Google Ads has undergone more fundamental changes in the past 18 months than in the prior 5 years combined. AI-driven automation has taken over bidding and placement decisions, third-party cookie deprecation has reshaped audience targeting, and Performance Max has become both the platform's most powerful and most misunderstood campaign type. Here's what every PPC manager needs to know right now.
Performance Max: Power with Pitfalls
Performance Max (PMax) campaigns now consume a significant share of Google Ads budgets — often by default, as Google aggressively recommends them. They can deliver exceptional results when set up correctly, but they're a black box that punishes advertisers who don't feed them the right signals.
- Provide high-quality creative assets in all recommended formats — PMax penalises accounts with weak creative
- Upload first-party audience signals (existing customer lists, high-value purchasers) to help the algorithm find lookalikes
- Use brand exclusions to prevent PMax cannibalising branded search traffic
- Check the "asset group performance" report weekly — low-performing asset groups drag the entire campaign
AI Bidding Strategies: Which One for Which Goal?
Manual CPC is now nearly obsolete for most advertisers. Google's smart bidding strategies have genuinely improved. The question is which one fits your objective:
- Target CPA: Best for lead generation when you have 30+ conversions/month. Set at 15–20% above your actual target to give the algorithm room.
- Target ROAS: Best for e-commerce with reliable revenue tracking. Requires significant conversion volume before it performs reliably.
- Maximise Conversions: Best for new campaigns with limited data — let it run until you hit the conversion threshold, then switch to tCPA.
- Maximise Conversion Value: For e-commerce accounts with varying product margins — weights bids toward higher-value purchases.
Third-Party Cookie Deprecation: What to Do Now
Google's third-party cookie deprecation is ongoing. Audience targeting using third-party data will continue to degrade. The advertisers who thrive will be those with strong first-party data strategies:
- Build your email and CRM list aggressively — it becomes your primary retargeting asset
- Implement enhanced conversions — uses first-party data to improve measurement accuracy
- Use Customer Match to upload CRM lists for targeting and exclusion
- Explore Google's Privacy Sandbox alternatives for interest-based targeting
Search Term Visibility Is Still Declining
Google continues to reduce search term transparency. In 2026, advertisers typically see search terms for 60–75% of their actual query traffic. This makes negative keyword management harder — and makes broad match keywords even riskier without robust negative lists. Run your search terms report weekly and build negatives relentlessly.
