Channel performance and more reporting coming to Performance Max

Performance Max gives you the full power of Google’s channels and AI, all in one campaign to maximize your results. And now, it’s used by over one million advertisers! ¹ We’re dedicated to constantly improving it so that you can achieve your business goals across all of Google — including Search, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, Display Network, Search partners and Maps. In 2024, for example, we launched more than 90 quality improvements in Performance Max that increased conversions and conversion value by more than 10% for advertisers. ² These are automatically delivering stronger performance without any work needed on your part! At the same time, we’re also building new features that give you more visibility and ways to optimize your campaign.

Today, we’re excited to introduce new channel-level reporting in Performance Max — a top-requested feature. We’re also adding full search terms reporting and more detailed asset reporting that shows you all the metrics for individual assets.

The open beta for channel performance reporting will start in a few weeks. Tune in to Google Marketing Live on May 21 to get more details on how to join! Let’s dive in.

Understand your channel-level performance

Channel performance reporting helps you understand how your Performance Max campaign is delivering results across Google’s full range of channels and inventory. On the new “Channel performance” page, you’ll find a campaign-level performance summary along with a new data visualization that makes it easier to dive into which channels you’re engaging customers on and how they’re contributing to your conversion goals.

Drill into specific channels to understand how they play a part in driving performance and to find potential areas of improvement. For example, a home and garden retailer might see that they’re performing well on YouTube and decide to invest in additional video assets to drive even more conversions. We’ll also surface other helpful reports on the Channel performance page. For instance, to further explore Display and YouTube results, you’ll find a link to placement reports.

You’ll also get key format level breakdowns across channels — especially when it comes to video and ads with product feeds. If you’re a retailer, ads using product data can include Shopping ads for Search, dynamic remarketing ads for Display, and video ads that showcase your products on YouTube. And how might advertisers take action on these insights? Going back to the home and garden business, they might find that their ads with product data aren’t showing up as much month-over-month, and decide to focus on improving the imagery in their product feed.

Find in-depth data in your channel distribution table

Further down the page, the channel distribution table delivers a more granular view of your Performance Max results, including clicks, conversions, cost and more. And we know it’s important to be able to share and access reporting outside of the Google Ads UI, so we’ve made this table data downloadable.

Get helpful tips for improving channel performance

To find more ways to improve your performance, you’ll find diagnostics that surface potential issues on specific channels so you know where to prioritize your efforts. For example, the home and garden business might find that they’re not serving on Maps due to missing store locations, or that they’re limited on Search because their landing pages aren’t as relevant to consumer search queries as they could be. As a result, they could activate the final URL expansion feature and use Google AI to choose landing pages that are a better match for user intent.

It's key to balance looking at your overall Performance Max results with digging into specific channel performance. Performance Max focuses on your main conversion goals, constantly looking across all channels to find the most valuable conversions that maximize your total campaign return in real time.

People aren’t tied to a single channel as they search, shop, scroll and stream. And the “best” channel for a customer in one context may not be the best channel in another context. Learn more about marginal ROI optimization and why looking at the average return from one channel — especially over short timeframes — doesn't tell the full story.

Refine your Search performance with full search terms reporting

Search terms reporting is rolling out now, on top of existing search terms insights. This means you’ll get the same granularity of Search reporting you do for Search and Standard Shopping campaigns, right in Performance Max.

Use this information to create new text assets geared towards your highest-performing search terms. Or if you discover any search terms that aren’t a good fit for your business, apply campaign-level negative keywords or brand exclusions as needed, while keeping an eye on your performance to make sure you’re not limiting your reach.

Get richer asset metrics to maximize your Ad Strength

Today, asset-level reporting shows you which assets are driving the most conversions for your business. We’re now adding impressions, clicks and cost so you can see a wider range of metrics, and expanding this reporting beyond Performance Max to Search and Display campaigns. Use this data to understand which asset types and themes drive the most impact so you can prioritize what to build next and maximize your variety and Ad Strength.

Thanks to your feedback, we’ve continued to improve Performance Max so that you get the visibility you need to understand and continue to drive better results. Don’t miss out on more Google Ads innovations! Register and watch Google Marketing Live on May 21 to get more news and updates.