For a while, Google has been pushing advertisers toward a fully automated system – you input limited information, and Google runs with it. And the Performance Launch Campaigns were a perfect example of this.
You could see conversions, but had little insight into what was or wasn’t working, or why. For a long time, it felt like that was just the direction things were heading. But now? Google has been rolling out updates that pull back the curtain and give advertisers a real look at what’s happening behind the scenes.
In full transparency, when Google Ads first released PMAX campaigns, I was skeptical. It required advertisers to give up a lot of control and, in the beginning, offered very little visibility into what was actually happening. You could see total impressions, clicks, and conversions, but had no idea where they were coming from. When metrics shifted, there was no clear explanation for why. Advertisers were essentially left to blindly trust that Google knows best. That didn’t sit well with a lot of seasoned advertisers, who were vocal about their frustrations.
Luckily, Google listened.
In the past year PMAX campaigns have come a long way when it comes to reporting and advertiser input. Let’s break down what PMAX has to offer, because if you wrote it off when it first launched, you might be surprised by what’s changed.
SEARCH TERM REPORTS
Believe it or not, PMAX campaigns didn’t even have search term reports when they first launched. Crazy, right? Anyone used to running standard search campaigns, where manual search term optimization is part of the routine, was suddenly staring at a black box.
On top of that, PMAX doesn’t use exact or phrase match keywords. Instead PMAX has advertisers inputting broad search categories and left them hoping Google would figure the rest out. And with no search term report to reference, there was no way to verify if it actually did.
To be fair, Google didn’t leave us completely in the dark. They did technically offer “Search Insights,” which organized your search terms into broad “themes” and provided some metrics. But there was no detailed list of the actual terms you were showing up for, just vague categories. Not exactly what performance-driven advertisers needed.
In 2025, Google released Search Term Reports for PMAX campaigns, and to every advertiser’s relief, it works exactly like the one you’d find in any standard search campaign.
The PMAX Search Term Report shows what people actually typed into Google to trigger your ad, along with a full breakdown of metrics: impressions, clicks, conversions, CPC, and more. That data helps advertisers answer questions like:
- Are we targeting the right search term categories?
- Does our messaging and creative align with what people are searching for?
- What’s actually helping us hit our KPIs?
- Do we need to tighten up our asset groups, or should we consolidate them?
Search term reports are great for answering big-picture questions, but they’re also a goldmine for building out negative keyword lists, which brings us to our next update.
PMAX Introduces Negative Keyword Lists
Negative keyword lists give advertisers the ability to tell Google what terms they don’t want to show for. Whether applied at the campaign level or through a shared list, they help guide Google in the right direction without completely taking the wheel.
When PMAX first launched, negative keyword functionality didn’t exist. Advertisers had no way to exclude irrelevant terms at any level. This, rightfully, frustrated a lot of people. Concerns over Google’s arrogance came to the forefront. Advertisers felt Google was unwilling to let advertisers set even basic guardrails.
Don’t get us wrong, sometimes Google really does know best. But advertisers should at least be able to filter out the obviously irrelevant stuff. A commercial painting company, for example, should absolutely be able to exclude terms like “home” and “residential.” That’s not micromanaging; that’s just common sense.
Fortunately, that wish came true. Google now supports negative keywords on PMAX campaigns, and they work exactly the same way they do on standard search campaigns. Which begs the question, why wasn’t this available from the start? But I digress.
We know Google advocates for keeping PMAX targeting as open as possible so the algorithm can optimize with as much data as it can get. That said, we still encourage you to use negative keywords strategically. You know your business. If certain terms simply aren’t relevant, there’s no reason to burn ad spend on them.
CHANNEL PERFORMANCE ON PMAX
In April 2025, Google added Channel Performance to PMAX, and honestly, it might be my favorite update yet.
The Channel Performance Report breaks down how PMAX is utilizing the various channels at its disposal. You can now see where impressions, interactions, and results are coming from, all organized by channel. It also shows how your budget is being allocated, including the percentage of ad spend going to each channel, making it easy to track month-over-month shifts at a glance.
You still can’t tell Google which channels to prioritize, but this report gives you a much clearer picture of what’s happening under the hood. More importantly, when you see a shift in performance, you now have somewhere to look for answers. A few examples we’ve seen with clients:
- Impressions up, CTR down: Google pushed more budget into YouTube or Display that month.
- CPC up, conversions up: Google leaned harder into Search ads.
That kind of context changes everything when you’re trying to explain results or make strategic decisions.
Wrapping Up
These 2025 updates genuinely changed the PMAX game for us. We went from skeptics to believers, and the difference is transparency and control. These new reporting tools and controls, paired with solid conversion tracking, can produce an efficient, well-rounded campaign that actually makes sense to the people running it.
If Google keeps moving in this direction, blending automation with real advertiser input, they’re building something hard to compete with.