PPC glossary

Performance Max

Performance Max is a Google Ads campaign type that runs ads across Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps from a single campaign. The advertiser supplies a conversion goal, budget, creative assets and audience signals, and Google's AI decides where, when and to whom each ad is shown.

Reviewed by Gareth Hoyle, Managing Director
Last reviewed 31 October 2026

When did Performance Max launch?

Google made Performance Max available to all advertisers on 2 November 2021, describing it as a new way to buy Google ads across YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps from one campaign. In the same announcement it said Smart Shopping and Local campaigns would both upgrade to Performance Max in 2022, which made it the replacement for both.

How does Performance Max work?

The campaign is built around one objective, such as Sales, Leads, Website traffic or Local store visits and promotions. Google combines the headlines, descriptions, images and videos it is given into ads for each placement, and Smart Bidding sets bids based on the likelihood of a conversion, with an optional target CPA or target ROAS.

There are no keywords in the usual sense. Advertisers can add search themes, which Google says carry the same priority as phrase and broad match keywords.

What control do advertisers have?

Less than in a Search campaign, but more than at launch. In March 2025 Google raised the limit on negative keywords in a Performance Max campaign from 100 to 10,000, matching Search campaigns. Because the campaign can also bid on searches for the advertiser's own name, its reported results can include sales that would have happened anyway.

Track conversions with real values, so the campaign optimises for revenue rather than volume
Use brand exclusions if brand searches are handled by a separate Search campaign
Add negative keywords for irrelevant or low-value queries
Supply assets for every format, including video, so Google does not have to generate them

Example

An online garden furniture retailer could run one Performance Max campaign with a target ROAS of 400%, product photography, a short lifestyle video and audience signals built from past customers. Excluding its own brand name and running brand terms in a separate Search campaign shows how many sales Performance Max is finding from new demand rather than existing customers.