Search Marketing FAQ

Start with one asset group covering your core offer, then add one per distinct theme or audience segment. Three to seven asset groups is a healthy range. More than ten creates internal competition. Each asset group needs at least five headlines, five descriptions, and a variety of image and video assets.

in Performance Max

Minimum: 5 headlines (30 chars), 5 descriptions (90 chars), 1 long headline (90 chars), business name, final URL, at least 4 landscape images, at least 4 square images, a logo, and ideally 1+ video. Adding more variations of each asset type improves Ad Strength and channel coverage.

in Performance Max

Images: 1200x628 landscape, 1200x1200 square, plus 1200x1500 portrait. Videos: at least one 16:9 horizontal, 9:16 vertical, and 1:1 square, each 6-15 seconds. Text: short, action-oriented headlines under 30 chars; descriptions naming concrete benefits under 90 chars. Use real product or branded imagery; avoid stock-photo defaults.

in Performance Max

Google will auto-generate basic videos from your images if you do not supply one, but auto-generated videos perform measurably worse than purposeful brand video. Supply at least one 15-second vertical and one 15-second horizontal video for serious YouTube placement. Auto-generated video unlocks placement but rarely wins clicks against real video.

in Performance Max

Audience signals are hints to Google's AI about who is most likely to convert: your customer match lists, remarketing audiences, interest categories, and detailed demographics. Unlike targeting, they do not restrict who sees the ad. Performance Max may serve outside the signals if its model finds higher-converting users elsewhere.

in Performance Max

Customer Match lists (your existing buyers) first - this gives the model your most concrete signal of who converts. Add remarketing audiences for site visitors next. Then layer interest and life-event audiences relevant to your category. The richer the audience signal, the faster Performance Max learns and the better the early ROAS.

in Performance Max

Yes. Both are the highest-value audience signals for Performance Max. Customer Match (uploaded customer emails) signals what converters look like. Remarketing lists signal active interest. Together they give the model behavioral and identity signals that interest-based audiences alone cannot match. Refresh both lists monthly to keep them representative.

in Performance Max

Demographics are signals, not hard targets, in Performance Max. You can include age, gender, parental status, and household income as audience signals to steer the model toward those users, but Performance Max may still serve outside them. For strict demographic targeting, use Standard Search or Display campaigns instead.

in Performance Max

Three official methods. Account-level negative keywords (1,000-keyword cap) block queries across all Search and Shopping campaigns. Campaign-level negative keywords (10,000-keyword cap) scope to one Performance Max campaign. Campaign-level brand exclusions block by brand list and catch misspellings. Account-level negatives are the simplest single-brand starter.

in Performance Max

Yes, via account-level negatives (1,000 keyword limit, applied across all Search and Shopping campaigns) or campaign-level negatives (10,000 keyword limit, scoped to one Performance Max campaign). These prevent Performance Max from serving on specific queries. Use them to defend brand traffic, exclude wastage terms, or avoid sensitive query categories.

in Performance Max

Use the Content Suitability settings in Tools & Settings > Content Suitability. Add specific URL exclusions, YouTube channel exclusions, app exclusions, and sensitive content categories. Performance Max does not support ad-group-level placement exclusions like Display campaigns; exclusions apply account-wide. Audit Insights for new placements monthly and add exclusions as needed.

in Performance Max

Set inventory type (Expanded, Standard, or Limited) at the campaign level to control sensitive content exposure. Use account-level negative keywords for query-level safety. Apply YouTube channel and placement exclusions via Content Suitability. Standard inventory is the safe default for most advertisers; Limited restricts more but cuts reach significantly.

in Performance Max

Reporting is more limited than Standard Search. You see asset group-level conversions and value, asset performance ratings (Low/Good/Best), audience signal performance, and campaign-level metrics. Channel breakdown by Search/Display/YouTube became available in 2023. Search terms report exists but is partial. Use scripts or third-party tools for full visibility.

in Performance Max

Yes, since 2023 Google has added a channel performance report inside Performance Max showing spend and conversions by Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail, and Maps. Find it via the Insights tab. Use this to identify whether your campaign is serving where you expected and whether channel mix matches your asset strategy.

in Performance Max

By design. Performance Max is a single campaign that serves across every Google surface. The AI decides where each impression goes based on which channel is most likely to convert that specific user. If spend looks wrong, either your audience signals are too broad or you have not supplied creative for the channels you want.

in Performance Max

Wait two weeks before changing anything. Then: tighten audience signals based on which converted, replace Low-rated assets with new variations, add brand exclusions and negative keywords from search terms, adjust Target CPA or ROAS by no more than 15% per change, and add asset groups for new themes. Cadence: monthly optimization rounds.

in Performance Max

Five core: Maximize Conversions (volume, no target), Maximize Conversion Value (revenue, no target), Target CPA (volume at a cost ceiling), Target ROAS (revenue at a return ratio), and Maximize Clicks (traffic, not optimized for conversions). Each uses machine learning to set bids per auction based on signals Google sees at query time.

in Smart Bidding

An auto-bidding strategy that uses conversion value (typically purchase revenue) instead of conversion count as the optimization signal. Best for e-commerce or any business with variable conversion values. Without a Target ROAS set, the algorithm chases the highest possible revenue within the budget. With a Target ROAS, it constrains to that return ratio.

in Smart Bidding

Manual CPC requires you to set a max bid per keyword. Smart Bidding sets a unique bid per auction using device, location, time, audience, query intent, and dozens of other real-time signals. Smart Bidding outperforms manual CPC at scale because it weighs signals no human can monitor across thousands of auctions per minute.

in Smart Bidding

Use Maximize Conversions early in a new account when you have conversion tracking installed but not enough history for Target CPA. The strategy spends your full budget on the highest-converting auctions without a CPA ceiling. Move to Target CPA once you have 30-50 conversions and want to constrain cost.

in Smart Bidding

Use Maximize Conversion Value when your conversions have meaningfully different values (e.g., $50 orders versus $500 orders in e-commerce). Without a Target ROAS, it chases maximum revenue within budget. Switch to Target ROAS once you have 50+ conversions with value data and want to enforce a return-on-spend constraint.

in Smart Bidding

Use Target CPA when you know the cost per acquisition that keeps your business profitable and you have at least 30 conversions in the past 30 days. The strategy tries to hit that CPA on average. Below 30 conversions, Target CPA struggles - stay on Maximize Conversions until volume catches up.

in Smart Bidding

Use Target ROAS for e-commerce or revenue-led accounts with at least 50 conversions and clean conversion-value data in the past 30 days. The strategy targets a specified return-on-ad-spend ratio (e.g., 400% means $4 revenue per $1 spend). Without value tracking, Target ROAS cannot function - install enhanced ecommerce first.

in Smart Bidding

Switch once you have conversion tracking installed and at least 15-30 conversions in the past 30 days. Start with Maximize Conversions to let the model learn without a constraint, then move to Target CPA after 30+ conversions. Manual CPC is rarely optimal beyond early-stage accounts; Smart Bidding wins at scale.

in Smart Bidding