Guide to getting started with Performance Max (for new users)

Performance Max is one of Google’s AI-powered campaign types. This guide is intended to provide you with information to get set up for your business. With Performance Max you'll be able to drive better results across Google’s advertising channels and inventory from a single campaign. This includes:

• Search
• Maps
• Youtube
• And more

Performance Max campaigns: General concepts video

You can work with Performance Max and get started with Google Ads to reach customers, unlock opportunities, and drive business results. Use this guide to start reaching customers around the world!

How it works

Performance Max is a goal-based campaign type that allows you to access all of your Google Ads inventory from a single campaign. It's designed to complement your keyword-based Search campaigns to help you find more converting customers across all of Google's channels like YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps.

Performance Max helps you drive performance based on your specified conversion goals, delivering more conversions and value by optimizing performance in real-time and across channels using Smart Bidding. Performance Max uses Google AI across bidding, budget optimization, audiences, creatives, attribution, and more. They're all empowered by your specific advertising objective, for example, if you have a CPA or ROAS target, and the creative assets, audience signals, and optional data feeds you provide.

Set up for a Performance Max Campaign

About your business

When you sign up for Google Ads, you will be prompted to provide information about your business. These fields may ask for:

• Business name
• URL
• Potential other fields, such as Google Business Profile

This will allow Google to learn about your business and make recommendations, prefill content, and intended to make the setup process easier.

Note: These field sections are optional.

Account linking

Google offers you the ability to link accounts related to your business. By linking your accounts upfront, you’re unlocking more opportunities for Google Ads to reach customers and promote your business. You are able to link accounts, like a:

• Youtube channel
• Google Business Profile account
• Mobile app
• Google Merchant Center account

Note: Accounts can always be unlinked after you’ve created your account.

Create your campaign

Choose a goal

When creating your first Performance Max campaign, you’ll be asked to select your most important goal. Selecting a goal helps align the outcome that you want from your campaign. Choosing the right goal will help Google optimize your campaign over time, and guide upcoming steps, including the steps to measure your goal with conversion tracking. Learn more About conversion tracking.

When getting started, you can only choose one goal. As your campaign starts running, you'll have access to a selection of conversion functionality. You can also leverage tools like Google Tag Manager. Learn more about Google Tag Manager.

Based on the goal you have selected, you may be prompted to set up conversion tracking by providing a URL page destination. Google AI can then optimize the campaign towards your goal and track the impact of your campaign.

Add Search Themes and other settings

Search themes in Performance Max are an optional feature, which allow you to provide Google AI with additional information about what your customers are searching for. This guidance may help your campaigns achieve even more optimal results.
Instances where you might consider adding Search themes include:

• You want to provide important information to help your campaign ramp up and optimize performance faster.
• You want to expand your reach within Performance Max, including on Search inventory in Performance Max, and ensure that you have comprehensive coverage on important business themes.

During this optional step, you can also select locations where your ads should appear, as well as language settings. Learn more About search themes in Performance Max campaigns (Beta).

Create ads

You are now ready to create your ad after setting up your Google Ads account and providing the information from steps above. When creating your ad, you'll need to provide:

• Text
• Images
• Other assets

Google will use the assets you provided to test different combinations to find your highest performing ads. You may receive contextual feedback, such as Ad Strength or a campaign optimization score. Learn more about About Ad Strength. As you add assets, you’ll be provided a preview of how they may appear across inventory channels available to you with a Performance Max campaign.

Tip: If you have questions regarding any of the assets, simply hover over the question mark for more information.

Select a bid strategy

Choosing a bid strategy is an important part of setting up a Performance Max campaign. Learn more about how to Pick the right bid strategy. Here's a high-level overview:

• Your Performance Max campaign has access to Google’s broad reach of inventory channels - including Search, YouTube, Maps, Gmail and more.
• Every time that your ad could appear in front of a prospective customer, Google runs an auction. This all happens automatically and behind-the scenes.
• The auction is influenced by several factors: Your bid, competitor bids, and quality score – the perceived relevance of your ad to a potential viewer. Learn more About Quality Score.

Conversions or conversion value

When being asked to select a bid strategy, conversions or conversion value, choose which will impact how the algorithm bids on your ads. For each auction, do you want the algorithm to consider volume of conversions, or conversion value?

Consider using "Maximize Conversions" when:

• Your primary focus is getting as many leads or sales as possible.
• You're prioritizing volume over the value of each individual conversion.
• You have a tight budget. Maximize Conversions will aim to stretch that budget to get the absolute most conversions possible.

While "maximize conversion value" may be optimal if:

• Your focus is on revenue and return on investment (ROI).
• You want to get the highest total value of sales from your ad spend.
• You have robust conversion value tracking.
• You have some flexibility in your budget.

Target cost per action (tCPA) or target return on ad spend (tROAS)

When selecting a bid strategy, you also have the ability to select a target cost per action (tCPA) and target return on ad spend (tROAS).

• If you opt to select a Target CPA (cost-per-action) – available with the "Maximize conversions" choice – you set your desired average cost per conversion. In other words, the price you are willing to pay for each conversion. Google Ads uses your Target CPA to set a bid based on the likelihood of the ad to convert.
• If you opt to select a Target RoAS, available with the "Maximize conversion value" choice, you provide the average conversion value you'd like to get for each dollar you spend on ads.

Setting a budget

Setting a budget for your Performance Max campaign will help determine how much your campaign should spend daily. Your average daily budget is the average amount that you set for each ad campaign on a per-day basis. It specifies how much you are comfortable spending each day over the course of the month. Google also provides you a recommendation based on the information you have provided thus far in the setup process.

Note: You can set and edit your average daily budget at any time.

Google will optimize your campaign spend for days of the month when you’re more likely to get clicks and conversions, like when search traffic is higher or when we predict higher ROI for your ads. This means that on some days you might not reach your average daily budget, and on others you might exceed it. Learn more about Average daily budgets.

Payment details

After completing all of the steps above, you will provide payment information. Learn more about Billing.

Next Steps

Congratulations! You’ve completed the initial setup of your Google Ads account and Performance Max campaign. Your ads are now under review and will take a few days, since all ads are checked to ensure they’re safe and appropriate for everyone.

Setting up conversion tracking

With your Performance Max campaign set up, you are now able to utilize conversion tracking. Learn more About conversion tracking. The goal you chose when you starting your campaign will allow Google to guide you through the process of adding a Google Tag to your website. To get started, there are 2 basic steps:

• Activate measurement with a Google Tag: Google will provide you with a piece of code to add to your site, which lets you connect your website with a range of Google's products and services for tracking and analytics. This sets up the basic communication and data flow functionality. Google will detect and validate if the Google tag was installed correctly, and provide you with feedback as needed.
• Measure each conversion with an event snippet: A smaller piece of code that works specifically with the Google tag to tell it when to record a conversion on your website. You’ll need to set up an event snippet for each goal, and follow additional steps for any non-website goals. This is optional if you have already provided codeless conversion tracking.

Performance Max optimization

Performance Max learning period

As you get up and running, Google AI will take the inputs you provided during setup to create impactful campaigns customized to your business. You may notice in the initial period that your bid strategy status is set as learning. As such, in the initial stages, your Performance Max campaign will undergo a learning period for Google AI to optimize its performance based on the provided inputs. During this time, the AI continuously analyzes data and refines its approach to deliver the best possible campaign outcomes for you. If you have any questions, you may contact Google Ads support.