The Expert's FAQ on Google Performance Max & Demand Gen Campaigns
Google's advertising landscape is increasingly driven by automation and artificial intelligence. Two of the most significant and powerful examples of this shift are Performance Max (PMax) and Demand Gen campaigns. PMax offers a goal-based approach that consolidates access to all of Google's ad inventory into a single campaign, while Demand Gen focuses on creating interest and driving action across Google's most visual platforms. Understanding how to leverage these campaign types, particularly for specific B2B goals, is crucial for modern marketers. This FAQ provides practical, in-depth answers to the most common questions about implementing, managing, and measuring these sophisticated campaigns.
What exactly are Performance Max (PMax) campaigns and should we be using them?
Performance Max (PMax) is a goal-based campaign type that gives advertisers access to all of Google's advertising inventory from a single, unified campaign. This includes YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps. The core of PMax is its reliance on Google's AI and machine learning to automate bidding, targeting, and ad creation in real-time to drive conversions or conversion value. You provide the campaign with specific goals, a budget, and a collection of creative assets (text, images, videos), and the system works to find the most efficient path to conversion.
For B2B marketers, PMax presents a significant opportunity to find new customers and expand reach beyond traditional keyword-based Search campaigns. It can capture potential customers throughout their entire buying journey, not just when they are actively searching for a solution. However, its effectiveness depends on proper setup. PMax requires a substantial amount of data to learn and optimize effectively, so it's best suited for advertisers who have clear conversion goals and a steady flow of conversion data. If your primary goal is lead generation, it's crucial to optimize for high-quality leads, potentially by importing offline conversion data, to prevent the algorithm from chasing quantity over quality. It should be tested once core search campaigns are fully funded and performing well, rather than as a replacement for them.
How do PMax campaigns differ from traditional Search and Display campaigns?
The primary difference between Performance Max and traditional campaigns lies in automation, reach, and control.
Key Differences:
- Reach and Inventory: Traditional Search campaigns are limited to the Google Search results page, targeting users based on specific keywords they type. Display campaigns place visual ads across the Google Display Network's millions of websites and apps. PMax, however, is an all-in-one campaign type that consolidates access to every Google channel: Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and Maps.
- Targeting and Control: In Search and Display campaigns, advertisers have granular control. You manually select keywords, choose specific audience segments (like demographics or interests), and can even pick exact websites for ad placements. PMax operates with much less manual control. Instead of direct targeting, you provide "audience signals"—suggestions like your customer lists or custom segments—to guide the AI. The algorithm then uses these signals as a starting point to find converting users, but it is not restricted to them.
- Automation and Bidding: PMax is fundamentally a goal-based campaign that relies on Smart Bidding to automatically optimize bids in real-time across all channels to achieve a specific goal, like a target CPA or ROAS. While traditional campaigns can also use Smart Bidding, PMax's automation extends to creative combinations and channel placement, which is a core function of the campaign type.
In essence, the trade-off is control for automation. Traditional campaigns offer precision and direct oversight, while PMax offers broader reach and automated efficiency powered by machine learning.
What kind of assets do we need to provide for a PMax campaign?
To run a successful Performance Max campaign, you need to provide a diverse range of creative assets. Google's AI combines these components in countless variations to create ads across its entire network. The more high-quality assets you provide, the more ad formats the campaign can create and test.
Core Asset Requirements:
- Text Assets: You can provide multiple headlines (up to 15, with a 30-character limit) and descriptions (up to 5, with a 90-character limit). It's recommended to include shorter variations to fit different ad placements.
- Image Assets: Up to 20 images are supported. You should provide a mix of aspect ratios to ensure full coverage across placements:
- Landscape (1.91:1): Recommended size is 1200x628 pixels.
- Square (1:1): Recommended size is 1200x1200 pixels.
- Portrait (4:5): Recommended size is 960x1200 pixels. This is optional but helps you access more placements.
- Logos: You can upload up to 5 logos, including both square (1:1) and landscape (4:1) versions. A business name is also a required asset.
- Video Assets: While Google can automatically create videos from your other assets, it is highly recommended to provide your own. You can add up to 5 videos, and they should be at least 10 seconds long. Providing videos in multiple aspect ratios (horizontal, vertical, and square) is a best practice.
