Performance Max (PMax)
Performance Max is a Google campaign type that spends 1 budget across Search, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Display and Discover, choosing the mix itself.
You supply headlines, descriptions, images, logos and optionally video, and Google assembles and places the ads.
It can work well on accounts with real conversion history to learn from.
On a new account with a small budget it often puts most of the money into YouTube placements, because that inventory is cheap and plentiful.
I've watched a PMax campaign send $153 of $157 into YouTube in 10 days on a roofing account, and the resulting calls turned out to be accidental taps.
The controls are limited by design, so the levers are the conversion goals it's allowed to bid toward, the assets you give it, and the budget you let it have.
It's a tool worth using once the signal underneath it is clean, and a way to lose money quickly before that.
What this means for you
PMax is the campaign type most often sold as a simple upgrade. It's a reasonable choice on a proven account, and I'd want Search working properly first.
This one sits under Google Ads management.
Related terms
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