Upgrade Smart Shopping and Local campaigns to Performance Max

Smart Shopping and Local campaigns will upgrade to Performance Max in 2022. With Performance Max, you’ll get all of the same foundational features you already have with Smart Shopping and Local campaigns. Plus, you’ll gain access to new inventory and automation insights, all from a single campaign. This article will cover important details about the upgrade, including the timeline, benefits of Performance Max, and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Note: New inventory will come to campaigns with store goals in late 2022.

Upgrade Timeline

You’ll be able to upgrade your Smart Shopping campaigns using our self-upgrade tool in Google Ads starting in April. You’ll be able to upgrade your Local campaigns starting in June. The tool gives you options to upgrade specific campaigns or all of your campaigns at once. You’ll be notified in Google Ads once the upgrade tool becomes available to you.

If you choose not to upgrade early, your Smart Shopping campaigns will be automatically upgraded between July and September, and your Local campaigns will be automatically upgraded between August and September. Once your campaigns are automatically upgraded, you’ll no longer be able to create new Smart Shopping or Local campaigns.

Your campaign settings, such as goals, budget, bid strategy, creative assets, and product targeting, will automatically transfer to Performance Max. You’ll also be able to add audience signals to speed up the machine learning optimization process. Learn more about the settings and features of Performance Max

After the upgrade, we recommend adding additional creative assets, such as text, images, and videos, to your Performance Max campaign to enable serving on additional inventory. Learn more about how Performance Max will interact with other campaign types in your account

Benefits of Performance Max campaigns

Goals-based campaign type maximizes your marketing objectives across all Google Ads inventory: Include your business goals as the primary target for Performance Max, and let Google Ads automation find your customers wherever they are across Google properties.
Serve on additional Google Ads inventory: Performance Max ads are eligible to serve on YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps.
Optimal machine learning for stronger performance: Performance Max uses the best of Google Ads machine learning and attribution technology to help deliver better performance.
Unlock time to focus on strategic performance drivers: Simplified campaign management and automation save you time, so you can focus on more strategic and impactful optimizations.
Increase conversions: Retail advertisers using Performance Max have an average 12% increase in conversion value at the same or better return on ad spend (ROAS) when upgrading from Smart Shopping campaigns. Advertisers with an offline-only conversion goal will have comparable performance with their Local campaigns.
More robust reporting: The Insights report provides audience and other insights not currently available in Smart Shopping and Local campaigns reports.
Equivalent features as Smart Shopping and Local campaigns: Performance Max has equivalent features as Smart Shopping and Local campaigns, plus additional functionality and inventory.

How to upgrade your Smart Shopping or Local campaigns to Performance Max

Google Ads Tutorials: How to upgrade your Smart Shopping and Local campaigns to Performance Max

You can upgrade your Smart Shopping or Local campaigns to Performance Max directly from the “Campaigns” page, from the “Recommendations” page, or in one click from a notification in your account.

Upgrade from the “Campaigns” page

To upgrade a single campaign, multiple campaigns, or all campaigns in bulk, follow these steps.

Sign in to your Google Ads account.
In the subpage menu on the left, select Campaigns.
Click the filter icon , then select Attributes.
Select Campaign type, then select Local (or Shopping + Campaign subtype: Smart).
Click Apply.
Click the checkbox next to each campaign you want to upgrade, or select the checkbox above the “Campaigns” table to select all campaigns.
Click Edit in the dropdown above the “Campaigns” table.
Select Upgrade to Performance Max.
Click Apply.

To upgrade a single campaign, follow these steps.

Sign in to your Google Ads account.
In the subpage menu on the left, select Campaigns.
Click the filter icon , then select Attributes.
Select Campaign type, then select Local (or Shopping + Campaign subtype: Smart).
Click Apply.
Under “Campaign type”, roll over “Upgrade available”.
In the “Upgrade available” popup, click Apply.
In the next “Upgrade available” popup, click Upgrade to Performance Max.

