by Austin LeClear
on March 14, 2025
Google Ads Performance Max campaigns have been the ultimate double-edged sword for advertisers since their introduction. The promise? “Set it and forget it” automation across Google’s advertising channels.
The reality? Many marketers found themselves muttering “what exactly is this algorithm doing with my budget?” while watching performance fluctuate. But January 2025 brought a plot twist worth celebrating — Google finally listened to our collective feedback and rolled out updates that put meaningful control back in advertisers’ hands.
This post is here to help you navigate these updates. It’s never been a better time to use Performance Max, so we’ll explore each feature, its pros and cons, and how it can fit into your broader strategy. Prefer video? Check out our video on NEW Performance Max Updates for 2025 here:
Still with us? Good. Let’s jump in.
Change #1: Campaign-Level Negative Keywords
Remember the old days of Performance Max? You’d spot irrelevant search terms draining your budget, only to realize you had two equally painful options: block those terms across your entire account (overkill) or fill out Google’s special request form (and wait… and wait…).
Not anymore.
What’s New?
You can now add up to 100 negative keywords directly to individual Performance Max campaigns. No forms. No waiting. No compromising your entire account structure.
Why Marketers Are Celebrating
This change tackles one of the biggest frustrations with Performance Max campaigns – watching your ads appear for searches like “free templates” when you’re actually selling premium software. With campaign-specific negative keywords, you can surgically remove irrelevant traffic while preserving what works elsewhere in your account. Your ROI will thank you.
My Thoughts
While 100 negative keywords sounds generous, seasoned advertisers know how quickly that limit can feel restrictive. If you’re running complex Performance Max campaigns or operating in highly competitive industries, you might still hit that ceiling.
For that reason, I still recommend using the modification form to add negatives.
Change #2: High-Value Customer Acquisition Mode
Finding new customers is hard enough; finding new profitable customers can be even trickier. By analyzing your existing Customer Match data, Google’s AI claims to recognize patterns indicative of higher lifetime value (LTV). The system then raises or lowers bids to better compete for these “gold-tier” prospects.
What’s New?
Google now allows you to integrate your Customer Match data into Performance Max so it can better identify potential high-value customers. In other words, if your business thrives on customers with a higher average order value or repeat purchasing behavior, Performance Max can target lookalike audiences that resemble your top spenders.
My Thoughts
I have some concerns. Here are just a few potential downsides:
Higher CPCs: When chasing premium audiences, you’ll likely see bid increases. If you’re not careful, your cost-per-click (CPC) can skyrocket, diminishing profit margins.
Unclear Audience Definitions: Google’s AI can struggle to distinguish between a first-time buyer who’s likely to become a loyal customer versus a returning buyer who already knows your brand. Keep tabs on how the Google Ads algorithm is categorizing users.
Requires Solid Data: If your Customer Match list is small or unrefined — that is, it contains inaccurate or stale customer data — this feature may underperform.
I will still test this feature, but I’m skeptical.
Change #3: Brand Exclusions for Product Feed Campaigns
For many advertisers, brand traffic converts well, but it can also distort performance metrics. For example, if people are actively searching for your brand name, they might be on the verge of making a purchase anyway, so it’s not always beneficial to pay for that click. At the same time, you may want brand coverage in Shopping ads because those visuals can dominate the search results.
This new feature lets you carve out a search-only brand exclusion while keeping your product feeds optimized for brand-focused shoppers.
What’s New?
You can now exclude specific brand terms from Search while still keeping those brand terms active for Shopping ads. This is especially useful if you want to avoid brand overlap in your search ads but still reach the right audience and display your products to brand-aware shoppers through Shopping placements.
My Thoughts
This is an interesting feature, but I don’t see myself using it much. When I exclude brand terms from Performance Max, I’m usually trying to handle those brand terms separately in my Standard Shopping and Search campaigns where I can have more control over them.
However, that’s not to say this isn’t useful.
Is It for Everyone?
Ideal Use Cases: Brands that handle brand terms separately in dedicated Search campaigns, or that rely heavily on brand name recognition in their product listings.
Skip if…: You usually exclude all brand traffic from Performance Max campaigns already, or you want total separation of brand and non-brand traffic in all ad types.
Change #4: URL “Contains” Rules for More Targeted Campaigns
Google Ads’ Performance Max was originally conceived as an ever-expanding campaign type, automatically deciding where and when to serve ads. While this could be great for brand exposure, some advertisers found it frustrating that they couldn’t easily restrict traffic to specific sections of their website.
With URL “contains” rules, you gain more fine-grained control, making it easier to keep your campaigns relevant to the products or categories you most want to push.
What’s New?
Performance Max with product feeds can now limit or include certain URL categories. For instance, if your online store offers a wide variety of products — clothing, shoes, accessories — you can specify that your Performance Max campaign focuses only on pages that contain “shoes,” ensuring your budget is used exclusively on footwear.
