⚡ TL;DR
Table of Contents
- Google Performance Max removes advertiser control over placements, audiences, and creative — handing decisions entirely to Google algorithm with minimal transparency.
- PMax regularly cannibalises branded search traffic, brand-aware audiences, and existing high-performing campaigns without reporting this clearly.
- Campaign performance data in PMax is heavily aggregated — you cannot see which placements, creatives, or audiences are driving results.
- For mobile apps, Google App Campaigns (UAC) with custom intent signals and structured creative assets consistently outperform PMax.
What Is Google Ads Performance Max?
Performance Max (often shortened to PMax) is Google’s “all-in-one” campaign type that pushes ads across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover and Maps from a single budget.
Google promotes it as a hands-free growth engine, but our CEO Andre Kempe, says PMax can easily become a budget black hole for advertisers who don’t know its hidden settings.
Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/b8DcqyJeeQg?si=aSIc8p9i3SKb5pHI
The Silent Killer: Attribution Mismatch
Andre’s agency regularly audits accounts where PMax is set to 30-day click, 14-day view attribution, while other channels use 7-day / 1-day.
The result: PMax always appears to “win,” because it gives itself up to 44 days to claim a sale.
Here’s your quick fix:
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Match attribution windows across every network.
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Switch Google Ads to data-driven or 7-day click / 1-day view before comparing ROAS.
Brand Cannibalisation & Retargeting Leakage
Performance Max automatically targets:
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Navigational searches (people typing your brand + “login”).
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Past purchasers who should be excluded or segmented.
Because you cannot view search-term reports inside PMax, these expensive “easy wins” stay hidden, while Google pockets the margin.
A work-around you can use:
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Add brand negatives at account level (now available in most regions).
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Build a Customer Match exclusion list for past buyers.
Looking to scale your Google Ads?
Our senior growth team has audited 200+ Google Ads accounts and reclaimed millions in wasted PMax spend. Get in touch with us and find out how much cash your black box is hiding.
