Performance max setup checklist

Use this before you build a Performance Max campaign for an online store, and again when an existing one has drifted. Performance Max decides a great deal on your behalf, so the work moves to the inputs: the conversion goal, the product data, the asset groups and their listing filters, the exclusions, and a reporting layer that shows which products actually absorbed the budget.

Before you open the campaign builder

Write down the product set, countries and goal the campaign is allowed to buy.Why: The campaign spends across several inventories at once, so its scope has to be a decision rather than a default.How: Put the product set, the target countries and the single conversion goal on one line, and build the campaign to match that line exactly.
Point the campaign at one conversion goal carrying real order values.Why: Mixed goals let the campaign chase the cheapest recorded action instead of revenue from actual orders.How: Select purchase as the campaign goal, confirm dynamic order values are arriving in the conversion column, and switch other goals off for this campaign.
Clear the feed diagnostics before linking the Merchant Center account.Why: Performance Max serves the same product data as Shopping, so disapproved items simply never appear anywhere.How: Empty the diagnostics queue first, link the account, then compare the item count shown in the campaign with your approved product count.
Start on value bidding without a target until the account has history.Why: A return target set on thin conversion history makes the campaign overspend before it can settle.How: Run maximise conversion value with no target for the first few weeks, then set a target based on the cost per conversion the campaign actually reached.

Asset groups and listing groups

Build one asset group per product theme rather than one for the catalogue.Why: Copy and imagery can only speak to one kind of product at a time, and the listing filter follows that theme.How: Group products by the language shoppers use for them, write headlines specific to that group, and attach a listing filter for the same products.
Fill every asset slot, including the long headline and a video.Why: Empty slots limit the inventory the campaign can serve on, and an auto generated video rarely represents the brand well.How: Upload the full set of image ratios, five or more headlines, several descriptions and at least one purpose made vertical video per asset group.
Write headlines that name the product, the material and the use.Why: The headline is often the only text a shopper reads before deciding whether the listing is relevant.How: Use the same nouns your product titles use, mention size, format or material, and reserve one headline for the current offer if there is one.
Attach a listing group so each asset group owns a defined slice of the feed.Why: Without a filter every asset group competes for the whole catalogue and the reporting becomes unreadable.How: Set the listing group to the product type or custom label matching the theme, and leave the everything else node excluded.

Signals, exclusions and controls

Apply a brand exclusion list so brand queries stay in their own campaign.Why: Without it the campaign takes credit for searches that would have reached the store anyway.How: Create a brand list containing your own brand and its common misspellings, then apply it as a brand exclusion at campaign level.
Switch off final URL expansion unless any page is a fair destination.Why: Expansion sends paid clicks to blog posts and policy pages that were never built to sell anything.How: Uncheck the setting during campaign creation, or add URL rules so only product and collection templates can receive the traffic.
Build audience signals from your own customer data rather than interests.Why: Signals are the starting point for the model, and first party lists point it at people who have already bought.How: Upload a customer list split by product category, add site visitors who reached checkout, and skip broad interest categories that describe everyone.
Prepare the negative keyword list before the campaign starts spending.Why: The search themes a Performance Max campaign matches are wider than a Shopping campaign, and some of them cannot convert.How: Write the list in advance from your Shopping search terms, then apply it through the account level negative list and the campaign setting where available.

Reporting you have to build yourself

Record asset group performance in a sheet on the day you launch.Why: Asset level reporting is thin, and without a baseline you cannot tell whether a creative refresh helped.How: Log impressions, conversions and the performance label per asset group at launch, then repeat the same export every month.
Add a product level view of spend and revenue outside the ads interface.Why: The campaign hides which products absorbed the budget, and that is the number that drives all feed work.How: Use the shopping report by item id, or join order data to product ids in a spreadsheet, and review the biggest spenders monthly.
Track new customer orders separately from total conversions.Why: A campaign can look profitable while mostly buying repeat orders the store would have received anyway.How: Switch on the new customer acquisition goal with a value for new customers, and compare new against returning order counts each month.

Questions

Only partly. The search themes and category report shows groupings rather than every query, so plan your exclusions and brand list before launch instead of relying on that report.

Give it a few weeks of steady spend with no structural edits. Changing asset groups, targets or budgets restarts learning and hides whether your change actually helped.

Not automatically. Run one at a time on the same products. A standard Shopping campaign and a Performance Max campaign on the same feed will not compete on equal terms.

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Performance max setup checklist

Before you open the campaign builder

Asset groups and listing groups

Signals, exclusions and controls

Reporting you have to build yourself

Questions

Can I see which search terms Performance Max used?

How long before Performance Max settles down?

Should Performance Max replace my Shopping campaign?

Related

Your plan is free.