Upgrade from the “Recommendations” page

To upgrade a single campaign, multiple campaigns, or all campaigns in bulk, follow these steps.

Sign in to your Google Ads account.
In the subpage menu on the left, select Recommendations.
Click Apply all in the “Upgrade to Performance Max” recommendation to upgrade all campaigns in one click, or click “View Recommendations” and click the checkbox next to each campaign you want to upgrade.
In the confirmation modal, click Apply all to confirm.

Upgrade from a notification in Google Ads

To upgrade all campaigns in one click, follow these steps.

Sign in to your Google Ads account.
Click on the notifications icon in the top-right corner.
Click on the “Upgrade campaigns” notification.
In the notification, click Apply.
In the confirmation modal, click Apply all to confirm.

What happens after the upgrade to Performance Max

After you upgrade to Performance Max, your Smart Shopping or Local campaigns will be automatically changed to “Removed” status. You won’t be able to edit or reactivate your Smart Shopping or Local campaigns, but you’ll still have access to the historical data for your Smart Shopping or Local campaigns in your Google Ads account.

FAQs

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When will I be eligible to upgrade my Smart Shopping or Local campaigns to Performance Max?

You’ll be able to upgrade your Smart Shopping campaigns to Performance Max starting in April 2022. You’ll be able to upgrade your Local campaigns starting in June 2022. You’ll be notified in Google Ads once you’re eligible to upgrade your campaigns.

Between July and September, your Smart Shopping campaigns will be automatically upgraded for you. Your Local campaigns will be automatically upgraded between August and September. You’ll no longer be able to create new Smart Shopping and Local campaigns once your existing campaigns are automatically upgraded. The features activated in your Smart Shopping or Local campaign will determine your eligibility to upgrade. If you’re unable to upgrade, no action is needed, and you’ll be notified when upgrade options are available.

Do I have to manually upgrade my Smart Shopping or Local campaigns?

No. You don’t have to manually upgrade your campaign, but your campaigns will eventually be upgraded to Performance Max automatically.

You’ll be able to upgrade your Smart Shopping campaigns using our one-click self-upgrade tool in Google Ads starting in April based on eligibility requirements. You’ll be able to upgrade your Local campaigns starting in June.

I’m only able to find some campaigns eligible for upgrade and not others. Why is that?

Eligibility for upgrade varies per campaign based on individual campaign feature usage. If you have some campaigns that use a feature that’s not yet eligible for upgrade, you can continue to check back and upgrade once they're eligible. You can upgrade any other eligible campaigns in the meantime.

What types of campaigns will be eligible for upgrade and eventually auto-upgraded?

Active and paused Smart Shopping and Local campaigns will be eligible for upgrade and eventually auto-upgraded. This also applies to active and paused campaigns with end dates in the past. We're including both paused and ended campaigns so you can easily restart your periodic and seasonal campaigns.

I’m already using Performance Max and have paused or ended my Smart Shopping or Local campaigns. What will happen to them?

Campaigns that are paused will be eligible for upgrade and eventually auto-upgraded, but kept in the same paused state. This is so you can easily restart your periodic and seasonal campaigns. If you don’t want your campaigns upgraded, you can set them to "Removed" status.

My campaign was initially eligible for upgrade, but upgrade isn’t an option anymore.? Why is that?

Eligibility for upgrade varies per campaign based on campaign feature usage. If you've recently edited your campaign to use a feature that’s not yet eligible, it's possible your campaign eligibility will change. You can continue to check back to find out when your campaign becomes eligible again.

Will multiple Smart Shopping or Local campaigns be combined into a single Performance Max campaign during the upgrade?

No. Campaigns won’t be combined. A new Performance Max campaign will be created for each Smart Shopping and Local campaign. Your active or paused Smart Shopping and Local campaigns will be set to “Removed” status once upgraded. Each new Performance Max campaign will optimize to the same goals as the original Smart Shopping and Local campaign(s).