Basically, this is a way for controlling what pages Google is crawling in Performance Max.
My Thoughts
I tend to use URL exclusions more, so I probably won’t use this. Nevertheless, I’m glad to see this is now an option in Google Ads.
Change #5: Demographic and Device Controls
Advertisers can now exclude age groups and device types in Performance Max (just like they can in Shopping and Search). This is huge.
By letting you exclude underperforming demographics or devices, Google is handing back some control — empowering advertisers to reduce wasted spend and allocate Google Ads budgets more efficiently. If your product caters primarily to, say, ages 25–54, excluding younger and older demographics might tighten your funnel and improve conversion rates.
What’s New?
Advertisers can now exclude specific demographics (like age ranges or household income segments) and certain devices (like tablets) within Performance Max campaigns.
While older Google Ads campaigns offered robust demographic and device-level bid adjustments, Performance Max initially limited these controls, pushing advertisers who use Performance Max to rely more heavily on machine learning.
Key Considerations
Testing Period: Start by excluding only the most obviously irrelevant groups. For instance, if your product is strictly for older adults, excluding the 18–24 range in Google Ads might be a good place to start.
Keep Monitoring: Conversion behavior can shift over time. A device or demographic that performs poorly in Q1 might become more important during the holidays, so don’t set exclusions and forget about them.
Partial vs. Total Exclusion: If you’d rather not completely exclude a segment, you can adjust your bidding approach if and when that option becomes available — though these updates currently focus on outright exclusions rather than partial bid adjustments.
My Thoughts
I’m very happy this is coming to Performance Max. It gives some control back to advertisers when Google Ads accounts have clear bad performance on specific devices and across certain age groups.
Change #6: Enhanced Reporting & Search Insights
What’s New?
Search Insights now shows source Search Categories. This shows you what source Google is using to pull these search categories.
Search Themes include Useful Indicators. This will show whether or not a given Search Theme is helping to improve your ability to reach potential customers via Google Ads.
Search Categories & Themes
Greater Visibility: Google’s new insights for Performance Max show you not just how the platform is distributing your ads, but also which search themes or categories are contributing to your results.
Practical Usage: If you identify a strong search theme — like people frequently searching “best running shoes for marathons” — you might decide to expand your inventory or create specialized landing pages targeting marathon runners.
Caution: More data does not always mean clearer action. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by metrics that don’t necessarily lead to straightforward optimization steps.
Asset Group Reporting Improvements
Granular Device Data: Now you can see how each asset group performs on mobile, desktop, and tablet. This can guide your creative decisions — for example, if your video ads perform exceptionally well on mobile, you might create more short-form content for smartphone users.
Time-Based Trends: Track your top-performing hours or days to see when your ads are most effective. If conversions spike on weekends, you could consider allocating more budget to those days.
My Thoughts
It’s great to see more reporting from Google. I’m not a huge fan of Search Themes on historical accounts (as I’ve seen it cannibalize our Standard Search campaigns), but with this new feature we’ll probably go back to testing more and see what the results show.
Change #7: Asset Group Reporting Improvements
What’s New?
Now, advertisers will benefit from having a more detailed breakdown of Asset Group performance, device-level insights, time-based analysis, and enhanced conversion tracking.
My Thoughts
It’s nice to have some more granular data at the Asset Group level. This should help advertisers make insight-driven decisions faster (and better).
Final Thoughts
These 2025 Performance Max updates signal a shift in how Google is balancing automation with advertiser control. Performance Max has always leveraged Google’s massive reach and machine learning capabilities, but many marketers found it too opaque for their taste. These new tools show that Google wants to address those concerns and encourage broader adoption.
However, even with these enhancements, Performance Max remains an evolving platform. Here’s how to stay on top of it:
Test, Refine, Repeat: New features require learning curves. Implement them gradually and use your account metrics to determine if they’re truly beneficial.
Stay Informed: Keep an eye on official Google Ads announcements, as features like brand exclusions and “contains” rules may receive further updates throughout the year.
Community & Networking: Join industry forums, LinkedIn groups, or specialized communities (like PPC Co-Pilot) where you can swap tips and experiences with peers. Real-world case studies can help you troubleshoot or generate fresh ideas.
No single approach or campaign setup will be universal — your own data, business model, and goals should guide how you use these new features. So, give them a fair shake, track your numbers carefully, and be ready to pivot if a certain update isn’t meeting your needs.
Whether you’re a Google Ads Performance Max skeptic or a superfan, these improvements are worth exploring. With a little testing and fine-tuning, you just might unlock new efficiencies, better-quality leads, and stronger return on ad spend in the months ahead.
Author’s Note: Always review changes within your own Google Ads account before rolling them out broadly. Every business has unique attributes — from seasonal trends to average order value — that can heavily influence outcomes. When in doubt, test on a smaller budget first.