All assets are uploaded into an "asset group," which is then paired with audience signals to guide the campaign. Providing a full suite of high-quality, relevant assets is one of the most critical factors for PMax success, as it directly fuels the machine learning algorithm's ability to find and engage converting customers.
Can we effectively target our niche B2B audience with a broad campaign like PMax?
Yes, you can effectively target a niche B2B audience with Performance Max, but it requires a strategic approach that differs from broad consumer campaigns. While PMax was not specifically designed with B2B's narrow audiences and long sales cycles in mind, it can be a powerful tool for lead generation when configured correctly.
The key is to give Google's AI very strong, clear signals about who your ideal customer is. Since B2B audiences are niche, you cannot let the algorithm guess. Success hinges on the quality of the data you provide.
Strategies for B2B Targeting with PMax:
- Leverage First-Party Data: This is your most valuable asset. Upload your CRM data and customer lists (e.g., email lists, phone numbers) using Google's Customer Match feature. This gives the algorithm a precise profile of your most valuable customers to find lookalike audiences.
- Use High-Intent Audience Signals: Beyond customer lists, create custom segments based on users who have searched for specific B2B keywords, visited competitor websites, or use certain industry-related apps.
- Optimize for Deeper Funnel Goals: Don't optimize for simple top-of-funnel actions like website visits. Instead, set your conversion goals to more valuable, down-funnel actions like 'Submit Lead Form,' 'Book Appointment,' or 'Qualified Lead.' Even better, import offline conversions (leads that have been qualified by your sales team) to teach the algorithm what a truly valuable lead looks like.
While some marketers express concern about generating low-quality leads, these issues often stem from poor configuration. By providing high-quality data signals and optimizing for valuable business outcomes rather than just lead volume, you can guide PMax to effectively find and convert your niche B2B audience.
How do we provide the right audience signals to guide the PMax algorithm?
Providing the right audience signals is the most important step for steering a Performance Max campaign toward your ideal customer. Think of signals not as strict targeting, but as strong suggestions that give Google's AI a head start in finding users who are likely to convert.
Your signals should be organized within an asset group and should be as specific as possible, especially for B2B.
Key Types of Audience Signals to Use:
- Your Data (First-Party Data): This is the highest-quality signal you can provide. It involves using data you already own.
- Customer Lists: Upload lists of existing customers (e.g., email addresses or phone numbers) via Customer Match. This helps the AI understand your ideal customer profile and find new, similar users.
- Website Visitors: Create remarketing lists of people who have visited your site, viewed specific pages, or previously converted.
- Custom Segments: These allow you to define your audience based on their online behavior. You can create segments of people who:
- Have specific search activity: Input up to 25 relevant search themes or keywords that your target audience would use on Google.
- Browse certain types of websites: Enter URLs of competitor websites, industry publications, or partner sites that your ideal customer likely visits.
- Use certain types of apps: Specify apps relevant to your audience's profession or interests.
- Google's Audience Segments: You can also layer in Google's pre-built segments, such as In-Market audiences (users actively researching products you offer) and Affinity audiences (users with long-term interests). For B2B, these are often best used in combination with your own data for more precision.
The best practice is to start with your most valuable first-party data. Create distinct asset groups for different audience signals to test what works best, rather than bundling all signals into one. This allows you to guide the algorithm effectively and gain better insights into which customer profiles drive the best results.
What are Google Demand Gen campaigns and where do the ads show up?
Google Demand Gen campaigns are an AI-powered campaign type designed to create interest and drive action with visually rich, engaging ads. They evolved from and have now replaced Google's Discovery campaigns, adding expanded reach and new features. Unlike Search campaigns that capture existing demand, Demand Gen's purpose is to *create* demand by reaching potential customers earlier in their journey, before they've started actively searching for a product or service.
Think of it as Google's answer to social media advertising, focusing on immersive, visual-first experiences within its own ecosystem. The ads are designed to appear in Google's most entertainment-focused and visually engaging placements.
Where Demand Gen Ads Appear:
- YouTube: This is a major focus for Demand Gen. Ads can appear in multiple formats, including YouTube Shorts, in-stream (skippable ads before or during a video), and in-feed (appearing as users scroll through the YouTube home or watch next feeds).
