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Performance Max helps drive conversions by optimizing your ads across all Google channels in real-time. Since your ads use different formats depending on where they appear, your billing is based on the specific ad format and interaction type.
This article helps you understand how your costs are calculated.
- With Performance Max campaigns, you only pay for the performance that your ad gains
- Prices are dynamic, which means they can change based on a number of factors
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How much do Performance Max campaigns cost?
Performance Max campaigns serve across all ad channels, so the amount you pay depends on the ad formats serving in your campaign. You’ll only pay for the performance that your ad gains and there are no startup costs to create and run a Performance Max campaign.
This makes Performance Max campaigns a good option for most advertisers, because it’s easy to set up, serves across all channels, and automatically optimizes to maximize performance across all of Google Ads inventory.
Billing across channels and ad formats
Performance Max campaigns serve across multiple Google channels and ad formats, including some video inventory (such as TrueView or Outstream Video) where billable interactions aren’t limited to physical clicks to a website. For example "Engaged Views" are billable when a viewer watches a video ad for a specific duration of time but does not immediately click on it. Each ad format type has its own specific definition and engagement criteria for an “Engaged View” conversion.
In Google Ads, physical clicks are recorded in the "Clicks" column, while these billable video interactions are recorded under "Engagements" or "Interactions". This is why you may notice spend and billed engagements associated with the campaign even if the physical click count is reported as zero. Learn more About Engaged-view conversions.
How does Performance Max determine bids and allocate budget?- Google’s AI adjusts bids dynamically based on expected conversion probability and value. If a search is more likely to convert, the system may increase the bid.
- Historical data, user intent, audience signals, and advertiser-defined targets, like cost per action (CPA) or return on ad spend (ROAS), influence bidding.
- Performance Max automatically distributes the budget across channels like Search, Display, YouTube, Shopping, Discover, among others, based on where it predicts the highest return.
Billing in Performance Max works consistently with other campaign types based on where ads are served, for example:
- For ads on YouTube instream, we bill advertisers based on CPM.
- For image ads on the Discover Feed, YouTube home feed or watch next feed, we bill advertisers on clicks to the website.
- For ads on Gmail we'll bill an “engagement” on a teaser click to expand the ad. We don't charge advertisers for the secondary click to the website.
- For ads on Search or Shopping, we’ll bill advertisers based on clicks.
- For ads on Display, we’ll bill advertisers based on clicks or engagements, depending on the ad format.
- For ads on Maps, you’ll be billed based on the ad formats.
The billing model is independent of the bidding strategy, Performance Max will always try to optimize for ROI.
Performance Max campaigns use real-time pricing, so ad costs change based on several factors:
- Payment basis: We base payment on ad performance with dynamic pricing.
- Dynamic prices: The price that you pay isn't fixed, Google uses the bid along with the ad’s quality and expected impact to determine ad rank.
- Channel-specific billing: Billing follows the same structure, with costs depending on ad placement, like CPM for YouTube Instream, clicks for Search, Shopping, and Discover, among others.
- Campaign-level evaluation: Evaluate Performance Max campaigns at the campaign level, since the system optimizes across channels based on conversion objectives.
- Placement reports: Use placement reports for brand safety, not performance evaluation.
Several factors influence Performance Max campaign prices, which are dynamic, including:
- How much competing advertisers in your area are spending
- How relevant your ad is to a person's Google search
- How likely a person's search will result in a sale
Learn more about Performance Max Pricing.
