What is Performance Max, and should a Shopify store use it?
Performance Max is a type of Google Ads campaign that shows your ads across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps. Google's automation decides where each ad runs. It's worth testing for most Shopify stores with a clean product feed and accurate sales tracking.
Google replaced Smart Shopping campaigns with Performance Max in 2022, so for many stores it's now the main way to run Shopping ads. Since then, Google has added settings and reports store owners asked for. Examples include campaign-level negative keywords, a search terms report and results for each image, headline and video.
One thing hasn't changed. Performance Max chases whatever you tell it to count. If your tracking counts every order the same, it will happily spend on returning customers who would have bought anyway, then report great results. The setup below points it at profitable new sales instead.
What needs to be in place before you launch?
Before you launch Performance Max, you need three things. Get a clean product feed into Google Merchant Center and track each sale at the amount the customer paid. Then set a budget big enough for the campaign to learn.
The feed. Connect Shopify to Merchant Center through Google's Shopify app or a feed tool, then fix what it flags. Use clear titles with the words people search for, correct prices and stock, good images and the right product categories. The feed has more effect on Shopping results than any other setting.
Sales tracking. Track each purchase with its order value. Turn on enhanced conversions, which help Google match more orders when cookies are blocked. Make sure each purchase is counted once. Double counting is common when a store has both a Shopify app and a hand-added tag.
Budget. The campaign needs enough sales to learn from. A budget that brings in only a handful of orders a month gives it very little to work with.
How should you tell Performance Max what a good sale is?
Tell Performance Max what a good sale is by sending the value of each order. If new customers matter most, turn on the new customer goal, and lower the value of orders that tend to come back. The campaign chases whatever values you send it.
If your products have very different margins, think about sending profit instead of revenue. Another option is to put low-margin products in their own campaign with a lower target. Otherwise the campaign may push your cheapest, lowest-margin products because they sell easily.
The new customer goal lets you bid more for new customers, or bid only for them. Google now estimates whether customers it can't identify are new or returning, so this report is more complete (Google Ads Help). Upload your Shopify customer list so Google knows who already bought.
Returns are the other half. An order that comes back isn't really a sale. Our guide on measuring ad results when customers return products shows how to account for them.
Which Performance Max settings matter most in 2026?
The Performance Max settings that matter most are negative keywords, brand exclusions, search themes, audience signals, and device and age targeting. Used well, they stop the campaign from spending on searches and people you don't want.
Negative keywords. You can now add negative keywords at the campaign level, including shared lists, and they apply to Search and Shopping ads (Google Ads Help). Use them to block unrelated searches you spot in the search terms report.
Brand exclusions. If people already search for your brand name, Performance Max may claim those sales. A brand exclusion stops it from bidding on your own name. You can then run a separate brand campaign and see what Performance Max adds on its own.
Search themes. These tell the campaign which searches you care about. Google raised the limit from 25 to 50 per asset group.
Audience signals. Your customer lists, site visitors and interests give the campaign a starting point. Google treats them as hints and may show ads to other people too.
Device and age targeting. Both are now fully available in Performance Max. They help if your buyers lean toward one device or age range.
How should you structure campaigns and asset groups?
Keep the structure simple. Split campaigns only when products need different targets or budgets, like best sellers versus the rest. Too many small campaigns leave each one without enough data to learn.
Inside a campaign, use asset groups to match your ads to product themes. An asset group is a set of images, headlines and videos for one group of products. A fashion brand might have one per category. Upload the full set of assets allowed, including your own short videos. If you don't, Google may build a video from your images, and it rarely looks like your brand.
Use ads that look like a customer made them. Photos of customers using the product, customer videos and simple demos usually beat polished studio shots. See our work for fashion brands for more on ad creative.
How do you read Performance Max results?
Read Performance Max results in three places inside Google Ads, then check them against Shopify. Use the search terms report, the results for each asset and the channel report. Google Ads shows what the campaign claims, and Shopify shows what actually sold.
The search terms report now covers every Performance Max campaign. Asset reports show sales, cost and clicks for each image, headline and video. Google also added a channel report that shows how results split across Search, YouTube, Display, Gmail and its other networks (Google Ads Help).
The most honest check uses Shopify's numbers. Compare total revenue with total ad spend across every platform. Then change the Performance Max budget and watch total revenue. If it doesn't move, the campaign is probably taking credit for sales you'd have made anyway. Our ad tracking and reporting service builds this view.
Should Performance Max be your only Google campaign?
Performance Max usually shouldn't be your only Google campaign. Most stores do better running it next to a brand search campaign, and often a standard Shopping or Search campaign for top products. That gives you control where you need it and shows what Performance Max adds.
Google Ads also works best as one part of a bigger plan. Meta ads reach people who weren't searching yet. Email and SMS turn first orders into repeat customers. A store that relies on one campaign type on one platform gets hurt when that platform changes. See our paid ads service for how we fit the pieces together.
Written by the Push Analytics team.