Tips for Navigating Performance Max Challenges

Google's Performance Max campaign is deliberately designed to HIDE where your ad budget goes. They don't want you to know. And most advertisers never figure it out. I've spent years working with these campaigns. I've looked under the hood. I've tested what works and what doesn't. After auditing over 1,000 Google Ads accounts, I see the same mistakes everywhere. Most advertisers make PMax way too complicated. They create too many campaigns. They spread budgets too thin. Google loves this approach. But it's killing your results. Here's why: Machine learning needs data to work properly. Most PMax campaigns need at least 50 conversions per month. If you split your budget across 10+ campaigns, none get enough data. The algorithm starves. Your performance suffers. I've fixed this for clients with one simple change. For one client, we consolidated from 20 campaigns to just 2. Revenue increased by $290,000 over 120 days. ROAS doubled. Just from proper campaign structure. There are other hidden problems too. Take location targeting settings. Google hides this during setup. They default to "presence or interest" instead of "presence only." This means you pay for clicks from people not even in your target location. I've found accounts wasting thousands on international clicks they could never convert. The bidding process is another trap. Google pushes for aggressive targets right away. This is backward. Start with no target at all. Collect 30-50 conversions first. Then gradually increase your target in small steps. Big changes cause campaigns to "suffocate." Google never mentions this. Performance Max can actually work incredibly well. But only when you know how to control it. We've generated over $50 million in revenue using these strategies. The key isn't following Google's playbook. It's understanding what they're hiding from you. Comment "PMAX" below and I'll send you my Performance Max campaign structure template. PS: Make sure to send me a connection request — it'll take longer to send the template otherwise. #googleads #PPC #SEA #SEM #performancemax #ecommerce #PMAX

Performance Max sucks… unless you know exactly how to pair it with Standard Shopping. Here’s the truth: If you’re running Performance Max alone, you’ve probably noticed: • Lack of control over search terms • Poor visibility into which keywords actually convert • Money burning on irrelevant searches But here’s the fix I’ve found works every single time: ✅ Step 1: Run a Standard Shopping campaign aggressively—low tROAS (40-60%)…to grab the top positions for proven, high-converting search terms. How to control the search terms? ✅ Step 2: Aggressively exclude everything else. I recently excluded 38,457 irrelevant search terms from an account in ONE day. (Yes, seriously. My negative keyword script runs hourly.) Why aggressive AND focused? Google loves spending your money…often more than you do. Keeping your targeting ultra-tight ensures every click counts. ✅ Step 3 (Extra points): Create a low-priority catch-all Standard Shopping campaign with a slightly higher tROAS—like retargeting, but for shopping. This creates a three-layer funnel: • Layer 1: Aggressive, focused Standard Shopping (low tROAS) • Layer 2: Catch-all Standard Shopping (moderate tROAS) • Layer 3: Performance Max (feed-only, targeted retargeting) This setup crushes results because you’re controlling exactly what Google shows, rather than hoping Google does the right thing. Have you tried a similar setup? What strategies have you found successful? Drop your experience below! Let’s get better together.