How long will it take for the upgrade to complete?

Depending on how many campaigns you try to upgrade at once, it may take a few minutes or up to a day to complete the upgrade for each campaign. During the upgrade, you won’t be able to make any changes to your Smart Shopping or Local campaign. Your Smart Shopping or Local campaigns will continue running until the upgrade to Performance Max is complete. You’ll receive a notification once the upgrade is complete, or you can check on the status of the upgrade on the “Campaigns” page in your Google Ads account. After your upgrade is complete, your original campaigns will be set to “Removed” status.

How can I check upgrade eligibility and progress for my campaign?

You can check the eligibility and progress of your upgrade from the “Campaign type” column on the “Campaigns” page. You’ll notice one of 4 different message types for each of your Smart Shopping or Local campaigns:

Upgrade available: The upgrade to Performance Max hasn’t yet started. This is informing you of the option to upgrade.
Upgrading to Performance Max: Your campaign is being upgraded to Performance Max and will continue running until the upgrade is complete. Edits to your original campaign won't be reflected in your newly created Performance Max campaign. You’ll be notified when the upgrade is complete.
Upgraded to Performance Max: Your campaign was upgraded to Performance Max. To edit or manage it, go to the Performance Max campaign.
Upgrade failed: If the upgrade to Performance Max is initially unsuccessful, you’ll be shown a failed message. No action is required on your part, and you’ll be notified once the upgrade is successful.

Once the upgrade is complete, you’ll notice a new Performance Max campaign in your account, which will have a status of “Upgraded”. If you hover over the status, you’ll have the option to be taken back to the original upgraded Smart Shopping or Local campaign.

How will I know when the upgrade is complete?

If your upgrade to Performance Max is complete, you’ll notice a “Campaigns upgraded” notification. To find the notification, click the notifications icon

in the top-right corner of your Google Ads account. Click on the notification, then click View to go directly to the “Campaigns” page, where you can view the campaigns that are “Performance Max Upgraded”.

How long will it take for my Performance Max campaign to ramp up?

We use learnings from your original Smart Shopping or Local campaigns to minimize the time it takes your Performance Max campaign to ramp up. We recommend waiting 1-2 weeks to judge the performance of your new Performance Max campaign. Actual performance time will depend on many factors, such as whether you have other campaign history in your account, what your conversion goal is, and how many conversions you can get with your daily budget.

Once I’ve upgraded Smart Shopping or Local campaigns, can I switch it back if I’m not happy with performance?

No. After you upgrade, you won’t be able to switch back. Performance Max campaigns are expected to provide an average increase of 12% conversion value at the same or better ROAS for retail advertisers, when compared to Smart Shopping campaigns. Local advertisers should notice similar campaign performance as their original Local campaigns.

The migration tool allows you to do either, and you’re welcome to test migration with a few campaigns first. If you have multiple campaigns targeting the same products, however, we recommend you upgrade them together to more easily monitor performance.

Can I upgrade my Smart Shopping or Local campaigns to Performance Max into a different account?

This isn’t currently possible. If you have a Google representative, you can contact them to get help from our implementation team to replicate Performance Max campaigns in a different customer ID (and pause the upgraded ones in the original customer ID). However, this may cause your Performance Max campaign to take longer to ramp up and isn’t advised.

How will settings from my original Smart Shopping campaign be mapped to Performance Max campaign settings?

All of your Smart Shopping and Local campaigns settings will automatically transfer to Performance Max with the same or comparable functionality. Differences between Smart Shopping and Performance Max campaigns settings are listed in the table below. A

means that this setting or feature is available and will be migrated with no changes.

Note: Local campaign settings mapping details are coming soon.

