In the exploration of Google Search in 2023, our focus centres on the Performance Max (PMax) campaign type. Through the utilization of our proprietary testing database, Hippocampus, we examine the broader impact experienced by 18 Brainlabs clients across diverse sectors, aiming to assess PMax’s performance and significance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The results reveal the strengths of PMax, demonstrating its ability to achieve superior CPA and ROAS outcomes compared to similar Google Ads campaigns. We also delve into the crucial inputs that contribute to success within the PMax environment, namely data, creative assets, and feeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We also provide valuable insights and recommendations for effectively harnessing PMax’s potential and navigating the ever-evolving landscape it presents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Jan 2023<\/p>\n
Andy Goodwin,
Head of Paid Search UK
at Brainlabs<\/p>\n\n
We\u2019re on the cusp of a very exciting time in the search landscape \u2013 and for once, we\u2019re not referring to automation, privacy or first-party data \u2013 but rather to an overarching facelift to Google Search as we know it.<\/p>\n
For decades now, Google Search has relied on its familiar model of \u201cads at the top, and ten blue links\u201d. Whilst SERP features have evolved over time with additions such as creator video content & infinite scroll, the overall way we interact with search has remained largely unchanged.<\/p>\n
One glance at the announcements coming out of Search On 2022 will tell you we\u2019re not far away from Google heading in a very different direction with their user-facing products, with the aim of making search more natural and intuitive.<\/p>\n
Visual experiences were the predominant theme of Search On, and there are plenty of plans to bring that to life in the outputs we see – whether it\u2019s using Maps to reconstruct a 3D visualisation of an area, or creating 360\u00b0 spins of product results.<\/p>\n
But the outputs are only part of the picture, and arguably more interesting are the advances in Google\u2019s ability to process visual inputs<\/strong>, particularly when it comes to Multisearch. Combining text, image & voice inputs will allow users to search more intuitively, as well as to process queries that would be difficult to distill into a standalone text string in the search bar.<\/p>\n Many use cases were presented, and some of our stand-out favourites were:<\/p>\n Images courtesy of Google<\/p>\n\n Whilst we\u2019re yet to see exactly how these changes play out, it doesn\u2019t feel too bold a prediction to claim that Performance Max will be absolutely central as the buying-engine for brands to tap into these new user experiences.<\/p>\n Performance Max \u2013 often referred to as PMax \u2013 came onto the scene as a beta product at the tail-end of 2020, and has been rapidly picking up momentum ever since. Both its benefits & its shortcomings have been hotly debated over the last 2 years.<\/p>\n At the heart of its proposition, PMax strives to single-mindedly hit an advertiser\u2019s performance objective, without constraining itself to any one media placement in Google\u2019s ecosystem. However, this media-agnostic approach, along with the associated lack of visibility into what is actually driving campaign performance, has been a major talking point for the industry as it gets used to this new ad product.<\/p>\n Image courtesy of Google<\/p>\n\n To weigh in on the debate, we tasked ourselves with assessing whether PMax was actually delivering on the performance it promised.<\/p>\n As we\u2019re often prone to do, we turned to our proprietary testing database, Hippocampus. Named after the memory centre of the brain, we use Hippocampus to assess the macro impact witnessed by our clients across a wide range of digital media tactics.<\/p>\n We aggregated test results from 18 Brainlabs clients in a range of sectors, and identified two topline findings:<\/p>\n Median uplift metrics: Data relates to the % of convs\/revenue achieved by PMax vs. similar campaigns in Google Ads, and the % difference in CPA\/ROAS vs. similar campaigns. Revenue & ROAS metrics are measured across the subset of clients that tested PMax & who also record conversion value within Google Ads.