About the channel performance report for Performance Max

Channel performance reporting helps you understand how your Performance Max campaign is delivering results across Google’s full range of channels and inventory. On the channel performance page, you’ll find a campaign-level performance summary along with data visualization to help you determine which channels you’re engaging customers on and how they’re contributing to your conversion goals.

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Benefits of channel performance reporting for Performance Max

The channel performance report offers the following key benefits:
  • Understand how your Performance Max campaign is performing across all of Google's channels and inventory, and clearly see how each channel contributes to your overall conversion goals.
  • Drill down into specific channels and ad formats, including video and ads with product feeds, to pinpoint opportunities for improvement.
  • Utilize diagnostics that surface potential issues on different channels, enabling you to quickly identify problem areas and prioritize your efforts.

Navigate the channel performance report

Access your channel performance report

  1. Go to Campaigns within the Campaigns menu Campaigns Icon.
  2. Select a Performance Max campaign.
  3. Select the Insights and reports drop down in the section menu.
  4. Select channel performance.

You can select Download on the table toolbar to download any information found on the channel distribution table.

Tip: Select Segment Segment on the table toolbar to add a segment, such as “Ads using product data”, to your channel distribution table. If you need to add more than one segment, you can select Download and then More options and add multiple segments to your report download.

The channel performance report has 3 sections: Performance summary, Channels-to-Goals chart, and channel distribution table.

Performance summary
The Performance summary section provides the following information at the campaign level:
  • Actual ROAS or CPA: The actual ROAS or CPA of your Performance Max campaign during the selected time period
  • Average target ROAS and CPA: Your average target ROAS or CPA during the selected time period
  • Interactions: Total clicks and engagements of the campaign
  • Conversions: The number of conversions attributed to the campaign
  • Conv. value: The total value of the conversions attributed to the campaign
  • Cost: The cost of the campaign
Channels-to-Goals chart
The Channels-to-Goals chart shows how Performance Max uses various channels to help your goals. You’ll see key performance metrics gathered by each channel. These metrics can help you understand how each channel contributes towards your campaign goals based on inputs including your campaign objectives, targets, and specified budget.
There are three dropdowns at the top of the report that allow you to further customize your view:
  • Channel: Filter for a specific channel or all channels
  • Format: Filter for “Ads using product data”, “Ads using video”, or “All ads”
  • Conversions: Filter for “Conversions” or “Results”
    • Filtering for "Conversions" shows the conversions your campaign is optimized for.
    • "Results" shows conversions for all of your goals, including those you aren’t optimizing for in your campaign.
Channel distribution table
The channel distribution table provides you with the most detailed information. The columns in this table include all of the available metrics.
To slice data by additional segments, select the Segment Segment icon on the table toolbar and add your desired segments, such as “Ads using product data”.
Diagnostics and the status column
The status column provides diagnostics that surface potential issues on specific channels so you know where to prioritize your efforts.
Status Meaning
Not eligible

The channel can't show ads.

Eligible (Limited)

Issues are present that are limiting where and when ads can show.

Eligible The channel has no issues.
Tip: Hover over the status column for additional details and guidance on how to fix any issues. Select View channel diagnostics to view detailed statuses and guidance.

Below are some of the diagnostics you may see if we detect issues that are limiting your campaign’s performance on a particular channel.

Type Description Examples

Asset group policy issues

All or some of your asset groups are disapproved or limited.
  • Asset groups are disapproved
  • Asset groups are limited by policy

Product feed issues

There are issues with your product feed or Google Merchant Center account.
  • Invalid or inactive Merchant Center account
  • Campaign has no products
  • Some products are not approved in Merchant Center
  • All products are paused
  • Merchant Center account is suspended / at risk of suspension
  • Products are missing GTIN (Global Trade Item Number)
  • Missing product group / listing group
  • Excluded product or listing group
  • Products out of stock
Missing and disapproved assets The channel can’t show ads or is limited due to missing or disapproved assets.
  • Campaign has a call goal but call asset is missing or disapproved
  • Campaign has a lead form goal but lead form assets are missing or disapproved
  • Channel requires a location asset to show ads (Maps)
Final URL expansion Final URL expansion is not enabled, limiting serving on Search.
  • Final URL expansion is not enabled

Missing video assets

Ads can't show in the channel effectively without at least 1 video asset.
  • The campaign is missing a video asset
Campaign is budget constrained

The channel has not shown ads recently and the campaign is limited by budget.

