# Performance Max Campaign Management

Source: https://dijitulmarketing.co.uk/performance-max/
Updated: 2026-10-18

> dijitul sets up and manages Google Performance Max campaigns for UK businesses: asset groups with full sets of headlines, images and video, audience signals, Merchant Center feeds, brand exclusions and negative keywords. Management starts from £150 a month + VAT, or 10 to 15% of ad spend if higher, with ad spend paid directly to Google.

Price: From £150 a month + VAT

## Problems this solves

- Performance Max eats most of the budget and you can't see what it buys
- Google made you a video from your logo and some stock images
- A large share of conversions turn out to be people searching for your own brand
- Your asset groups have three headlines and one image
- Shopping results fell after Performance Max replaced your old Smart Shopping campaigns
- Conversions are being counted that your CRM never sees

## Key facts

- Performance Max management from £150 a month + VAT, or 10 to 15% of ad spend, whichever is higher
- One campaign serves across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps
- Google's asset specs allow 3 to 15 headlines (30 characters), up to 5 long headlines and up to 5 descriptions (90 characters) per asset group
- Google recommends 1200 x 628 landscape and 1200 x 1200 square images, plus video in 16:9, 1:1 and 9:16 of 10 seconds or more
- If you add no video, Google says it may generate one from your other assets
- Campaign-level negative keywords in Performance Max apply to Search and Shopping inventory, not Display or YouTube
- Conversion tracking with real values is checked before launch

## What Performance Max is

Performance Max is a Google Ads campaign type that uses one budget and one set of assets to show ads across Google's inventory: Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps. You supply the goals, assets, audience signals and, for retailers, a product feed. Google decides where and when to show each combination.

That automation can work well when it has accurate conversion data and good material. It works badly when it is fed page-view conversions, one stock photo and no exclusions. Our job is to give it the right inputs and keep checking what it does with them. Performance Max usually runs alongside Search campaigns as part of wider Google Ads management.

## Asset groups done properly

Each asset group is a bundle of text, images and video tied to a theme and a final URL. Google's Performance Max asset specifications currently allow:

| Asset | Limit | Count |

| Headlines | 30 characters, at least one of 15 or fewer | 3 to 15 |
| Long headlines | 90 characters | 1 to 5 |
| Descriptions | 90 characters | 2 to 5 |
| Business name | 25 characters | 1 |
| Landscape images | 1200 x 628 recommended (1.91:1) | Up to 20 |
| Square images | 1200 x 1200 recommended (1:1) | Up to 20 |
| Portrait images | 960 x 1200 recommended (4:5) | Optional |
| Square logo | 1200 x 1200 recommended | 1 to 5 |
| Video | 10 seconds or more, 16:9, 1:1 or 9:16 | Up to 15 |

Google notes that if you add no video, it may create one automatically from your other assets. We'd rather you approved what represents your brand, so we supply video in all three orientations. If you need new photography or short edits, our sister studio can help, or we work with what you have.

## Controls that now exist

Performance Max used to be close to a black box. Google has added controls since, and we use them:

- **Negative keywords.** Google added campaign-level negatives to Performance Max in 2025. Industry coverage, including JumpFly's summary of the change, reports a limit of 10,000 per campaign. They apply to Search and Shopping inventory only, not to Display or YouTube placements.
- **Search terms reporting.** You can now see the searches that triggered Performance Max ads and act on them in the same way as Search campaigns.
- **Brand exclusions.** Stop the campaign claiming credit for people who were already searching for your name.
- **Channel reporting.** See roughly how spend splits between Search, Shopping, YouTube and Display, even though you still can't set budgets per channel.
- **Final URL expansion and URL exclusions.** Keep traffic away from careers, blog or login pages.

## Feeds, values and goals

For online shops, Performance Max with a Merchant Center feed is the main way to run Shopping ads. Feed quality drives results: titles, product types, GTINs and custom labels all affect how products are grouped and bid. We often split listing groups by margin or bestseller status so the campaign doesn't spend evenly on products that earn very different amounts.

For lead generation, the risk is the opposite: Performance Max is good at finding cheap form fills that never become customers. We use only meaningful conversions as goals, pass values where we can, and use conversion tracking with enhanced conversions so the campaign learns from real leads.

## What we review each month

Performance Max needs steady attention rather than constant tinkering. Each month we read the search term and channel reports, check which assets Google rates as low performing and replace them, look for new brand or irrelevant queries to exclude, and compare the conversions it reports against GA4 and your own sales or lead records. Big changes to budgets or targets are made in steps, because large swings send the campaign back into a learning period and make results harder to judge.

## Price

Performance Max management is part of Google Ads management: from **£150 a month + VAT**, or 10 to 15% of ad spend, whichever is higher. Ad spend goes directly to Google. Monthly, cancel with notice. If Performance Max already runs in your account and you're not sure it is helping, start with a Google Ads audit.

## What you get

- Conversion goals and values checked before the campaign learns from them
- Asset groups split by product line, service or audience
- Full asset sets: headlines, long headlines, descriptions, images, logos and video in three orientations
- Audience signals built from your customer lists, site visitors and search themes
- Brand exclusions, negative keywords and URL exclusions where needed
- Channel, asset and search term reporting reviewed monthly

## FAQs

### Is Performance Max worth it for small businesses?

It can be, if conversion tracking is accurate and there is enough budget for the campaign to learn. With small budgets and thin data, a well-built Search campaign is often the safer start. We'll tell you which suits your account.

### Can I add negative keywords to Performance Max?

Yes. Google added campaign-level negative keywords to Performance Max in 2025. They block matching searches on Search and Shopping inventory, but they don't affect Display or YouTube placements, so we also use brand exclusions and URL exclusions.

### Why does Performance Max report so many brand conversions?

Without brand exclusions, Performance Max can serve ads to people already searching for your business name, who would probably have clicked your free listing anyway. We add brand exclusions and run brand separately so results reflect new demand.

### What images and videos does Performance Max need?

Google recommends 1200 x 628 landscape and 1200 x 1200 square images, a square logo and videos of 10 seconds or more in 16:9, 1:1 and 9:16. Without your own video, Google may generate one from your images.

### Does Performance Max replace Search campaigns?

Not usually. Google gives a Search campaign priority when a search exactly matches one of its keywords, and Search gives clearer control over wording and landing pages. Most accounts we run use both, with distinct roles and separate budgets.

### How much does Performance Max management cost?

dijitul manages Performance Max from £150 a month + VAT, or 10 to 15% of ad spend if that is higher. Ad spend is paid directly to Google. Creative production, if needed, is quoted separately.

## Prices and contact

Prices (all from, + VAT; ad spend separate): Google Ads management £150 a month; Paid social (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok) £150 a month; Social media management £125 a month; Email marketing £95 a month; Marketing automation set-up £195; SMS marketing £75 a month; GA4 set-up £95; Conversion tracking £145; Data Studio (Looker Studio) dashboard £145; Conversion rate optimisation £195 a month; Content marketing £195 a month; Consultancy, audits and strategy £45 an hour. All prices are "from" and exclude VAT. Ad spend is separate and paid directly to Google, Microsoft, Meta, LinkedIn or TikTok. Paid media management is from £150 a month or 10 to 15% of ad spend, whichever is higher. You own every ad account, pixel, audience and email list we set up. Contact: https://dijitulmarketing.co.uk/contact/ · 01623 650333 · info@dijitul.uk