Setting	Smart Shopping campaigns	Performance Max
Conversion goals
Campaign type	Smart Shopping	Performance Max
Google Merchant Center
Google My Business	N/A
Locations	N/A
Feeds	N/A
Country of sale
Campaign name		Original campaign name will be replaced with “PMax “.
Local products (on/off)		Turned on by default if local inventory is available. You can set an inventory filter for “Channel” using listing groups.
Regional availability and pricing, Show products across multiple countries
Budget
Bid strategy	Maximum conversion value (optional Target ROAS)	Maximum conversion value (optional Target ROAS) Maximum conversions (optional Target CPA)
Geo targeting
Languages	N/A	Language targeting available Formats that use Merchant Center data may expand to all languages supported on the feed.
Ad schedule
Start date, End date	Smart Shopping campaign start date Date of upgrade end date	Date of upgrade start date Smart Shopping or Local campaign end date (if after start date), or Date of upgrade end date
Ad destination (final URL)
Final URL expansion	N/A	Default On (This is the default if the original Smart Shopping campaign subdivides product inventory using listing groups. URL expansion will only send users to relevant landing pages for the selected product inventory.)
Campaign URL options	N/A
Asset group name	N/A
Product groups		Listing groups is the equivalent of product groups.
Ad group	Ad group: One headline One long headline One description Final URL One logo (optional) One landscape image One video One custom HTML5 ad call-to-action (automated)	Asset group:* 3 headlines One long headline 2 descriptions Final URL One logo One landscape image 1-5 videos (optional, may be created automatically for you if not supplied) One HTML5 file Call-to-action (automated) One square image Business name Display path (optional) Tracking template (optional) Final URL suffix (optional) Mobile-specific final URL (optional) *In order for Performance Max to serve maximally across channels, it’s recommended that Smart Shopping and Local campaign advertisers add the assets listed above to their Smart Shopping or Local campaigns before initiating the upgrade to Performance Max. Assets can also be added after the upgrade.
Audience signals	N/A	Positive audience targets in Smart Shopping or Local campaigns will be added as audience signals.
Extensions
Seasonality adjustments and Data Exclusions		Campaign level events will be directly carried over to the Performance Max campaign. Events that contain “Shopping” campaign type events will expand to include the “Performance Max” campaign type when the first campaign is upgraded. These Performance Max events will affect all existing campaigns of that type in the account.

Will my Performance Max campaign perform similarly to my Smart Shopping or Local campaigns?

Performance Max campaigns should perform similarly or better than your Smart Shopping or Local campaigns. During Beta testing, retail advertisers noticed an average increase of 12% conversion value at the same or better ROAS by upgrading to Performance Max. Local advertisers should observe similar performance to their original Local campaign.

We recommend waiting 1-2 weeks to judge the performance of your new Performance Max campaign. Actual performance time will depend on many factors, such as whether you have other campaign history in your account, what your conversion goal action is, and how many conversions you can get with your daily budget.

What budget should I set for my Performance Max campaign?

When your Smart Shopping or Local campaigns are first upgraded, an identical budget will be set for your Performance Max campaign. As the campaign starts serving ads and ramping up, you may be provided with additional recommendations. You can choose to adjust your budget based on the recommendations.

Are there brand new features for Performance Max?

Yes. Performance Max offers new features that aren’t available with Smart Shopping or Local campaigns, which include the following:

Asset groups
Audience signals
Expanded inventory for retail advertisers
Expanded set of goals and new bidding features
Final URL expansion
Insights report

In the table below, you’ll find the additional reach and new features that Performance Max provides.

Campaign type being upgraded

Additional reach with Performance Max

New features with Performance Max

Smart Shopping campaigns

YouTube In-Stream, Text (via DSA), Discover Feed

Goals:

Offline sales only
Lead generation

Bidding:

Audience signals to inform bidding
Maximum conversions (with optional target cost per action) bid strategy

Reporting and insights:

Audience insights

Local campaigns

Local inventory ads on Search and Maps

Goals:

Lead generation
Offline sales
New customer acquisition
Value rules

Bidding:

Audience signals to inform bidding
Maximum conversions (with optional target cost per action) bid strategy

Reporting and insights:

Insights page that includes performance insights, consumer interest insights, audience insights, and more

Where do Performance Max campaigns show ads, and what types of ads will be available?