- Discover: Ads are shown in the Google Discover feed, which appears on the homepage of the Google app and the left of the home screen on many Android devices. Users scroll this feed for personalized content related to their interests.
- Gmail: Ads appear in the Promotions and Social tabs of users' inboxes, reaching them as they check for updates and offers.
By combining these high-impact placements, Demand Gen campaigns allow advertisers to connect with up to three billion monthly users as they stream, scroll, and connect online.
Are Demand Gen campaigns a good fit for promoting our lead magnets like ebooks and webinars?
Yes, Demand Gen campaigns are an excellent fit for promoting mid-funnel lead magnets like ebooks, white papers, and webinars. These campaigns are specifically designed to spark interest and engage users who are not yet actively searching for a solution, making them ideal for content-driven lead generation.
The core strength of Demand Gen is its ability to place visually compelling ads in discovery-oriented environments like YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. This is where potential customers are browsing content and are receptive to discovering new brands and resources that align with their interests.
Why Demand Gen Works for Lead Magnets:
- Mid-Funnel Focus: Unlike Performance Max, which often targets lower-funnel, ready-to-buy users, Demand Gen excels in the mid-funnel. It helps you connect with an audience that is interested in a topic but may not be ready for a sales conversation, making an ebook or webinar the perfect next step.
- Visual Storytelling: You can use engaging video and image assets to showcase the value of your content. For example, a short video clip from a webinar or a carousel ad highlighting key takeaways from an ebook can effectively capture attention and drive downloads.
- Advanced Audience Targeting: Demand Gen allows for sophisticated audience targeting. You can leverage lookalike audiences built from your first-party data (like existing customer lists) to find new people with similar profiles. You can also target users based on their interests, online behavior, and interactions with your website, ensuring your lead magnet is shown to the most relevant audience.
- Optimized for Engagement: The campaign type can be optimized for goals like clicks or conversions, making it easy to measure the direct impact of your lead magnet promotion and drive traffic to your landing pages.
By meeting potential leads with valuable content in the platforms they use for discovery and entertainment, you can effectively build your marketing pipeline and nurture prospects toward conversion.
How do we measure the success of a PMax or Demand Gen campaign?
Measuring the success of Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns requires looking beyond simple metrics and focusing on business outcomes, especially in a B2B context. Because both are automated, the key is to ensure they are driving high-quality actions that align with your sales funnel.
Measuring Performance Max (PMax) Success:
For PMax, the primary goal is often lead quality, not just quantity. A high volume of cheap but unqualified leads can drain your budget and frustrate your sales team.
- Key KPIs: Track standard metrics like Cost Per Action (CPA) and Return On Ad Spend (ROAS), but tie them to valuable conversions.
- Conversion Quality: The most crucial measurement is the quality of the leads. This involves setting up conversion goals that represent real business value, such as 'Booked Demo,' 'Qualified Lead,' or 'Converted Lead.'
- Offline Conversion Tracking: The best way to measure B2B success is to import offline conversion data from your CRM. By telling Google which initial leads turned into qualified opportunities or actual customers, you train the algorithm to optimize for lead quality, not just form fills. This provides a true measure of ROI.
Measuring Demand Gen Success:
Demand Gen is focused on creating interest and driving mid-funnel actions. Success is measured by how well it engages your target audience and moves them to the next step.
- Engagement Metrics: Monitor metrics like Click-Through Rate (CTR) and cost-per-click (CPC), as these indicate how well your creative is resonating with the audience. The 'Maximize Clicks' bid strategy is available specifically for driving site traffic.
- Lead Magnet Performance: If you're promoting content like ebooks or webinars, the primary KPI is the number of downloads or registrations at an efficient CPA.
- Assisted Conversions: Look at view-through conversions and click & view assists. Demand Gen often introduces users to your brand, so they may not convert immediately but will play a role in later conversions initiated through other channels. Early tests have shown these campaigns can significantly lift assisted conversions.
For both campaign types, regularly review the insights provided in Google Ads to understand which audiences and creative assets are performing best, allowing you to refine your strategy over time.
We're worried about brand safety. What control do we have over where our PMax and Demand Gen ads appear?
