Google is launching new Performance Max controls and reporting: audience exclusions, expanded reporting, and budget forecasting tools.
What’s new. Google announced a mix of “steering updates” and “actionable insights” for PMax:
- First-party audience exclusions: You can exclude customer lists to shift spend toward net-new customer acquisition instead of repeat conversions.
- Budget reporting: A new in-platform report projects end-of-month spend and shows how daily budget changes impact performance.
- Full audience reporting: You get detailed breakdowns by demographics, including age and gender.
- Network segmentation: You can segment placement reports by network, now under When and where ads showed.
Why we care. These updates help address concerns about PMax’s lack of control and transparency. Exclusions help you avoid wasting spend on existing customers, while improved reporting gives you clearer signals for optimization, budgeting, and brand safety decisions.
Google’s announcement. New Performance Max steering and reporting updates coming in 2026
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