Upgrade to Performance Max

When getting started with Performance Max, you can use existing knowledge and information from your current advertising to assist setting up new Performance Max campaigns. If you already manage campaigns using the Google Ads API you may be able to use your existing campaigns, depending on the campaign, to help you configure a Performance Max campaign rather that create a new campaign from scratch. This guide goes over the available options to help you plan your upgrade to Performance Max.

Reasons to upgrade

Here are a few reasons to upgrade to Performance Max:

  • Unlock new audiences across Google's channels and networks
  • Drive better performance against your goals
  • Get more transparent insights
  • Steer automation with your campaign inputs
  • Simplify campaign management and optimize your ads

You can find more information about Performance Max in this article.

Steps to upgrade

The steps to upgrade broadly involve the following:

  1. Identify which existing campaigns can be upgraded to Performance Max
  2. Check the requirements and eligibility
  3. Create a Performance Max campaign based on an existing campaign
  4. Enhance the campaign for Performance Max
  5. Compare and optimize campaign performance
  6. Finalize the Performance Max campaign

Each step can differ depending on the upgrade route. For more details on each step, check out the respective sections of the upgrade eligibility guide.

Manage your upgrade

Teams at Google have developed processes to help you understand how and when to upgrade as well as tools to help you provide input to assisted upgrades. Depending on how many accounts and campaigns you would like to upgrade, there are different options you should consider:

Assisted
You are provided with an assisted workflow to help you upgrade a campaign. By providing a few inputs, Google is able to create the campaign and help you measure its performance before finalizing the process.
Fully-automated
Certain campaigns will be upgraded to Performance Max automatically by Google. You should understand which campaigns this applies to, when this is due to happen, and what actions (if any) you will need to take.
Manual
You want to expand your reach by adding Performance Max to your portfolio of campaigns. You can choose when and how this happens and how you will measure the success of this campaign compared to your other campaigns. With this option, make sure you understand how the assisted and fully-automated options might affect your plan.

These options depend on the campaign you are planning to upgrade. For more details, see the upgrade eligibility guide.