Some advertisers are now seeing Performance Max placement data populate in Google Ads reporting, including Search Partner domains and impression counts that had previously been absent from the report.
PPC marketer Thomas Eccel flagged the change on LinkedIn, noting the report had been empty for his PMax campaigns until now.
“I finally see where and how Pmax is being displayed!” Eccel wrote. “But also cool to see finally who the real Google Search Partners are. That was always a blurry grey zone.”
What’s New
Google has documented a Performance Max placement report intended for brand safety review, and that report is now showing data for a wider set of accounts. The data includes individual placement domains, network type, placement type, and impression volume.
The Search Partner visibility is the detail getting attention. PMax campaigns have distributed ads across Google’s Search Partner Network since launch, but many advertisers saw an empty report when they looked for specifics. That’s now changing for at least some accounts.
Google hasn’t issued a formal announcement tied to this change. Google’s help documentation notes that starting in March 2024, the PMax placement report supports Search Partner Network sites. What’s new is the data appearing where it didn’t before.
The rollout is uneven, though. Some commenters on Eccel’s LinkedIn post said the report is still empty in their accounts.
What The Report Doesn’t Show
Google describes this placement reporting as a brand safety tool, not a performance report. The data shows impressions at the placement level but doesn’t break out clicks, conversions, or cost for individual placements.
You can see where your ads appeared and how many times, but you can’t calculate the return on any specific placement. Search Partner Network costs are reported as a single line item in channel performance reporting, rather than being attributed by domain.
Advertisers can use the data to make exclusion decisions for brand safety reasons. But tying outcomes to specific placements inside this view isn’t possible, which limits its use as an optimization tool.
This fits a pattern in how Google has rolled out PMax transparency over the past two years. Channel-level reporting launched in mid-2025 with performance data by surface type, and deeper asset segmentation followed in the fall. Each update has added visibility without giving advertisers full placement-level performance data.
Why This Matters
PMax placement visibility has been one of the most persistent requests from paid search practitioners since the campaign type launched. The placement report existed in the interface but returned no data, frustrating advertisers who wanted to know where their budgets were going.
The Search Partner detail matters because PMax doesn’t offer the same Search Partners toggle as standard Search campaigns, though advertisers can use exclusions. Seeing which partner domains are getting impressions and cross-referencing that against overall Search Partner performance in the channel report gives you a data point you didn’t have in practice before, even if the report itself isn’t new.
The brand safety framing is worth keeping in mind. Google’s documentation describes this report as a way to check where ads appear, not to evaluate performance. That distinction matters for how you use the data and how you talk about it with clients or stakeholders who may expect more granularity than it provides.
Looking Ahead
Google has steadily expanded PMax reporting over the past year, moving from limited channel visibility to surface-level breakdowns to the placement-level impression data now appearing for more accounts.
Whether placement-level performance metrics follow is an open question. Google hasn’t confirmed plans to add clicks, conversions, or cost to the placement report. For now, checking whether the data is available in your account and reviewing the Search Partner domains to get your impressions is the practical next step.
