen accounts we have managed a large share of PMax leads did not turn into real enquiries. We check lead quality in the CRM before giving PMax more budget.

We also start with Search when conversion tracking is not in place, when the monthly budget is small, or when a B2B account needs keyword-by-keyword control. For brand awareness, Demand Gen or YouTube campaigns are a better fit.

In both cases we keep brand and high-intent terms in Search campaigns. When a query is eligible for both, a Search exact match keyword identical to the query takes priority. Otherwise the ad with the higher Ad Rank serves (Help Center). Our AI Max data compares AI Max with exact match. If you want someone to run PMax for you, see our Performance Max management service.

How to set a PMax target ROAS

PMax bids from conversion data, so get conversion tracking and conversion values right first. From 17 August 2026 budget-limited campaigns on tROAS or tCPA deliver close to their target (Help Center). A low target no longer buys a much higher ROAS. We now set the target at breakeven. If a budget-limited campaign runs far above breakeven, we consider Maximize conversion value with no target and use the budget to control spend. Changing the budget or the target does not restart the learning period (Help Center).

Data source and method

The data covers 1 August to 31 October 2026 and the Hong Kong ecommerce Google Ads accounts managed by Kick Ads that ran PMax in that period. Lead-gen accounts are not included. Each figure is calculated per account first and the article shows the median across accounts. Conversion value and ROAS are as reported by Google Ads and have not been matched to store sales. A search term that contains the advertiser's brand name counts as a brand search.

FAQ

What is Performance Max? PMax is a Google Ads campaign type that serves on Search, Shopping, YouTube and the other Google channels from one campaign. Google decides where to serve and what to bid.

What do you need for a PMax asset group? At least 3 headlines, 1 long headline, 2 descriptions, a business name, a square logo and one landscape and one square image. A headline takes up to 30 characters, or about 15 Chinese characters.

Can you add negative keywords to PMax? Yes. You can add campaign-level negative keywords and apply negative keyword lists.

Where do PMax results mostly come from? In our Hong Kong ecommerce accounts, 87% of PMax conversion value from August to October 2026 came through the Search network. About half came from brand searches.

Is PMax good for lead generation? Use it with care. A large share of PMax leads in our lead-gen accounts did not become real enquiries. We run Search as the main campaign there.