Search vs Performance Max: what to prepare before going live

Search and Performance Max are the two Google Ads campaign types a marketing team or an agency prepares most often. They follow different logics, need different materials and break in different places. Preparing both with the same list means checking useless things in one and forgetting essential things in the other.

This guide lines up what each one needs before going live, and what to verify in both.

Two logics

A Search campaign answers searches. Whoever prepares it decides which searches to answer, with which keywords and which ads. The check is on structure and text.

A Performance Max campaign starts from a conversion goal and can be served across Google’s inventory, from Search to YouTube, using the assets provided and the signals given. Whoever prepares it does not decide individual searches: they decide goals, assets, signals and exclusions. The check is on the completeness of the assets and the correctness of the goals.

One practical difference shows immediately: in Search the typical mistake is a wrong keyword or ad; in Performance Max it is an incomplete asset group or a badly set conversion goal.

What to prepare for a Search campaign

Structure. Ad groups with one theme each. A group that mixes themes produces generic ads.

Keywords and match types. For each group, keywords consistent with the theme and a match type chosen consciously. Broad match and phrase match cover very different searches.

Negative keywords. The brand’s or client’s shared lists, plus the campaign specific exclusions.

Responsive search ads. A responsive search ad takes up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, with a minimum of 3 headlines and 2 descriptions. Reread all of them before going live: duplicate headlines, expired promises and typos are the most common mistakes. Pins are for real constraints, not habit.

Campaign assets. Sitelinks, callouts and structured snippets consistent with the current offer, with URLs that respond.

Networks. Search partners are included by default: a decision to make, not to inherit.

What to prepare for a Performance Max campaign

Conversion goals. Everything starts here. If the primary conversion action is not defined, tested and consistent with the brief, the campaign optimises for something you did not want.

Asset groups. Text, images, logos and, where planned, videos. Google allows up to 15 headlines, 5 descriptions, 20 images and 5 videos per asset group, and recommends covering every asset type in every group. An incomplete group limits formats and placements.

Audience signals and search themes. They steer the campaign, especially at the start. Signals copied from another brand steer it the wrong way.

Exclusions. Brand exclusions and placement exclusions are assessed before going live, not after the first report.

Final URL expansion. Performance Max can send traffic to pages other than the one you specified when the expansion setting is on. Decide it consciously and, if needed, limit it with URL exclusions.

Feeds. If the campaign uses a product feed, that is another story and another check. This guide stops at Performance Max campaigns without a feed.

What to verify in both

Some checks apply to both campaign types, and they are the ones that cost the most when missing:

• right account and client;
• included and excluded locations, and the location option;
• languages consistent with ads and pages;
• average daily budget consistent with the monthly plan, currency included;
• bid strategy suited to the data available;
• start and end dates;
• final URLs that respond, consistent domain, tested tracking template;
• conversion action defined and tested with a real conversion;
• initial state, enabled or paused;
• a second person reviewing and a recorded approval.

The full list, with the reason behind each check, is in the campaign launch checklist. To tick it and print it with the campaign name, use the fillable and printable Google Ads checklist.

Side by side

Aspect	Search	Performance Max
Starting point	Keywords and structure	Conversion goal
Main material	Responsive search ads, campaign assets	Complete asset groups
Signals	Keywords and match types	Audience signals, search themes
Exclusions	Negative keywords	Brand and placement exclusions
Typical mistake	Wrong ad or keyword	Incomplete asset group, wrong goal
First check after going live	Search terms	Spend per channel and assets being served

What does not change

In both cases Google’s system optimises within the boundaries it is given. Deciding those boundaries, checking them before going live and approving what goes online remains people’s work. A Performance Max campaign with a full asset group and the wrong goal is as much a human mistake as a Search campaign with the wrong keyword. No automation catches it in place of the person who approves.