The RIGHT Way to Optimise Your Performance Max Campaigns in 2026
Jan 21, 2026Performance Max has matured significantly over the past 12–18 months.
Throughout 2025, Google rolled out some of the most important reporting and optimisation updates we’ve seen since PMAX was first introduced, including:
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Channel-level reporting
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Asset-level performance reporting
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Search term visibility and negative keyword controls
Naturally, this has led to one big question from advertisers:
How much should you really be optimising a Performance Max campaign?
Because just because you can optimise something… doesn’t always mean that you should.
Why Most Advertisers Still Misunderstand Performance Max
Before we talk optimisation, you need to remember why Performance Max exists in the first place.
From day one, PMAX was designed to do one thing exceptionally well:
Find more conversions across all of Google’s inventory.
A single campaign that can serve ads across:
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Search
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YouTube
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Display
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Discover
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Gmail
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Maps
Performance Max is not meant to give you perfect control over every search term, placement, or auction.
If your goal is:
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100% control over search queries
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Tight manual placement management
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Channel-by-channel bidding logic
Then Performance Max is not the right campaign type for you.
And that’s okay — but you need to be honest about what you’re trying to achieve.
πPerformance Max for Lead Gen Businesses [Do this First]
The Most Important PMAX Optimisation (Still)
Even with all the new reporting features, the single most important optimisation lever in Performance Max remains unchanged:
π Your tCPA or tROAS
Your bid strategy tells Google what success looks like.
You can tweak assets, review search terms, analyse channel splits — but if your target is wrong, everything else is just noise.
That doesn’t mean other optimisations don’t matter.
But even in 2026, I still see advertisers make one critical mistake:
Over-optimising PMAX like it’s a Search campaign.
Why I Still Don’t Go Heavy on Negatives in PMAX
Yes — we now have better access to search term data. Yes — we can add negative keywords.
But that doesn’t mean you should aggressively sculpt Performance Max.
Here’s why:
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PMAX needs freedom to explore new demand
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Over-restricting queries limits learning
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You often cut off profitable expansion paths before they mature
Remember:
Performance Max is supposed to go beyond what you already know works.
If you choke it with negatives too early, you turn it into a worse version of Search.
The STAB Method: How I Actually Optimise Performance Max
When it comes to PMAX, I still rely on the STAB framework.
This keeps optimisations intentional, controlled, and aligned with how PMAX actually learns.
S — Structure
Start with structure.
Ask:
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Is the product or service grouping logical?
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Are we combining things that behave very differently?
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Should this be broken out into its own campaign?
Example:
A monogram or personalised product line will often behave very differently to standard products.
Different conversion rates. Different lead times. Different intent.
If it matters to performance, it deserves its own structure.
T — Terms
Yes, you should review search terms.
But with restraint.
Use negatives when:
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The query is clearly irrelevant
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It introduces compliance or policy risk
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It consistently produces poor-quality conversions
Example:
Medical licensing terms triggering ads for non-medical businesses.
That’s not optimisation — that’s protection.
A — Ads (Assets)
Assets are still one of the most under-optimised parts of PMAX.
Most advertisers:
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Upload assets once
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Never refresh them
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Never test messaging angles
Instead, you should:
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Test new creative themes regularly
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Rotate offers, proof points, and objections
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Align assets to landing pages and intent
Example:
For brands like Pynk, asset testing around different value propositions produced meaningful performance swings — without touching bids at all.
B — Budget & Behaviour
This is where most people break PMAX.
Too many changes. Too often.
PMAX needs time to stabilise.
Before making changes, ask:
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Has the campaign fully exited learning?
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Have we given changes enough time to settle?
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Are we reacting to data — or emotions?
There’s a big difference between:
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A campaign that isn’t ready to scale
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A campaign that just needs more time
A full breakdown on this will be covered in an upcoming video.
The Google Ads Success Loop (And Where PMAX Fits)
Performance Max works best when it’s part of a bigger system:
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Clean conversion tracking
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Clear success targets
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Strong creative inputs
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Enough data volume
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Controlled optimisation cadence
PMAX doesn’t fix broken foundations.
It amplifies whatever you feed it.
Final Thought: Just Because You Can…
The biggest mistake I see with Performance Max in 2026 is over-control.
Yes, we have more data. Yes, we have more levers.
But optimisation isn’t about pulling every lever.
It’s about pulling the right ones — at the right time.