{"id":695081,"date":"2025-10-16T05:30:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T02:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/google-ads-pmax-the-truth-about-audience-signals-and-search-themes\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T05:30:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T02:30:17","slug":"google-ads-pmax-the-truth-about-audience-signals-and-search-themes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/google-ads-pmax-the-truth-about-audience-signals-and-search-themes\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Ads PMax: The truth about audience signals and search themes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dd271a68ef\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3dd271a68ef\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/google-ads-pmax-the-truth-about-audience-signals-and-search-themes\/#Think_audience_signals_drive_PMax_Think_again_Learn_what_really_controls_your_Performance_Max_targeting_%E2%80%93_and_how_to_make_it_work_for_you\" >Think audience signals drive PMax? Think again. Learn what really controls your Performance Max targeting \u2013\u00a0and how to make it work for you.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/google-ads-pmax-the-truth-about-audience-signals-and-search-themes\/#Why_Performance_Max_is_different_than_other_Google_Ads_campaign_types\" >Why Performance Max is different than other Google Ads campaign types<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/google-ads-pmax-the-truth-about-audience-signals-and-search-themes\/#Audience_signals_vs_audience_targeting\" >Audience signals vs. audience targeting<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/google-ads-pmax-the-truth-about-audience-signals-and-search-themes\/#Search_themes_vs_keyword_targeting\" >Search themes vs. keyword targeting<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/google-ads-pmax-the-truth-about-audience-signals-and-search-themes\/#How_to_actually_control_your_Performance_Max_campaign_targeting\" >How to actually control your Performance Max campaign targeting<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/google-ads-pmax-the-truth-about-audience-signals-and-search-themes\/#Should_you_use_audience_signals_and_search_themes\" >Should you use audience signals and search themes?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/google-ads-pmax-the-truth-about-audience-signals-and-search-themes\/#One_more_PMax_mistake_to_avoid\" >One more PMax mistake to avoid<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Think_audience_signals_drive_PMax_Think_again_Learn_what_really_controls_your_Performance_Max_targeting_%E2%80%93_and_how_to_make_it_work_for_you\"><\/span>Think audience signals drive PMax? Think again. Learn what really controls your Performance Max targeting \u2013\u00a0and how to make it work for you.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"bialty-container\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-9-16 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/about:blank\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" data-rocket-lazyload=\"fitvidscompatible\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1127148331?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\"><\/iframe><noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1127148331?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"422\" height=\"750\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>If you\u2019re running Performance Max, or planning to launch a new campaign, I want to clear up one of the most misunderstood parts of Google Ads: audience signals and search <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">theme<\/a>s. Understanding how to use (and not misuse) signals can strongly impact your PMax success.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"why-performance-max-is-different-than-other-google-ads-campaign-types\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_Performance_Max_is_different_than_other_Google_Ads_campaign_types\"><\/span>Why Performance Max is different than other Google Ads campaign types<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you stop reading here and take nothing else away from this article, remember this: <strong>You do not get to pick your audience or keyword targeting in PMax.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is where a lot of advertisers get <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>ped up. <\/p>\n<p>Unlike traditional Search campaigns where you build a keyword list, or Demand Gen where you choose specific demographics or interest-based audiences, or Display\/Video where you can pick exact content placements \u2013 PMax is purely a goal-based campaign. Its primary directive is to achieve your conversion goal. That means your <em>conversion tracking <\/em>and your <em>bid strategy<\/em> are what actually determine who sees your ads.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder the hood\u201d of Performance Max, optimized targeting and dynamic search <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> decide who will see your ads, based on how likely Google thinks they are to help you achieve your goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You can provide the AI with a starting set of directions or \u201csuggestions\u201d via audience signals and search themes. If the AI likes your suggestions, it will follow them. And if it doesn\u2019t, it will ignore them.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"audience-signals-vs-audience-targeting\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Audience_signals_vs_audience_targeting\"><\/span>Audience signals vs. audience targeting<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>What really happens when you add audience signals to an asset group in your PMax campaign? You\u2019re giving the AI a hint about who your ideal customer might be. Or to use Google\u2019s words, you\u2019re combining your expertise with Google\u2019s AI.<\/p>\n<p>Within the Google Ads interface, these audience signals look exactly like audience targeting. Your Performance Max audience signals can include:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your Data Segments: Customer lists (Customer Match), <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a> viewers, website visitors, etc.<\/li>\n<li>Google Segments: In-market, affinity, detailed demographic, or life events.<\/li>\n<li>Custom Segments: Based on interests, websites or apps.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The key thing to remember is that these are just <em>signals<\/em>. The AI takes your suggestions, but it\u2019s not restricted to them.<\/p>\n<p>For example, let\u2019s say you give your PMax campaign the affinity segment \u201cluxury shoppers\u201d as an audience signal, because you sell high-end products. If the AI, over time, sees that the affinity segment \u201cvalue shoppers\u201d actually click through your ads and convert at a better rate, it\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>prioritize serving ads to those value shoppers rather than luxury shoppers. The AI will go where the conversions are, regardless of your initial signal. This is why conversion tracking is paramount.