The tech giant is testing new a feature that could give marketers more control over where their adspend flows.
Google is testing a new feature in Performance Max (PMax) that could give advertisers greater control.
The tool would let media buyers exclude inventory from third-party search partners and Google Display Network from Performance Max (PMax) campaigns.
This gives advertisers more control over PMax spending and greater visibility into the product – something that users have traditionally had to forego in exchange for the scale and optimisation offered by the Google product.
The feature presents as two tickbox options within the PMax console. They are enabled by default but can be removed by advertisers who want to more precisely control where their money is spent.
Jonathan D’Souza-Rauto, adtech consultant said: “It primarily allows advertisers and agencies to get more insights into a very automated campaign type by enabling the ability to setup more bespoke PMax campaigns that are opted out of specific placements or networks. Search partners and Google Display Network are known to be low quality with limited incrementality.”
For advertisers, automated features inside Google’s PMax have come largely at the expense of an element of visibility and adjustment – as the platform has maintained tight control over how and where it routes budgets across placements.
But, marketers are under intense pressure to explain, evidence, control, and justify exactly where ad dollars are spent – making the product’s lack of transparency a pain point for many users.
Google is pushing forward with automation features, but has listened to customers who were frustrated by the lack of control – and those who were frustrated by their inability to separate inventory sources.
Buyers can now remove search partners and Google Display Network from PMax campaigns, creating a clearer separation between mainline search, display, and third-party partner inventory.
As it stands, Google has confirmed this is a limited pilot, and the features are only available to a few in the UK and US.
It’s unclear yet whether the feature will be made available to all PMax users – but the trial does illustrate that marketers, while enjoying the increased efficiency and optimisation of automated features, it cannot come at the expense of control, and advertisers will still want to reject or accept anything that doesn’t align with client goals.
