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The short answer
Performance Max can win searches your Search campaigns were built for. They do not bid against each other, but when Performance Max wins, the conversion is credited to it. Oppy compares the search categories Performance Max reports with the keywords your Search campaigns run.
Why it matters
The Search campaign's numbers fall, somebody cuts its budget, and Performance Max looks better for doing work the Search campaign was doing. Over a few months, control moves from campaigns you steer to one you do not.
It is not a story about inflated prices. Google resolves the overlap internally and the higher Ad Rank wins. It is a story about attribution and about who decides.
How Oppy decides
The check runs on accounts with Performance Max whose search categories could be read.
Checks that weigh money or clicks judge what they find on your own account's numbers, not on one figure applied to every account, so what counts as a problem on a small account is not the same on a large one. Checks on settings read how the account is set up.
When there is too little to go on, the check says so instead of guessing. A finding always comes with the rows behind it, so you can read the evidence before you decide.
| This check | |
|---|---|
| Step of the audit | Structure |
| What it reads | Keywords report |
| Needs trustworthy conversions | No. It does not wait for the tracking step. |
| What happens next | Reported in the audit with the rows behind it. The decision stays with you. |
Check it yourself in Google Ads
- In Google Ads, open Insights and reports, then Search terms, and filter on the Performance Max campaign. Search term insights also group its searches into categories.
- Note the categories that bring the most clicks.
- Search your Search campaigns' keywords for the same phrases.
- Compare how the Search campaign's traffic changed after Performance Max started.
What to do about it
Keep exact match keywords for the searches that matter most in your Search campaigns: Google gives an identical exact match keyword priority over Performance Max.
Add brand exclusions to Performance Max if brand searches are the overlap, and review its search terms monthly.
Terms on this page
Other checks in this area
The checks next to this one in Shopping and feeds, each with its own page.