What's a best practice to follow when creating a Performance Max campaign?

Analysis of Correct Answer(s)

• Use the maximum number of text, image, and video assets possible
  • Performance Max campaigns leverage Google's AI to dynamically generate ads across a wide array of Google's inventory (Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover, Maps). By providing the maximum number of high-quality assets (headlines, descriptions, images, videos, logos), you give the AI more building blocks and variations to test. This allows the system to:
    • Create a greater diversity of ad formats and combinations.
    • Tailor ads more effectively to different placements and user contexts.
    • Optimize for the best-performing combinations, ultimately maximizing reach and conversion potential.
  • Google explicitly recommends providing as many relevant and high-quality assets as possible for optimal campaign performance.

Analysis of Incorrect Options

• Limit the number of ad extensions within an asset group

  • This is incorrect. Ad extensions (or additional assets like sitelinks, callouts, etc., within the Performance Max context) enhance the ad experience by providing more information, calls to action, and entry points for users. Providing a robust set of relevant extensions is a best practice as it can improve ad visibility, click-through rates, and overall campaign performance. Limiting them would restrict the AI's ability to create richer, more effective ads.

• Avoid linking a Google My Business or Google Merchant Center feed

  • This is incorrect and counter-productive.
    • For businesses with physical locations, linking a Google My Business (GMB) profile is crucial for enabling local goals and showing ads for store visits or local services.
    • For e-commerce businesses, linking a Google Merchant Center (GMC) feed is essential, as it allows Performance Max to serve product listing ads (PLAs) and showcase products across Google's surfaces, which is a core functionality.
  • These integrations significantly expand the campaign's reach and ability to drive specific business outcomes. Avoiding them severely limits the campaign's potential.

• Establish conversion tracking after a campaign has been running for two weeks

  • This is fundamentally incorrect. Conversion tracking is essential and must be set up correctly before launching any performance-driven campaign, especially Performance Max.
    • Performance Max is an AI-driven, goal-based campaign type that relies entirely on conversion data to learn, optimize bids, and allocate budget effectively.
    • Without accurate conversion tracking from day one, the AI has no clear signals to optimize towards, leading to inefficient spending and poor performance. Delaying setup wastes budget and prevents the campaign from ever learning and performing optimally.