Brand safety is a valid concern with automated campaigns, but Google provides several controls at the account and campaign level to help you manage where your ads appear for both Performance Max and Demand Gen.
Brand Safety Controls for Performance Max:
PMax ads run across all of Google's inventory, so using the available levers is crucial. You can implement several suitability controls:
- Account-Level Settings: PMax respects most account-level safety settings. This includes placement exclusions (a list of specific websites, YouTube channels, or apps where you don't want your ads to show), which is a powerful tool for avoiding undesirable placements.
- Content Exclusions: You can exclude sensitive content categories (e.g., tragedy, conflict, mature themes) to prevent your ads from appearing alongside such content on the Display Network and YouTube.
- Brand Exclusions: To prevent PMax from serving on search queries for specific brands (including your own), you can apply brand exclusions at the campaign level. This helps control brand-related traffic.
- Negative Keywords: Account-level negative keywords are respected for Search and Shopping inventory within PMax, giving you another layer of control over irrelevant queries.
Brand Safety Controls for Demand Gen:
Since Demand Gen runs on Google's owned-and-operated visual platforms (YouTube, Gmail, Discover), the environment is generally more controlled than the broader display network. However, controls are still available:
- Placement Exclusions: Similar to PMax, you can use account-level placement exclusions to block specific YouTube channels or videos.
- Third-Party Verification: Google has partnered with third-party measurement providers like Integral Ad Science (IAS) to offer brand safety and suitability verification for both PMax and Demand Gen campaigns. This allows for independent reporting to verify that your ads are appearing alongside content that aligns with the GARM framework.
By proactively using these tools—especially account-level placement exclusions and content suitability settings—you can significantly mitigate brand safety risks while still benefiting from the reach of automated campaigns.
Can these automated campaigns cause a spike in invalid clicks or low-quality traffic?
Yes, there is a potential for automated campaigns like Performance Max and Demand Gen to generate low-quality traffic or invalid clicks, a concern often raised by advertisers. The risk typically stems from the broad reach and automated placement features inherent in these campaign types.
Performance Max and Traffic Quality:
With PMax, the algorithm's primary objective is to achieve your conversion goal at the lowest possible cost. Without careful guidance, this can sometimes lead it to placements on the Google Display Network or Search Partner Network that produce high volumes of cheap clicks but low-quality leads. Some advertisers report issues with bot traffic or placements on irrelevant websites that drain the budget. The key to mitigating this is to focus the campaign on high-quality conversion actions. By optimizing for qualified leads or using offline conversion data from a CRM, you teach the algorithm to prioritize valuable users over cheap, low-intent clicks.
Demand Gen and Traffic Quality:
Demand Gen campaigns, while more focused on curated platforms like YouTube, Discover, and Gmail, can also attract lower-intent traffic by design, as they target users earlier in the funnel. Some marketers have noted that traffic from Google's search partners, which can be part of the broader network, is a source of spam traffic. However, Demand Gen offers more control over audiences than PMax, which can help refine traffic quality. Additionally, using third-party click fraud protection services can help identify and block invalid traffic across all campaign types.
Ultimately, while the risk exists, it can be managed. Success requires vigilant monitoring of placement reports, a focus on deep-funnel conversion goals, and leveraging all available exclusion controls to filter out irrelevant audiences and placements.
Should PMax and Demand Gen have their own dedicated budget, or do they pull from our search/display budgets?
Yes, both Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns should have their own dedicated budgets. They function as distinct, standalone campaigns within your Google Ads account and do not automatically pull funds from your existing Search or Display campaign budgets.
When you set up a PMax or Demand Gen campaign, you are required to set a specific average daily budget for that campaign, just as you would for any other campaign type. Google's systems will then work to spend that budget to achieve the campaign's specific goals.
Budgeting Strategy:
- Dedicated Budgets are Essential: Each campaign's performance and spending are managed independently. PMax, for instance, can spend its budget across all of Google's channels, so its budget needs to be considered holistically. Trying to have it share a budget with a channel-specific campaign like Search would be technically impossible and strategically unsound.
