Definitive guide

Web Marketing Insights

Performance Max Statistics 2024 – 19 Mind Blowing Statistics

Interested in Performance Max statistics? I understand there is no consolidated information on this new Google ad product and how it is truly aiding businesses to attain their conversion goals.

So I’ve come out with eight mind-blowing statistics on it that’s all in this post for your easy reference. But let me first give an overview of what Performance Max aka PMax is all about.

What is Performance Max?

Performance Max is Google’s newest offering for companies wishing to advertise their products and services across their various channels—Discover, Display, Gmail, Search, and YouTube—using one campaign. The cool thing about Performance Max is that it is fully automated—it adjusts the advertisement a particular person will most respond to in real-time across its various channels.

A feature that was made possible because of Google’s artificial intelligence-backed system, which it uses in analyzing and projecting user behavior online. This is all the while using the creative assets– images, video, audio, copy, and visuals–provided by the advertiser along with their customer data, advertising goals, and conversion values for their one campaign.

What’s even awesome about PMax is you get to see how your campaign is doing daily and adjust it based on which creative asset is performing efficiently! You can even adjust or remove non-performing creative assets and limit the type of content that you want to appear in Google’s various channels. Talk about real-time reporting and ad delivery on the fly that actually works!

Thus, as per ADW Service, Performance Max is highly recommended for businesses that wish to widen their marketing reach and increase their conversion value with a specific marketing goal in mind. This is because PMax drives conversion value or conversions for your goal by optimizing placements and bids using Google’s AI learning modules.

Overall, PMax is best to run alongside a company’s SEO campaigns or to set up one in case a business still does not have one yet. Why? Data from the PMax campaign will show which keywords bring in more conversions. It even reveals keywords that a company hasn’t used but is a referrer to their campaign.

PMax reports are actually a data mine of insights on possible future campaigns. It is best for companies that wish to undertake campaigns for their current target niche and expand to locations they have not considered doing business.

Having said this, let me now share statistics on PMax based on the campaign results of companies who availed of this Google service already.

Fascinating Performance Max 2023 Statistics

I was able to gather several statistics on the results of Performance Campaigns from seven case studies. These case studies involved various companies from different industries who were first to take advantage of Performance Max when it was rolled out by Google in May 2021 and went full-blast six months after. This included companies who eventually opted-in to use the campaign while using Google’s Smart Shopping ads, which was eventually removed from the market this year.

So what are the stats? Here they are:

1. Performance Max enabled a 22% increase in conversions and an overall 20% decrease in CPA

The most famous Google Performance Max Campaign statistics one can find online is on digital credit cards and personal loans provider MoneyMe. The credit company launched a Performance Max Campaign with its ad agency Sparro to bring in more leads for its newly funded loans.

The campaign ran for one and a half months or six weeks resulting in an $800K revenue for the digital credit company. Performance Max also enabled the company to experience an overall 20% decrease in their average cost per acquisition (CPA) alongside a 22% increase in conversions.

2. Performance Max provided better market penetration resulting in a 90% decrease in CPC

Dean Long, a veteran Data Analyst and multimedia Marketing Consultant, ran an eight-day Performance Max Campaign in four countries where he had low market penetration and extensively high CPA.

The campaign resulted in a 90% overall average decrease in CPC and a 67%-75% decrease in CPA compared to a brand campaign and non-brand campaign. While CPA increased at 36%-160% when compared to brand campaigns. Long summarized that Performance Max leverages “display, discovery, and bumper placement” so that the CPC will be lessened.

Based on his experience, Long recommended that a perfect formula for digital marketing would be a combination campaign of Performance Max, Search Brand, and Display Remarketing.

3. Smart Shopping Advertisers achieved 84% average ROAS in the 1st Quarter of 2022 from their Performance Max Campaigns

According to online ad agency Disrupting Advertising, they were impressed by the outcome of several Performance Max Campaigns undertaken by their clients who were on Google’s Smart Shopping ads. The said advertisers opted into Performance Max during the first quarter of 2022. The action resulted in remarkable improvements to their campaigns compared to that of their Smart Shopping experience.

Disruptive Advertising particularly took the initiative of analyzing the data they had for advertisers who conducted a Performance Max campaign with more than $1K combined spend or had 25% higher spend than their overall Shopping budget.

The chosen advertisers all availed of Smart Shopping during the 1st quarter of 2022 before they decided to avail of Performance Max for their ongoing campaign. The undertaking resulted in an improvement in CPA by an average of 19% for all advertisers. There was also a 227% average revenue increase and an 84% average return on ad spend (ROAS).

Performance Max Statistics 2024_Money Me

4. Performance Max resulted in a lower CPA of $185 for non-branded campaigns

EffectiveSpend, on the other hand, similarly experienced the same trend when it launched its Performance Max campaign while the latter was still in its beta testing period. Performance Max outperformed the blended account average CPA and resulted in a lower CPA for all non-branded campaigns. This resulted in a CPA of $185 for one campaign and an overall blended CPA of $222 for all other campaigns.

