Performance Max opened up. Now there is no excuse not to audit it

The main objection to Performance Max was that nobody could see inside it. That is much less true than it was, which removes the excuse.

What actually changed

Asset and channel level reporting has improved considerably, and AI generated assets are now flagged as such and can be controlled. You can see far more of what the campaign is doing with your money.

What an audit actually looks at

Which channel is carrying the result, because Shopping and Display behave nothing alike. Which assets are generated rather than yours. Whether search themes are pulling in brand traffic you would have won for free. And whether the campaign is quietly absorbing conversions from elsewhere.

The generated asset problem

Automatically generated headlines and images are convenient and frequently off brand. They are now flagged, which means leaving bad ones running is a choice rather than an accident.

I check these against the original source before publishing, and I will send you the source if you want to see it. I do not quote a number I have not read myself.