- Start with a Test Budget: For B2B advertisers, it's often recommended to start PMax with a discretionary or test budget rather than shifting significant funds from well-performing core campaigns. One common recommendation is to allocate a smaller portion of your overall budget, such as 30%, to PMax for expansion while keeping the majority in high-intent Search campaigns.
- Avoid Over-Budgeting Initially: With PMax, it's wise to start with a conservative budget and increase it incrementally. A sudden large budget can cause the algorithm to seek conversions in lower-quality placements, leading to a jump in CPCs and diminished returns.
In summary, treat PMax and Demand Gen as separate investments. You must strategically decide how much of your total advertising spend to allocate to them based on your goals, whether for broad-funnel expansion (PMax) or mid-funnel demand creation (Demand Gen). These budgets are managed separately from, and should be considered in conjunction with, your other ongoing campaigns.
How do we use our existing customer lists to inform PMax campaigns?
Using your existing customer lists is one of the most powerful ways to inform and guide a Performance Max campaign, especially for B2B advertisers with niche audiences. This is done by providing your first-party data as an "audience signal" through a feature called Customer Match.
The process involves uploading your customer data directly into Google Ads. This data can include email addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses. Google then matches this information with its user database in a secure, privacy-safe way.
Steps and Strategy:
- Prepare Your Customer List: Export a list of your customers from your CRM or database. For the best results, use a list of your most valuable customers, as this will provide the strongest signal to the algorithm about the type of user you want to find. The data must be formatted correctly and hashed before being uploaded to Google for privacy protection.
- Upload to Google Ads: In the Audience Manager section of your Google Ads account, create a new customer list and upload your file. Google will then take time to match your data to Google users.
- Apply as an Audience Signal: Once your list is processed, you can add it as an audience signal within your PMax campaign's asset group. Navigate to the 'Signals' section of your asset group, select your newly created customer list, and save it.
Why This is Effective:
- Defines Your Ideal Profile: By providing a list of actual customers, you give the PMax algorithm a precise, data-backed example of who to target. This is far more effective than relying on broader interest-based signals alone.
- Finds Lookalike Audiences: The primary benefit is not just remarketing to these existing customers. PMax uses the characteristics of your customer list to find new users across Google's network who exhibit similar behaviors and profiles—essentially creating a high-quality lookalike audience.
Leveraging your first-party data through Customer Match is a foundational best practice for PMax. It helps you move beyond guessing who your audience is and instead guides the campaign with concrete data, leading to higher-quality traffic and conversions.
Is there a risk of PMax cannibalizing our existing branded search campaigns?
Yes, there is a significant and well-documented risk of Performance Max campaigns cannibalizing traffic from your existing branded Search campaigns. This happens because PMax is designed to serve ads across all of Google's inventory, including Search, and its automated system often prioritizes what it deems the lowest-cost conversion—which can frequently be a click from someone already searching for your brand name.
How Cannibalization Occurs:
Although Google states that an identical exact-match keyword in a Search campaign should be prioritized over PMax, this doesn't always happen in practice, especially with phrase or broad match queries. PMax can get preferential treatment in the ad auction, outbidding your dedicated brand campaign for your own brand terms. This leads to several problems: your PMax campaign takes credit for conversions that would have happened anyway, your cost-per-click on brand terms may rise, and you lose control over the specific ad copy and landing page shown to your most valuable, high-intent audience.
How to Prevent or Mitigate Cannibalization:
- Use Brand Exclusions: The most effective tool is the campaign-level brand exclusion feature in PMax. You can create a list of your brand terms and apply it as an exclusion. This specifically tells PMax not to serve ads on Search and Shopping inventory for those queries. Some updates even allow you to apply these exclusions only to Search inventory, while letting branded Shopping ads continue to run.
- Request Negative Keywords from a Google Rep: In some cases, you can ask your Google Ads representative to manually add your brand terms as negative keywords to your PMax campaign's backend.
- Ensure Search Impression Share is Maxed Out: One way to reduce the likelihood of PMax taking over is to ensure your dedicated branded Search campaign is not limited by budget and is capturing nearly 100% of the available impression share.
Vigilant monitoring of your brand search term reports is essential. If you see PMax generating a high volume of impressions on your brand terms, it is a clear sign of cannibalization, and you should immediately implement exclusion controls.
