With GA4 integration, advertisers can track and optimize user interactions at every stage – from initial awareness to final conversion.
How can an advertiser best use this?
Set up GA4 goals and events that align with your business objectives.
Use these insights to identify drop-off points in the funnel and optimize campaigns accordingly.
For example, if users frequently abandon carts, you can adjust your PMax strategy to address these barriers through retargeting.
Smarter audience segmentation
What was announced
Google will enhance audience segmentation tools, enabling advertisers to create more personalized ad experiences and efficient cross-channel strategies.
How is it different from before?
While PMax already uses Google’s audience signals, the new tools will allow advertisers to better segment audiences based on behaviors, interests, and engagement across channels.
How can an advertiser best use this?
Leverage the new segmentation tools to create hyper-targeted campaigns.
For example, create unique messaging for high-value customers, re-engage lapsed users with special offers, or craft product-specific ads based on user interests.
Combining audience segmentation with first-party data will maximize personalization.
First-party data strategies
What was announced
Third-party cookies are on their way out. Advertisers must focus on building first-party data strategies to maintain privacy compliance and campaign performance.
How is it different from before?
In the past, many advertisers relied heavily on third-party cookies for targeting. With privacy changes, those methods are becoming obsolete.
First-party data – such as customer emails, purchase history, and website interactions – will now play a crucial role in audience targeting.
How can an advertiser best use this?
Focus on collecting and organizing first-party data by encouraging users to sign up for newsletters, loyalty programs, or gated content.
Use tools like Customer Match to create custom audiences within Google Ads, allowing for more relevant and privacy-compliant targeting.
Dig deeper: Performance Max vs. Search campaigns: New data reveals substantial search term overlap
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Strategies for advertisers in 2025
The 2025 updates to Performance Max require advertisers to rethink their approach to targeting, creative, and campaign management.
Below, we’ve expanded on each strategy with actionable advice, real-world examples, and links to helpful resources for further exploration.
1. Prioritize first-party data: Build compliant, high-performing campaigns
With third-party cookies being phased out, first-party data – like email addresses, purchase history, and website interactions – is becoming critical for personalized, privacy-compliant targeting.
How can advertisers do this?
Action item: Create incentives for users to share their information. For example, offer exclusive discounts, early access to sales, or free downloadable content in exchange for email sign-ups.
Use case: A retailer could implement a loyalty program to collect first-party data, then use Customer Match in PMax to serve highly relevant ads to their best customers.
Helpful resource: Google’s Customer Match Guide.
Advanced tip: Use GA4 audience segments to enrich your first-party data and personalize campaigns based on user behavior across your website and app.
2. Leverage advanced analytics: Use GA4 to track and optimize the full funnel
The GA4 integration allows advertisers to track the entire user journey – from awareness to conversion.
This gives you better insights into what’s working and where you’re losing potential customers.
How can advertisers do this?
Action item: Set up GA4 goals and events to track key actions like add-to-cart, form submissions, and video views. Use this data to identify drop-off points in the funnel and optimize your PMax campaigns accordingly.
Use case: An online course provider could use GA4 to track user engagement with different course categories, then adjust their PMax ads to focus on the most popular categories.
Helpful resource: GA4 Conversion Tracking Setup.
Advanced tip: Use GA4’s predictive metrics, like purchase probability, to build predictive audiences and target users who are more likely to convert.
3. Adopt negative keywords: Refine targeting to reduce wasted spend
Adding negative keywords to PMax campaigns in 2025 will give advertisers more control over where their ads appear, helping to avoid irrelevant searches and reduce wasted spend.
How can advertisers do this?
Action item: Start by reviewing your search term reports in existing campaigns to identify irrelevant queries. Build a negative keyword list and update it regularly.
Use case: A luxury brand could add negative keywords like “cheap” or “discount” to avoid attracting price-sensitive shoppers who are unlikely to convert.
Helpful resource: Google’s Negative Keywords Guide.
Advanced tip: Use account-level negative keyword lists now, and prepare to migrate them to campaign-level lists when the feature rolls out in 2025.
4. Prepare for Demand Gen campaigns: Adapt to a new cross-channel campaign type
In mid-2025, Video Action campaigns will transition to Demand Gen campaigns, allowing advertisers to reach users across YouTube, Discovery, and Gmail with unified messaging.
How can advertisers do this?
Action item: Review your Video Action assets to ensure they’re flexible enough to work across Discovery and Gmail placements. Focus on storytelling that resonates across platforms.
Use case: A fitness brand could create video ads promoting a new workout program, then extend those assets to Discovery and Gmail to build a cohesive user journey.
Helpful resource: Google’s Demand Gen Campaign Overview.
Advanced tip: Use audience expansion and exclusion lists to ensure your Demand Gen campaigns target the right users while avoiding low-value placements.
5. Focus on creative excellence: Build high-quality, brand-consistent assets
The new brand guidelines for PMax require advertisers to use business names and logo assets, ensuring brand consistency across all ad placements.
Creative quality will be critical for performance in automated campaigns.
How can advertisers do this?
Action item: Audit your existing creative assets to ensure they’re brand-compliant and adaptable across channels. Run asset experiments in Google Ads to test different creative combinations
Use case: A travel company could use dynamic creatives to automatically adjust their ads based on user intent, showing beach destinations to users searching for summer vacations and city breaks to users interested in cultural trips.
Helpful resource: Google’s Asset Experiment Guide.
Advanced tip: Video content will become even more important with the rise of Demand Gen campaigns. Focus on creating short, engaging videos that work across multiple platforms.
Dig deeper: Why strong Google Ads creative is THE priority for advertisers
Thriving in the era of Performance Max: Adapt or fall behind
The trajectory of Performance Max tells a clear story: digital advertising is evolving rapidly, and AI is at the helm.
In just a few years, PMax has transformed from an experimental campaign type into Google’s flagship ad solution, capable of reaching millions across Search, Display, YouTube, and more – all while requiring less hands-on management.
But here’s the reality: automation alone won’t guarantee success.
Advertisers must understand how to shape the machine’s decisions by leveraging first-party data, creative excellence, and smarter audience strategies.
The updates rolling out in 2025 – negative keywords, brand guidelines, and Demand Gen campaigns – signal a shift toward greater advertiser control, which is exactly what the industry has been asking for.
However, there’s a paradox at play: as automation gets smarter, human oversight and strategy become more important than ever.
You can’t let Google’s black box do all the work; you need to guide it, challenge it, and optimize it to achieve real results.
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