<\/p>\n \u201cGoogle\u2019s PMax proposition is centred around delivering results\u2026 and it\u2019s fair to say that PMax achieves this pretty comprehensively\u201d<\/p>\n Andy Goodwin, UK Head of Paid Search<\/p>\n <\/blockquote>\n\n As well as figuring out if it could do what it said on the tin, a secondary aim of our testing was to identify exactly how brands could differentiate themselves in a World of PMax. With the nuts and bolts of media optimisation accounted for, what can agencies & advertisers do to drive further success through PMax?<\/p>\n We identified three main inputs that represent a substantial amount of the value that marketers can add to PMax campaigns. They represent quite a shift away from the more familiar skill-sets of Google Ads practitioners, so it\u2019s important to start thinking today about how you can bring this to life for your brand.<\/p>\n 1 Data 2 Creative 3 Feeds<\/p>\n\n In this context, we\u2019re referring to the data that we feed into Google to direct its optimisations. PMax offers less control over other aspects of your campaign, so there\u2019s now greater emphasis on defining your objectives.<\/p>\n In practice, this is achieved through first-party data integrations, paired with value-based bidding. It\u2019s no coincidence that on average we saw PMax deliver +2% better efficiencies when paired with value-based bidding.<\/strong><\/p>\n In our eyes, thinking more strategically about the challenges our media is solving can only be a good thing. It encourages us to get closer to customers, and to really contemplate what drives value for the business.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve seen that PMax will achieve what you ask it to, but have you told it to do the right thing?<\/p>\n Margin Client Database Brainlabs Offline Upload Tool Brainlabs Audience Sync Tool<\/p>\n High value customers When it comes to creative, the number one rule is don\u2019t use the auto-generated assets<\/strong>. Whilst anyone who\u2019s played around in a PMax campaign for 5 minutes could probably tell you this already, it\u2019s interesting to note that Google themselves make point of stressing this; they acknowledge that whilst auto-generated creative is getting better, it does not compete with advertiser assets. If you\u2019re going to test PMax, make the effort of building all the assets.<\/p>\n More generally, learning to optimise image & video creative for performance purposes will be a new challenge for a lot of specialists who\u2019re most familiar with the trusted text ad format. Whilst creative insights in PMax aren\u2019t hugely forthcoming right now (more on that later), we\u2019re keeping our fingers crossed for greater creative testing capabilities being introduced into the PMax roadmap.<\/p>\n A B<\/p>\n\n For eCommerce brands, feeds represent the 3rd key pillar for success. Shopping placements are crucial for many retailers, and the pivotal role feeds play in those auctions mean they\u2019re an essential lever to test & optimise.<\/p>\n For non-retailers, feeds aren\u2019t to be ignored either – they may not play much of a role today, but indications from Google suggest that feeds will come into use more broadly to help connect PMax with the more visually rich SERP experiences that are being developed. This will touch much more than just the retail vertical<\/strong>, so it\u2019s worth keeping an eye on any developments in this space.<\/p>\n Exactly how this will looks for each sector remains to be seen – but it doesn\u2019t take too much imagination to envisage, for example, how feeds would be incorporated to help promote the inventory of travel brands.<\/p>\n Feeds Determine:<\/p>\n Bonus insight<\/p>\n And finally, whilst it didn\u2019t make it into our top 3, it\u2019s worth also giving some thought to the structure of the agency doing the media buying<\/strong>. It doesn\u2019t sound like the most exciting topic, but it is important: the objective-focussed approach of PMax is at odds with the more traditional, channel-siloed agency models. Internal challenges such as \u201cwhich department should run this campaign\u201d can throw up blockers to effective activation on PMax.<\/p>\n Agencies with a less siloed structure have greater freedom when it comes to budget allocation, and so don\u2019t face these same difficulties. For a number of years now we\u2019ve designed our biddable teams around Client Partners, who are tasked with taking a client brief and translating it into a multi-channel plan, by tapping into the various channel specialists within their immediate team.<\/p>\n Client Partner Client Brief<\/p>\n\n No article on PMax would be complete without acknowledging its limitations, and this one is no different. There are elephants in the room, and they need to be addressed.