Performance Max campaigns show ads across all Google Ads inventory. Examples include Search results, the “Shopping'' tab on search results, websites, YouTube, feeds on the YouTube homepage and “What to watch next”, Gmail inboxes, and Discover. Types of ads include text ads, image ads, video ads, multi-image carousel ads, and product listing ads.

How will Performance Max interact with other campaign types in my account?

Since Performance Max can serve on all of Google’s inventory, it may overlap with one or more existing campaigns in your account. If this is the case, it will interact with campaigns (for example, a Display campaign) similarly to how existing campaigns that show ads on that inventory would interact. For example, if you add another Display campaign, ad rank will determine which campaign serves the impression to help you achieve a better return on investment (ROI). Assuming these campaigns are in the same account, or the accounts are marked as equivalent (contact support for help with this), the campaigns won’t compete to drive bids higher. Below are additional details about how Performance Max may interact with your other campaign types.

On Search, for campaigns eligible for the same auctions, Performance Max will be selected based on ad rank.
A Search campaign with a keyword that exactly matches or is spell-corrected to the user query will be preferred over Performance Max (for example, if the search term is "plumbrs", and your account includes the exact match keyword [plumbers] and the broad match keyword plumbrs, then the exact match keyword is preferred). If there are no keywords that exactly match the user query across keyword match types, the campaign with the higher ad rank will serve. Learn more About similar keywords in a Google Ads account
Performance Max doesn’t cover Hotel campaign inventory (Hotel ads and property promotion ads).
Performance Max doesn’t support App installs as a goal, so we recommend that you continue to run App campaigns for install.
Performance Max will be prioritized over Smart Shopping campaigns, standard Shopping campaigns, and Display campaigns with a Merchant Center feed in your account if they’re targeting the same product inventory.

Does Performance Max replace all of my existing campaigns?

Performance Max campaigns are eligible to serve across Google’s advertising channels, including YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps. Performance Max campaigns are designed to complement your Search and other campaigns to help you find more converting users across all Google Ads inventory.

Note that the following inventory and use cases aren’t yet supported in Performance Max:

App install goals
Awareness and Consideration goals
Hotel campaign inventory
Keyword-targeted Search

Learn more about Performance Max

Why are impressions and conversions not showing up in my migrated Performance Max campaign?

You may notice a 1-2 hour delay between when your campaign is migrated and when performance statistics start populating in your Performance Max campaign. During this period, statistics will continue to populate in the original Smart Shopping or Local campaign

Can I still run regular shopping campaigns?

Yes. You’ll still be able to run regular shopping campaigns after this upgrade, and existing regular shopping campaigns in your account won’t be upgraded.

Do I have to upload assets in my Performance Max campaign for online sales with a product feed?

No assets are required to launch a retail Performance Max campaign (as long as you add your Google Merchant Center account). However, additional creative assets will allow your campaign to serve on all available Performance Max inventory and improve your campaign’s performance. Therefore, we recommend adding creatives to your Performance Max asset groups once your Smart Shopping campaign upgrade is completed.

Some assets (such as video) may be generated automatically if you don’t provide them in your Performance Max campaign.

Can I prevent my Performance Max campaign from serving on a specific channel, or exclude placements?

No. Currently, you can’t choose which channels your Performance Max campaign will serve on. Performance Max will continuously optimize based on achieved performance to bring you the best possible performance across all channels.

How will this upgrade affect application programming interface (API) users?

Campaigns created or modified via API will be migrated along with all other campaigns. Advertisers will have an option to perform the upgrade via API by the end of June, or they can wait for their campaigns to be automatically upgraded. Learn more

Still have questions? Contact support