In this scenario, you may see the following message: “This channel is not showing ads because the budget is being prioritized for conversions on more efficient channels”

Note: If you aren’t showing ads on a particular channel and there are no issues present, this likely indicates that Performance Max is simply bidding on channels that provide a higher return-on-investment (ROI) in that moment. Performance Max aims to maximize performance across channels by bidding on the inventory that’s predicted to deliver the most cost-efficient, highest ROI conversions in real time. This means spending on the channels that are expected to drive the best results for your particular goals and targets within your specified budget.
If you’d like additional guidance on how to take action on your channel performance report, please see our guide on how to troubleshoot the Performance Max channel performance report.

Segments and metrics

Note: You can view any date range after November 17, 2024 using the date picker.

Segments

Segment Definition
Channel

The channel where an ad was served, including:

  • Search
  • Google Display Network
  • YouTube
  • Discover
  • Maps
  • Gmail

Learn more about how Performance Max channels are defined.

Ads using product data

Ads that use data from a Google Merchant Center feed. This includes shopping ads on Search, dynamic remarketing ads, and other ad formats, such as videos with product data on YouTube.

Ads using video

Ads that use the video ad format.

Conversion category The conversion category, also known as the conversion goal, that conversions belong to.

Metrics

You can review the following metrics in your report:

  • Impressions: The number of times your ad was shown on a specific channel
  • Clicks: The total clicks received from a channel
  • Interactions: A combination of total number of clicks and engagements on your ads from a channel.
  • Conversions: The total number of conversions from a channel
  • Conversion value: The total value of the conversions from a channel
  • Cost: The cost of ads running for a channel
  • Results: The number of conversions you've received from the primary conversion actions in each of the goals in your account for a specific channel. Learn more About Results Reporting
  • Results value: The conversion value you've received for the primary conversion actions in each of the goals in your account for a specific channel. Learn more About Results Value

Frequently asked questions

Refer to Troubleshoot the Performance Max channel performance report for help with specific performance concerns.

Does the report support attribution modeling for conversion actions?
Yes, the report supports whatever attribution model the advertiser uses for each conversion action.
What type of conversions are included in the channel performance report?
All conversions reported in your Performance Max campaigns are included in the report. This includes offline conversions such as local actions, store visits, and store sales, Floodlight conversions for Search Ads 360 advertisers, and all other types of conversions that are included in your Performance Max campaign reporting.
What if a channel isn’t spending?
Check the status column in your channel distribution table to understand if there are any issues preventing a channel from showing ads. If not, this likely indicates that Performance Max is simply bidding on channels that provide a higher return-on-investment (ROI) at that moment. Performance Max aims to maximize performance across channels by bidding on the inventory that’s predicted to deliver the most cost-efficient, highest ROI conversions in real time. This means spending on the channels that are expected to drive the best results for your particular goals and targets within your specified budget.
If you’d like additional guidance on how to take action on your channel performance report, refer to our guide on how to Troubleshoot the Performance Max channel performance report.
Performance Max seems to be serving heavily on a channel I don’t think fits my brand well. How can I reduce?
Performance Max campaigns have many brand suitability features at the account-level to ensure that your ads are served to the right users for your business, while maximizing performance. Learn more about How to use brand suitability features in Performance Max.
To reduce Performance Max serving on a channel you don't think fits your brand, you can use negative keywords and placement exclusions. Negative keywords can prevent ads from serving and negatively impact a campaign's performance. Placement exclusions can prevent ads from serving on specific websites, apps, or YouTube channels.
Finally, if you’re concerned about invalid traffic and you’re a lead gen advertiser or your campaigns are optimizing toward a shallow conversion it’s important to ensure a strong measurement foundation in order to drive quality traffic. Please refer to this article for best practices on generating high-quality leads.
Can I view channel level conversions driven to specific stores?
No, all offline conversions driven to each store will be summed in the “Total conversion” column.
I noticed that my image assets are generating conversions in my asset report, but I don’t have any conversions on Display in the channel performance report?
Image assets can be used in channels besides Display such as in the Discover feed, YouTube image ads, or as image extensions in Search.
What are Results and Results Value?
Results Reporting highlights and explains the value and results your campaigns are delivering for the goals set up in your account. It surfaces the full value of your campaigns performance, illustrating the quantity of conversions driven across each conversion goal category such as Purchase.
How can I see Shopping ads?
In the table view, you can segment by “ads using product data”. This will help you to find where ads that are pulling data from your Google Merchant Center feed are surfacing. You can see this breakdown by channel. This includes Shopping Ads (formerly known as Product Listing Ads) on Search, Dynamic Remarketing on Display, or video ads that showcase your products on YouTube.

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