Performance Max campaigns can be a goldmine or a money pit. Here is how to structure, optimise, and scale PMax campaigns for Australian e-commerce brands without wasting budget.
Performance Max (PMax) campaigns have been one of the most polarising developments in Google Ads since Smart Shopping replaced standard Shopping campaigns. Some advertisers have seen dramatic improvements in efficiency; others have watched their budgets disappear into opaque, unattributable spend.
The difference between the two outcomes almost always comes down to how the campaign is set up and managed, not the campaign type itself.
Performance Max is a goal-based campaign type that runs across all Google inventory: Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Discover. It uses Google's machine learning to optimise bids, placements, and creative combinations in real time to achieve your conversion goals.
The appeal is clear: one campaign, all placements, AI-optimised. The challenge is that this breadth of reach can lead to budget being allocated to low-intent placements if the campaign is not properly structured.
Asset groups are the building blocks of PMax campaigns. Each asset group contains the creative assets, audience signals, and product listings that Google uses to construct ads. How you structure your asset groups significantly impacts performance.
Our recommended approach for Australian retailers is to create separate asset groups for distinct product categories or customer segments. This allows Google's algorithm to learn the optimal creative and audience combination for each group independently.
One of the most common complaints about PMax is that it cannibalises branded search traffic, taking credit for conversions that would have happened anyway. This inflates apparent ROAS and makes it difficult to assess the campaign's true incremental value.
The solution is to add your brand terms as negative keywords at the account level. This forces PMax to find genuinely new customers rather than capturing existing demand. Note that Google does not make this easy, and you may need to contact your Google rep to apply brand exclusions.
PMax reporting is intentionally limited. Google does not show you which placements or search terms are driving conversions, making it difficult to optimise based on placement-level data.
The search terms insight report (available under Insights) provides some visibility into the queries triggering your ads. Review this regularly and add irrelevant terms as negative keywords to improve targeting quality.
Performance Max is not a set-and-forget solution. It requires regular review of asset performance, audience signal refinement, and budget allocation decisions. Brands that treat it as a hands-off campaign type consistently underperform those that actively manage and iterate.
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