Performance Max (P-Max) ads are coming to Google Ads Grants

At the Google.org Impact summit on 4th September 2024 it was announced that Performance Max (P-Max) ads are coming to Google Ads Grants. See the announcement here: https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-org/google-ai-tools-social-impact-sector/. This is the biggest change to the grants program in years, and the first time a new type of ad campaign has been made available.

You probably won't see the option in your account yet, because it's being rolled out over the next few months. If you do see it, please let me know because I'd love to know how it performs for your nonprofit.

I got confirmation from the Ad Grants team that P-Max will initially only place ads in search results, but I know that they're hoping to place ads elsewhere on Google products later on. Personally I'm hoping for maps, Gmail, perhaps one or two other places.

The following video is a guest lesson by Jyll Saskin Gales, Google Ads expert. She's demonstrating P-Max in a paid account, but most of her advice should be relevant to Ad Grants.

In this video, Jyll walks you through the process of setting up a Performance Max campaign. She explains the importance of conversion-based bidding and caution against using customer acquisition as a conversion action. She also discusses location targeting and share a cautionary tale about targeting the wrong audience. Additionally, Jyll highlights the significance of offline conversion tracking for lead gen campaigns. Finally, some tips on creating effective ad headlines and descriptions. Watch this video to learn how to set up a successful Performance Max campaign.

Jyll Saskin Gales worked at Google for 6 years, bringing the best of Google’s insights and advertising to the world’s largest businesses. Now she’s a marketing coach, consultant and trainer with a Google Ads course for beginners. I highly recommend you take her course if you manage paid Google Ads accounts. Sign up at learn.jyll.ca/iga

Updated: September 2024