Performance Max Tips: How to Get Control Back in 2026
Performance Max used to be a black box. In 2025 Google added negative keywords, brand exclusions and channel reporting. Here's how to use them, and other ways to steer PMax.
Key takeaways
- In 2025 Google added campaign-level negative keywords, brand exclusions, placement exclusions and channel performance reporting to Performance Max.
- Accurate conversion goals and values are the most important PMax input.
- Use asset groups organised by theme or product category, each with strong, specific assets.
- Audience signals are hints, not targeting. Your own customer lists make the best signals.
When Performance Max launched in November 2021, advertisers had very little control or visibility. That has changed. During 2025 Google added several controls and reports that make PMax far easier to manage. Here’s how to use them, plus the fundamentals that matter most.
1. Get conversion goals right first
PMax optimises toward the conversion goals you set at campaign level. If those include low-value actions, PMax will find you lots of them. Use only real business outcomes as primary goals, and assign values where you can (for example, higher values for qualified leads or high-margin products).
2. Add campaign-level negative keywords
Google added campaign-level negative keywords to PMax in 2025. Use them to exclude irrelevant themes (jobs, free, DIY) and terms you’re covering better elsewhere. Review PMax’s search term insights regularly to find new negatives.
3. Exclude your brand where it makes sense
Brand exclusions stop PMax from claiming cheap conversions on searches for your own brand that would have converted anyway. If you run a separate brand Search campaign, apply your brand list as an exclusion in PMax.
4. Use channel performance reporting
Channel performance reporting shows how PMax splits results across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps. If a large share of spend goes to a channel with weak results, adjust your assets (for example, add proper video so YouTube placements perform better).
5. Exclude bad placements
Placement exclusions let you block sites or apps where your ads shouldn’t appear. Combine with account-level content suitability settings.
6. Structure asset groups by theme
Create separate asset groups for distinct product categories, services or audiences, each with headlines, images and videos written for that theme. Generic asset groups produce generic ads.
7. Provide your own video
If you don’t upload video, Google may create video from your images, and it is rarely your best creative. Upload at least one vertical and one horizontal video per asset group.
8. Use strong audience signals
Audience signals don’t restrict targeting; they help PMax find the right people faster. Your customer lists and converters are the strongest signals, followed by custom segments based on search terms your customers use.
9. Fix your product feed (ecommerce)
For stores, the Merchant Center feed drives Shopping placements. Clear titles, accurate categories, good images and correct prices often improve PMax more than any campaign setting.
10. Give it time and judge on the right metric
PMax needs a learning period. Avoid major changes in the first two weeks, and judge on cost per acquisition or ROAS over several weeks, not daily swings.
When PMax isn’t the right tool
For small, lead-based businesses with little conversion data, well-built Search campaigns often work better. Read should a small business run Performance Max or Search? and audit your account with the Performance Max audit.