Performance Max didn’t just iterate in 2025. It matured. As Google rolled out long-requested reporting, controls, and visibility, many long-standing assumptions about Performance Max no longer hold true. Yet myths persist, often based on how the product worked years ago rather than how it operates today.
Below, we unpack the most common Performance Max myths of 2025, contrast them with the reality, and explain why these updates change how advertisers should think about automation going into the next year.
Here’s what really changed, what it means for advertisers, and how to move into 2026 with confidence.
Why These Myths Still Exist
Performance Max launched with a promise: simplify campaign management while expanding reach across Google’s inventory. That promise came with trade-offs: limited transparency, fewer levers, and heavy reliance on machine learning.
In 2025, Google addressed many of those early gaps. However, perception lagged behind product evolution. Advertisers who haven’t revisited Performance Max recently may still be operating with outdated assumptions.
Let’s separate fact from fiction.
Performance Max Myth #1
“Performance Max is a black box. There’s no transparency on how my campaign’s success is attributed.”
Fact: Channel performance reporting is now available in all Performance Max campaigns, allowing you to view individual channel performance.
We’re also expanding channel reporting’s visibility with reporting on Search partners and manager accounts support.
What Changed?
Performance Max is no longer opaque by default.
What’s New and Why It Matters
- Channel-level insights: Understand which networks are driving conversions, not just that conversions happened.
- Search partners visibility: Reporting now includes how Search partners contribute to outcomes, reducing blind spots.
- Manager account support: Agencies and multi-account advertisers can now access channel reporting at scale, enabling more consistent optimization and benchmarking.
Strategic Impact
Performance Max still automates execution, but reporting has caught up with advertiser expectations. Instead of guessing where budget is working hardest, you can now:
- Diagnose over- or under-reliance on specific channels
- Align creative and bidding strategies with channel strengths
- Communicate performance more clearly to stakeholders
Automation no longer means invisibility. It means efficient insight.
Performance Max Myth #2
“Performance Max doesn’t offer granular reporting on Search terms, or ways to steer my Search results—I’m worried that my brand is being associated with the wrong terms.”
Fact: Performance Max now offers the same granular Search terms reporting you would find in Search or Shopping campaigns.
In addition, campaign-level negative keywords ensure that your brand is showing up in the right places.
What Changed?
Advertisers can review actual queries triggering ads, removing one of the biggest trust barriers that previously held brands back.
Added Control: Negative Keywords
In addition to visibility, campaign-level negative keywords are now supported. This gives advertisers the ability to proactively exclude:
- Irrelevant or low-intent queries
- Brand safety risks
- Competitor or unrelated terms that don’t align with business goals
Why This Is A Turning Point
Previously, advertisers feared that Performance Max could dilute brand intent or associate ads with poor-quality searches. In 2025:
- You can audit Search behaviour with confidence
- You can steer performance, not just observe it
- You can align automated reach with brand governance standards
Performance Max is no longer a “trust us” system. It’s a collaborative model between advertiser intent and machine learning.
Performance Max Myth #3
“Performance Max has limited performance metrics for my assets, so I don’t know which are resonating best with my audience.”
Fact: Performance Max lets you see clicks, conversions, cost and more, for assets that are generated or enhanced by AI, as well as advertiser uploaded assets. This can help you better understand which asset types and themes drive the most impact, so you can prioritise what to build next and maximise your variety.
What Changed?
Asset reporting has evolved significantly.
Performance Max now provides detailed performance metrics—clicks, conversions, cost, and more—for both AI-generated assets and advertiser-uploaded assets.
What Advertisers Can See Now
- Performance by asset type (images, videos, text, formats)
- Results from AI-enhanced creatives versus manually uploaded assets
- Signals around themes and messaging that resonate most with audiences
Why This Changes Creative Strategy
Instead of guessing which creatives are effective, advertisers can now:
- Identify top-performing themes and double down on them
- Understand which formats deserve more investment
- Build a stronger asset pipeline based on real performance data
This insight supports variety at scale. It feeds the system with diverse, high-impact assets rather than static, one-off creatives.
What Performance Max Really Is In 2025
With these updates, Performance Max has shifted from:
- A closed automation tool → to a transparent performance engine
- Limited control → to guided optimisation
- Creative guesswork → to data-informed asset development
It still relies on automation but now automation is paired with clarity.
How To Lead With Confidence In 2026
To fully capitalise on the evolved Performance Max experience:
- Review channel performance regularly to understand where growth is coming from
- Use Search terms data and negative keywords to protect brand intent
- Actively analyse asset-level reporting to inform future creative production
- Treat Performance Max as a system to shape, not a machine to surrender to
Advertisers who engage with these controls will outperform those who rely on outdated assumptions.
Final Thoughts
Performance Max didn’t just improve in 2025. It addressed the very concerns that once defined its criticism. The myths made sense once. Today, they’re holding advertisers back.
As you plan for 2026, the question isn’t whether Performance Max is ready. It’s whether your strategy is.
Need a fresh perspective? Let’s talk.
At 360 OM, we specialise in helping businesses take their marketing efforts to the next level. Our team stays on top of industry trends, uses data-informed decisions to maximise your ROI, and provides full transparency through comprehensive reports.
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