Google PMax upgrade allows mass AI creative asset production

Rapidly produce high-quality Performance Max creative assets at scale incorporating brand-specific fonts, colors and imagery.

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Google introduced new AI-powered tools to help advertisers rapidly produce high-quality Performance Max creative assets at scale for campaigns across marketing channels. This was one of several announcements today at Google Marketing Live 2024.

What’s new. Upgrades to the Performance Max platform include:

  • Generative AI capabilities to accelerate creative production speeds by up to 5x.
  • Options for advertisers to incorporate brand fonts, colors and imagery as guardrails.
  • Image editing features to add objects, extend backgrounds and optimize sizing/cropping.
  • For retailers, the ability to automatically showcase product feeds in AI-generated creative.
  • More reporting and control functionality:
    • Placement reporting and exclusions for YouTube videos.
    • Asset level reporting – you will see conversion metrics for each creative asset.
  • Profit optimization goal in Smart Bidding – optimize for profit with your Performance Max campaigns using data from your cart-level conversions and cost of goods sold in Merchant Center

The big picture. As creative asset variety becomes crucial for strong ad performance, Google is leaning on generative AI to help automate and streamline labor-intensive production processes.

PMax Brand Guidelines For Creative 1

What Google is saying: According to Google:

  • “Advertisers who improve their Performance Max Ad strength to Excellent see 6% more conversions on average.”

In practice. Event Tickets Center, an early beta tester, was able to accelerate creative production by 5x using Performance Max’s AI asset generation tools, according to Google tests.

Between the lines. While performance is key, Google recognizes brand consistency matters, too – hence the new branding guardrails and editing capabilities.

Why we care. While Performance Max adoption has increased in the past year, the AI-generated ads have been a common complaint among search marketers. Advertisers will be happy to see this being worked on as well as faster ways to upload creatives and incorporate their branding into the campaigns


About the author

Anu Adegbola
Staff
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.

In 2008, Anu's career started with
 delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
 
Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event - PPC Live and host of weekly podcast PPCChat Roundup.
 
She is also an international speaker with some of the stages she has presented on being SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna) and more.

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