<\/p>\n<p>Contrast that with a Demand Gen campaign. If you add the affinity segment \u201cluxury shoppers\u201d to Demand Gen, and optimized targeting is turned off, you will only show ads to users who match the luxury shoppers segment \u2013 even if it doesn\u2019t convert well. If you use the Maximize Conversions bid strategy, Demand Gen will continue to spend your budget anyway. If you use Target CPA or Target ROAS, Demand Gen may stop spending if it can\u2019t get conversions at an appropriate ROI out of your selected audience.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"search-themes-vs-keyword-targeting\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Search_themes_vs_keyword_targeting\"><\/span>Search themes vs. keyword targeting<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The same principle applies to search themes in Performance Max. If you\u2019re familiar with keyword-based Google Search campaigns, you might assume search themes are just a new name for keywords \u2013 but they\u2019re absolutely not the same thing.<\/p>\n<p>In a Search campaign, a keyword sets rules around which queries can trigger your ads. Those rules may be broader than you want them to be, but that\u2019s a topic for a different day! The point is, you can only serve ads on queries that match your keywords.<\/p>\n<p>In PMax, a search theme is an optional suggestion you provide to the AI about the kinds of queries you think your ideal customer is using. If queries that match those search themes convert well and meet your goals, then you\u2019ll continue to serve ads there. If they don\u2019t, you won\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Why would you use search themes? Some use cases might be:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To give your PMax campaign a \u201chead start\u201d on the types of queries you want<\/li>\n<li>If you\u2019re launching a new product and Google\u2019s AI hasn\u2019t had enough time to crawl your assets and landing pages to figure out the right search queries yet<\/li>\n<li>If you want to let Google know you\u2019re interested in showing up on competitor-related searches.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, if you give the AI 50 search themes (the current maximum per asset group) that are not relevant to your website or that simply don\u2019t lead to conversions, the PMax campaign is not going to spend its budget chasing those themes. It will prioritize the search queries that the data shows are most likely to convert, even if they aren\u2019t included in your search themes. Again, this is why conversion tracking is paramount.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-to-actually-control-your-performance-max-campaign-targeting\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_actually_control_your_Performance_Max_campaign_targeting\"><\/span>How to actually control your Performance Max campaign targeting<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>So, if signals aren\u2019t the primary control for Performance Max targeting, what is? If you want to influence where your ads show up, you need to focus your efforts on the core elements of the campaign. Those are:<\/p>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Conversion Tracking: This is like the compass for your AI-powered self-driving car. It must be set up accurately and be measuring the actions that are truly valuable for your business.<\/li>\n<li>Bid Strategy: This tells PMax whether to focus on volume (Maximize Conversions, Maximize Conversion Value) or efficiency (Target CPA, Target ROAS). Because PMax only uses Smart Bidding, your conversion tracking is the key foundation required for your bid strategy to be effective.<\/li>\n<li>Assets (Creative): Your headlines, descriptions, images, and videos are all that the end user sees, so this determines whether or not they\u2019ll engage with your ads, visit your landing page, and convert or not convert. The messages you convey via your assets \u201cdrive\u201d your targeting much more than your optional signals.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2 id=\"should-you-use-audience-signals-and-search-themes\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Should_you_use_audience_signals_and_search_themes\"><\/span>Should you use audience signals and search themes?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>By all means, use audience signals and search themes in your Performance Max campaigns. They can be helpful starting points, especially for new campaigns or when you have high-quality first-party data (like a Customer Match list).<\/p>\n<p>Just remember that your PMax campaign could still serve ads to absolutely no one who matches any of the signals you provided, if the AI determines those people don\u2019t convert as well as other segments. Don\u2019t mistake signals for targeting!<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"one-more-pmax-mistake-to-avoid\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"One_more_PMax_mistake_to_avoid\"><\/span>One more PMax mistake to avoid<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I often see this mistake when I audit Google Ads accounts: running a Performance Max campaign with multiple asset groups that have the exact same creative assets but use different audience signals\/search themes.<\/p>\n<p>I will repeat one more time: signals are not targeting! <\/p>\n<p>By running the same assets multiple times over, all you\u2019re doing is fragmenting the AI\u2019s learning and wasting money on duplication.<\/p>\n<p>The entire reason you create a different asset group is because you have different <em>assets<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019d like to give those groups different signals, go for it. If you\u2019d like to give them all the same signals, also go for it. <\/p>\n<p>The distinction between asset groups should be the creative and\/or product mix, not just the signals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>This article is part of our ongoing bi-weekly Search Engine Land <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a>, Everything you need to know about Google Ads in less than 3 minutes. Every other Wednesday, Jyll highlights a different Google Ads feature, and what you need to know to get the best results from it \u2013 all in a quick 3-minute read.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/google-ads-pmax-audience-signals-search-themes-463329\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Think audience signals drive PMax? Think again. Learn what really controls your Performance Max targeting \u2013\u00a0and how to make it work for you. If you\u2019re running Performance Max, or planning to launch a new campaign, I want to clear up one of the most misunderstood parts of Google Ads: audience signals and search themes. Understanding&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":695082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2025\/10\/Week-33-landscape-cover.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-695081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695081"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695081\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}