Since its inception, PMAX – otherwise known as Performance Max – has brought great success to our clients, particularly those in the eCommerce space. But of course, as with any platform we use, it also brings us a level of frustration, mostly when it comes to reporting and functionality.
Thankfully, PMAX is constantly evolving, and Google is listening to the kind of features we want and need.
As Google Ads experts, we regularly keep tabs on the latest innovations within PMAX, and here are four new Performance Max features that Google Ads is starting to roll out.
These new features are designed to give us more control and better insights.
Please bear in mind that Google slowly rolls these features out, so don’t be alarmed if you don’t see them in your account yet!
Campaign-level negative keywords
This is the one singular feature we’ve been begging for since day one because, as we’ve mentioned in other articles, we’ve always felt we’ve had a lack of control when managing PMAX campaigns.
This new feature allows us to add negative keywords at the campaign level, much like we do with Search campaigns. So, for example, if we’re running a campaign for a client that’s advertising running shoes, we can add “flip flops” and “sandals” as negative keywords, so we’re not spending their budget on users who are looking for different products.
Search term reporting
The new search term reporting feature goes at least in part hand-in-hand with campaign-level negative keywords.
Now, we can finally see the exact serch terms users are typing into Google in order to find our clients’ ads.
This is revolutionary as it helps us better understand user intent, and quite importantly, it allows us to find more negative keywords to add to campaigns to ensure we’re not wasting budget by targeting the wrong people.
Channel reporting
Another helpful feature for reporting and insights is the channel reporting feature, which allows us to see which channels across the Google Display Network users are coming from.
It breaks down everything that you’d like to see, by channel, including impressions, clicks, cost, conversion & ROAS.
It’ll allow us to further fine-tune our campaigns, so for example, if YouTube gets a lot of conversions, we’ll know to add more videos to asset groups.
Waze Ads integration
Potentially the least exciting of the recent updates, but if your PMAX campaigns have conversion actions that connect to a physical store, like store visits and local actions, your ads can now appear on Waze.
If you’re unfamiliar with Waze, it’s an in-car navigation app that is updated by users in real-time, allowing you to see diversions and traffic delays. The new ads feature will integrate into Waze to show your business as a promoted place.
What do the new features mean for us?
Ultimately, the first two in the list – negative keywords and search term reporting – are arguably the biggest game changers which will make our lives easier. It’ll give us greater control over our clients’ campaigns, further minimising lost budget due to ads being shown to users who are looking for something different.
Channel reporting is still in beta, but again it can be another useful feature as we’ll be able to tell our clients exactly where their money is being spent, and where conversions are coming from.
The Waze Ads integration is very interesting and could be incredibly useful for businesses that have a visible location that they want to drive users to.
If you’re running PMAX campaigns and are unsure about any of these features, get in touch with our team, who are more than happy to help.