5. Performance Max increases conversion rates by 15X compared to regular online ad campaigns

Assist Card similarly used Performance Max during its beta phase in November 2021. As per the case study done on their campaign, Assist Card garnered a 40% decrease in cost per acquisition (CPA). This is despite experiencing an increase in conversion rate by 15X over regular campaigns having similar goals. Awesome! But this is nothing compared to the claims of ADW Service as indicated in the next stat.

6. A 2,100% profitability was achieved by Smartshoping advertisers who transitioned to Performance Max in 2022

Yana Lyashenko, a Google Logistician of Ukraine-based Adw Service, presented an analysis she did on Smart Shopping advertisers who transitioned to Google’s Performance Max last July 2022. Lyashenko said that several companies’ profits skyrocketed in the first month of the transition at 7,600% and declined to 5,000% the month after.

This then stabilized at 2,200% to 2,300% in the third and fourth months of the campaign. On average, she said, the companies garnered a 2,100% profitability for the entire Performance Max campaign after transitioning from Smart Shopping. Sounds a bit far-fetched? You can read more on her presentation from the source links below.

7. eCommerce Industries gained more with Performance Max

By industry, Dot Com Infoway highlighted that Performance Max benefitted companies engaged in eCommerce services the most. These are particularly Ecommerce industries that implemented online shopping campaigns. Though the company emphasized that any company regardless of industry would still reap the gains Performance Max promises to deliver if they have clear goals in mind for their campaign.

8. The United Kingdom showed the highest adoption rate for Performance Max globally

Finally, Performance Max adoption was highest in the United Kingdom at 84%. This was followed in the United States at 75% and other regions combined at 66%. This is comparatively higher than standard shopping or Smart Shopping campaigns, which registered 16%, 25%, and 33%, respectively for the aforementioned regions.

The Search Engine Journal explains that the strong customer adoption of PMax is the result of its simplicity. Accordingly, PMax provided small businesses with a model to easily understand online marketing jargon while achieving their business objectives with more convenience.

Performance Max Statistics 2024_EffectiveSpend

9. Performance Max can lower cost per lead by 15%.

Spain-based Allianz Insurance and Asset Management tested Performance Max to decrease the cost per lead incurred from its Google Search campaigns.

The Performance Max campaign they rolled out involved their car insurance products. The aim was to increase car insurance leads at a lesser cost. The company achieved its goal and even increased its cost per lead by 15%.

10. Performance Max can increase company revenue at an average of 78.15% in six months.

Based on two case studies, Performance Max was seen to increase revenue by 78.15% on average after continuous use for six months. The cases involved Italy’s first web marketing and research group Studio Capello and Georgia’s used camera online retailer KEH.

Studio Capello enhanced their Performance Max campaign using business intelligence (BI) data within DataFeedWatch. The result was an increase in Performance Max ad spending by 7% and a revenue increase of 80%.

While KEH shifted to Performance Max from Smart Shopping after Google rolled it out. They ran a series of 14-day overstock sale campaigns with Performance Max beginning August 2022 with only a 0.3% ad spend allocation.

This resulted in 0% revenue but the company persisted for another five months until January 2023. In particular, they increased Performance Max ad spend by 36.5% in November 2022, which resulted in a revenue of 42%.

Then they held a New Year’s campaign come January 2023 that involved a 56% Performance Max ad spend. This resulted in a 54% revenue, which was 16% of their revenue for the entire month, and a return on ad spend that was 12.1x higher than the previous month.

Overall, the entire Performance Max campaign helped KEH’s ad revenue increase by 76.3%. It also increased its transactions by 44.1% and an average monthly ROAS of 9.93x better.

11. Performance Max can increase ROAS to as much as 641% in nine months.

Shoptimised conducted a study on 2,179 Google Ads accounts’ data from the 4th Quarter of 2021 to the 2nd Quarter of 2022. The aggregated data of these Google Ads accounts was used to track and compare the budget spent for Standard Shopping, Smart Shopping, and Performance Max.

The results showed that ROAS for Standard Shopping decreased from 583% (Q4 2021) to 492% (Q2 2022). ROAS for Smart Shopping increased from 599% (Q4 2021) to 641% (Q2 2022).

Performance Max ROAS similarly increased from 603% (Q4 2021) to 641% (Q2 2022).

Interestingly, the Average Order Value (AOV) for Smart Shopping was higher at £62.98 than Performance Max’s £62.91. This is despite having the same ROAS for Smart Shopping and Performance Max ROAS for the period.

Shoptimised explained that clients were shifting to Smart Shopping and Performance Max due to the renowned benefits of these advertising tools.

12. Performance Max helps decrease the cost per subscription by 15%.

Music streaming platform Deezer ran a Performance Max campaign to increase its online subscription base. Since Performance Max campaigns enable audience targeting for better ad delivery and reach, Deezer achieved its goal of acquiring new customers through various media platforms.

They were able to expand their customer base by 28%. The campaign also helped them lower the cost of subscription by 15% due to Performance Max’s precision targeting technology.

