Google Ads Performance Max gets new controls, reporting, creative insights
Google's new Performance Max features include better audience targeting, enhanced asset insights, and smarter acquisition reporting.
Google is rolling out a trio of updates to Performance Max, aimed at giving advertisers more control and optimization power across campaigns. Here’s what’s new.
Sharper targeting tools. Campaign-level negative keyword lists are now live, allowing bulk management across multiple PMax campaigns – good for protecting brand suitability at scale.
- Search theme limits are doubled (increased from 25 to 50 per asset group), giving advertisers more latitude to match intent-rich queries.
- Demographic controls get an upgrade with age exclusions now live and a new beta for gender exclusions rolling out.
- Device targeting is fully available, letting brands zero in on users by hardware.
Smarter acquisition and diagnostics. New customer reporting is more accurate: Google has reduced “Unknown” conversions by improving how it classifies first-time buyers.
- Goal diagnostics will now flag conversion setup issues like broken tags or mismatched goals, helping advertisers troubleshoot performance problems faster.
Creative control & visibility. Advertisers now get asset-level performance data, including clicks, conversions, and spend — across all Performance Max campaigns.
- Assets created via Final URL Expansion are now visible and removable – a long-requested visibility boost.
- Creative recommendations are getting an AI-powered assist, offering image suggestions and edits tailored to boost cross-channel performance, with one-click access to Google’s native image editor.
Why we care. With better audience targeting, clearer reporting on new customer acquisition, and full visibility into creative asset performance, advertisers can make smarter decisions, reduce wasted spend, and optimize campaigns more effectively. This means more efficient budget use and stronger, more measurable results.
Also, as customer acquisition costs continue to rise, the ability to better identify and optimize for new users is a competitive edge.
Bottom line. Google Ads is steadily opening up the Performance Max “black box.” This update pushes visibility, control, and performance a step further.
Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush. We remain committed to providing high-quality coverage of marketing topics. Unless otherwise noted, this page’s content was written by either an employee or a paid contractor of Semrush Inc.
About the Author