<\/p>\n We know that Google themselves would want feedback to improve on what is already an incredibly valuable product in the industry. It’s our belief that the vast majority of industry concerns stem from one of two places \u2013 and so, to make PMax work even harder for our clients, we’d hope to see Google’s product roadmap focus on two key areas..<\/p>\n\n Firstly, we can all agree that any performance media product should be all about growing the business in the short-term. This necessitates a focus on incremental conversions & revenue.<\/p>\n Whilst PMax places more emphasis on defining objectives, it feels like a bit of a miss that you can\u2019t actually set a PMax campaign to the \u201ccorrect\u201d objective – ie one of incremental outcomes. This isn\u2019t such an issue when media channels are kept in silo, because we can isolate the incremental contribution of each channel through tests, and subsequently refine our spend allocation.<\/p>\n However, when you can\u2019t optimise for incremental outcomes, and<\/strong> everything is housed together under one roof, this leads to some of the very valid concerns that have cropped up – for instance, around the identical treatment of branded & generic queries.<\/p>\n And whilst Google are correct in pointing out that the DDA model used in PMax is weighted towards incrementality, that can only ever mean incrementality within Google\u2019s ecosystem<\/strong> – which doesn\u2019t capture the whole picture.<\/p>\n\n Google engineers look away now, you\u2019ve heard this one before – but item #2 on our wishlist is to have greater access to raw data breakdowns within PMax.<\/p>\n When raised in Google forums previously, there’s been a tendency to deflect towards the Insights page. The conversation tends to go something like this:<\/p>\n On the face of it, we\u2019re not putting forward a very compelling case. But the point that\u2019s being missed is that, when it comes to answering marketers\u2019 most pressing, strategic challenges, it isn\u2019t possible to pre-empt the questions we\u2019ll have<\/strong>. The process of building a marketing strategy throws up questions that are bespoke to each individual brand. Google Ads\u2019 raw data has historically been a fantastic source to answer some of these questions – but we\u2019re doubtful this can ever be done through a \u201cgeneric\u201d suite of insights.<\/p>\n On the other hand, it\u2019s not hard to see why Google are going down this route. Quite frankly, many practitioners haven\u2019t kept pace with the changes in machine learning over the last few years, leading them to misinterpret data and make suboptimal decisions in their campaigns – understandably something that Google want to avoid. Our view is that whilst these more directional insights might provide a helping hand for the less skilled practitioners, they actually curtail the potential of those who are most fluent in automation & machine learning.<\/p>\n\n To wrap up<\/p>\n Just over 2 years on since its beta launch, and Performance Max is already driving undeniably impressive results. For performance marketers, it\u2019s become a topic can\u2019t be ignored; results have to be our number 1 criteria for success.<\/p>\n If anything, the evolution of Google\u2019s user-facing products will only lead to PMax becoming a more integral part of their Ads offering. We believe there\u2019s still huge headroom for PMax to get better – and we\u2019ll continue to agitate for the changes that we want to see. Whilst we can\u2019t disclose the specifics in this report, the good news is that we are now starting to see some more exciting, additive features materialise in the PMax product roadmap.<\/p>\n For now, start to think about the capabilities you can build into your team to make the most of this format, across data, creative, feeds – and potentially even your media agency. It\u2019s never too early to start testing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
What does this mean for advertisers?<\/h2>\n
So, is Performance Max any good?<\/h2>\n
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\n 18%<\/strong> Conv.
\n -12%<\/strong> CPA +16%<\/strong> ROAS
\n 30%<\/strong> Rev.<\/p>\n \n
How do brands win at PMax?<\/h2>\n
Data<\/h3>\n
\n First-time buyer Returns
\n Account creation<\/p>\n
\n Repeat purchasers
\n Margin based bidding
\n Segmented audience messaging<\/p>\n\n Creative<\/h3>\n
Feeds<\/h3>\n
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Agency model<\/h4>\n
Our wishlist for PMax<\/h2>\n
1. Incrementality<\/h3>\n
2. Reporting<\/h3>\n
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Final takeaways<\/h2>\n