Performance Max and Search: competition between your campaigns?

Are you using Performance Max and Search to boost your conversion rate? The only problem is that PMax seems to be cannibalising your search network campaigns. Is this just an impression or a proven fact? Discover the links between these two types of advertising, overlap rates and campaign prioritisation. Not to mention strategies for maximising your return on investment.

The official priority order for Performance Max and Search

When analysing Google’s official documentation to understand the links between Performance Max and Search, we find some inconsistencies. 

On the one hand, Google tells us that search ads are displayed for all search terms that match the keywords of any type of match. For all other terms, Google will use the campaign with the highest ad ranking. 

On the other hand, the web giant tells us that if the search term is the same as an exact match keyword, the latter takes priority. And if your search term is the same as a phrase or broad match keyword, Google may display an advert from your Search or PMax campaign.

It’s enough to make you a bit confused. Fortunately, we can rely on an analysis carried out by Adalysis to better understand the overlap rates between the two campaigns. 

Overlap between PMax and Search 

Here are the results of the analysis of overlaps between Performance Max and Search:  

• 67% of PMax campaigns include search terms that overlap with search keywords. However, when analysing overlapping search terms, the rate drops to 2.8%. One of the causes of campaign overlap is spelling mistakes, among other things. 
• 45% of search terms trigger both Search and PMax adverts. 
• 43% more impressions for Performance Max. And for overlapping campaigns, that figure rises to 61%. With figures like these, you might think that PMax would have a higher ad ranking (particularly in terms of expected CTR and conversion rate). And yet…
• For overlapping search terms, Search achieved higher CTRs in 65% of cases and a higher conversion rate in 84.18% of cases. 

In other words, even with fewer impressions, search network campaigns generate more revenue than PMax campaigns.

4 strategies for optimising your adverts 

Based on the overlap analyses between Performance Max and Search, several strategies can be implemented to optimise your adverts: 

• Prioritise campaigns on search networks, which generally perform better in terms of clicks and conversion rates. And therefore, a higher return on investment (ROI).
• Carefully manage your search terms and add exact match keywords if necessary.
• Include misspelled keywords to avoid overlap in search terms. 
• Regularly monitor your search terms and identify any potential PMax cannibalisation. 

Above all, do not hesitate to contact our Google Ads agency to optimise your advertising campaigns.