13. Performance Max can generate as much as $244K revenues on average.

Based on data from Paciolan, Performance Max generated an average of $244,333.33 in revenues in as little as two weeks. This value was seen in three case studies of Performance Max campaigns used in professional sports.

The case studies involved Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Nashville, Indiana University, and Michigan State University.

Accordingly, PBR Nashville used Performance Max during the last two weeks of the Nashville Team campaigns of 2023. The result was a revenue of $26,500, a ROAS of $15.19, and 183.77 conversions.

Indiana University, on the other hand, used Performance Max for the Football 2023 Singles. The campaign tapped on all of Google’s platforms for that single campaign. The result was a $40,000 revenue after two weeks of the campaign. The campaign also resulted to a clickthrough rate of 15% and a return on ad spend of $21.

Michigan State University similarly used Performance Max for the Football Seasons and Singles. They also rolled out the campaign across all of Google’s platforms until June 2023.

Surprisingly, the entire campaign resulted to a $300,000 revenue with a 33.52% clickthrough rate. The return on ad spend for the period ranged from $44 to $68.

14. The minimal ROAS Performance Max can generate is $3.86.

Missouri’s The Fabulous Fox Theatre tapped Google’s Performance Max for a campaign meant to increase its Broadway subscriptions. The campaign generated a return on ad spend of $3.86 for more than 70 conversions.

On the other hand, the Philadelphia Union generated a minimal ROAS of $10.60 on average. This was during the 2023 Leagues Cup Tournament when they used several Performance Max campaigns.

15. Performance Max outperforms Google Search campaigns for conversions by a minimum of 8%.

Data from Think With Google shows that conversion rates were much higher for companies using Performance Max campaigns than Google Search Ads.

A particular example is FishingBooker who engaged in a test Performance Max Campaign in June 2020. The campaign’s goal was to address the decline in bookings during the COVID-19 restrictions beginning in March 2020.

In addition, FishingBooker had already maxed out the use of their Search campaigns alongside a sudden increase in requests for refunds.

FishingBooker was amazed at the results of the Performance Max campaign that helped them recover clients and achieve conversions that were 8% higher than their Search campaigns.

Think With Google revealed that a similar effect was experienced by various brands across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. The said brands saw total conversions increase by 13% on average with Performance Max despite the same cost per action.

16. Performance Max outperformed generic search campaigns by 68%.

If Performance Max can outperform Google’s very own Search Ads, what more when it comes to generic ones?

This was what LOT Polish Airlines experienced when they tested Performance Max after using generic search ad campaigns to increase its client base during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to the decline in air travel during the lockdowns, LOT Polish Airlines needed to change its traditional in-house search engine marketing team with Performance Max campaigns.

The company, which is regarded as one of the world’s longest-running airlines, implemented several Performance Max campaigns across select markets.

The result was a cost per action that was 3x lower than their previous search campaigns. This is despite having a conversion rate that’s 68% higher.

17. Performance Max increased online booking by 40%.

North Eastern Europe’s Economy Bookings provides rental car services to more than 150 countries including the United States. The company used Performance Max to increase visibility in the US through all of Google’s platforms under one campaign.

Through Maximized conversion value bidding, the company not only strengthened its presence across its network but also tapped new customers. These KPIs were achieved on top of increasing their online bookings and revenue by 40%.

18. Performance Max decreased CPC by 86% over a short period of time.

Worldwide car manufacturer Renault launched a Performance Max campaign for its Turkey team to out win strong competition. The company also wanted to maximize its marketing campaigns across channels and formats.

Renault Turkey then used Performance Max to tap into a wider demographic of potential customers who intend to purchase a new car. The campaign did achieve the company’s goals through an increase in leads and an 86% lower cost per conversion.

19. The minimum daily budget for Performance Max is $150.

According to The Digital XX, the minimum budget a company will spend for a Performance Max campaign is $150 a day.

While Store Growers estimate startups will spend $58 a day if they have a cost per conversion of $58. The formula used is 3x the CPA to arrive at an average daily budget for Performance Max.

Conclusion

Google’s Performance Max has become the next direction for online advertising campaigns due to the big rewards experienced by its users. Though there is a downside to this service—since it works best based on customer data provided and goals set—the benefits of using Performance Max for small and big businesses alike still outweigh it.

Sources Used:

FAQs

What is the lead time for Performance Max’s effectiveness?

Experts say that a minimum of two weeks is needed for Performance Max to work effectively. This is so because the service is backed by Google’s automated learning models, which have to adapt your data first according to different audience responses to it. This testing phase takes several days before Google’s systems can identify which ads work best for a certain group of persons based on the data and creative assets you provided.

What differentiates Performance Max from normal Google Ads Campaigns?

Cyberclick enumerated that normal Google Ads campaigns require a company to create a particular creative asset per target audience with no assurance of successful conversion. While Performance Max uses a set of creative assets for all Google channels that are automatically modified based on a person’s conversion possibility. Speaking of channels, normal Google Ads campaigns are restricted to one channel while Performance Max is applicable across all of Google’s channels.