[Google Ads Script] PMax Trending Search Categories

Performance Max is a black box. Extremely little data about its performance is shared with us via the Google Ads interface.

Yet, we all crave this data. 

In fact, if I had to choose between a Google Sheet with yesterday’s PPC stats and my morning coffee… well, my Harrar French press would win.

BUT, the thing is:

We are PPC professionals. We want to optimize based on performance data. Reduce wasted ad spend in areas with low click value. Increase clicks from targets that show great results.

Yet Google is making it harder to do our jobs each and every day by hiding valuable data in the interface.

Luckily for us, the Google Ads API allows us to pull some more data from the Google Ads platform.

And we can use a script to do some nice things with this data!

Imagine having a Google Sheet at your fingertips that shows what search categories are trending in your Performance Max campaigns.

–> Easily see how the PMax algorithm is changing, and matching your assets to new user queries.
–> Quickly see what types of searches these newly inserted products are being matched to.
–> Promptly respond to downward trends in search terms that showed great conversion value in the past.

And there’s more.

You can use the insights to:

– Add trending search categories as new (broad) keywords to your standard search campaigns 
– Tailor your creatives based on trends
– Add popular search categories to your landing pages and Merchant Center feed descriptions to boost performance

I will take any additional insight I can get since Google gives so little on PMax. That’s why I created this script.

Here’s a script to monitor how Performance Max is matching your assets to user queries, and what is changing in the search behavior of your audience.

The script creates a report in Google Sheets. The report lists the search categories that show a significant increase or drop in impressions. It compares last week’s data to the week before.

LINK: https://nilsrooijmans.com/google-ads-script-pmax-trending-search-categories/

– Nils

Author: Nils Rooijmans

Google Ads Performance Architect with a passion for PPC Automation & AI, in particular via Google Ads Scripts.