Google’s Performance Max: Maximising revenue, but for who?

Google Ads introduced Performance Max (PMax) campaigns in 2021, and they’ve recently gained traction in hospitality with the addition of PMax for Travel. While these campaigns promise to simplify ad management by tapping into all of Google's inventory, there’s a catch. PMax allocates your budget across various channels, including the often-overlooked Google Display Network (GDN), YouTube, and less relevant searches. The campaigns work based on key goals that you set and this allows you access to all of Google’s inventory without necessarily having the time or expertise to set this up. All upside, right?

So Google follows the customer journey and opens up all channels in the buying cycle to drive more revenue or leads. However, whilst you will see revenue and leads from these campaigns, what Google isn’t being honest about is the additional spend that goes on channels like the Google Display Network (GDN), YouTube and less relevant search terms. And herein lies the problem; the dark side of Google Ads - the GDN.

There are three main culprits here; Google partner websites (meaning you don’t get to know where your ads were shown), low quality websites that have been created for ad clicks and irrelevant high traffic gaming/children’s channels on YouTube.  

The low-quality websites are filled with banner ads that attract clicks by fat fingers and younger users to make them and Google money, and ultimately serve no other purpose. Even reputable sites, including the big media outlets, are littered with ads. I’m sure you have clicked on one of these yourself in the past whilst attempting to read an article or browse their content. Amazingly, Google has found a way to get rid of these low quality websites so they don’t appear organically, but it does have lots of them in the GDN. I’ll let you decide on the morality of that one.

To explain PMax, I like to think of that scene in The Big Short where Ryan Gosling explains how to turn debt into money—Google bundles low-quality ads with high-performing ones, making it look like you're getting a great deal. But are you really?

In summary, Google’s PMax campaigns mix the good with the bad, and it’s up to you whether to trust Google with your budget or hire an expert to manage these campaigns effectively. The choice is yours, but don't let Google decide for you.