Finding maximum success through paid search.

Challenge

Determine the most effective use of paid search budgets

A major appliance brand was looking to optimize their substantial paid search budget by comparing the effectiveness of Google Standard Shopping Campaigns (SSC) against Performance Max (PMax).

SSCs include manually managed product ads that appear on Google Search and the Shopping tab. Through these campaigns, advertisers have control over bidding and product segmentation to tailor performance to their goals.

PMax is an automated campaign that runs ads across all Google platforms—Search, Gmail, YouTube, Maps and more. Rather than manual controls, advertisers rely on Google’s AI to optimize for high-value, conversion-driven actions.

For this advertising partner, it was important to identify which paid search product could most effectively maximize their investment.

Solution

Find the best-of-the-best with a 50/50 campaign split

In order to clearly understand audience behavior within paid search, we conducted a test that evenly divided our partner’s funds between PMax and SSC.

By committing to similar campaign inputs—budgets, durations and third-party audience segments—we created an ideal environment to observe whether a customizable, manually managed campaign could deliver more ROAS than an AI-driven solution.

Activation

Smart automation is the undisputed ROAS winner

The test ran for two weeks from January 28 until February 11. The SSC campaign was set to Maximum Clicks, while the PMax campaign leveraged dynamic bidding capabilities to personalize impressions and optimize online and in-store revenue.

The result? PMax’s advanced AI and audience targeting delivered substantial efficiency gains over SSC. Its ability to dynamically optimize across Google’s entire ecosystem resulted in better conversion rates and revenue growth.

SSCs are ideal for advertisers who want more precise control over campaign details. But for those who require an immediate impact on sales, we will continue to recommend PMax campaigns and Google’s cutting-edge AI automation.