Greater Transparency in PMax – What It Means for Marketers and Brands
Google has announced major updates to Performance Max, finally addressing long-standing concerns around transparency and control. We explore what’s changing, how it compares to the old “black box” model, and what it means for marketers and brands moving forward.
By Ian Khan
At Google Marketing Live 2025, several significant updates to Performance Max (PMax) were announced, aimed at enhancing transparency, control and performance – developments that carry important implications for both marketers and brands.
Advertisers will soon be able to access detailed reports showing how PMax campaigns perform across different Google channels, such as Search, Display, YouTube and Shopping. This added visibility will enable more informed decisions around budget allocation, creative optimisation and channel-specific strategy.
Crucially, the updates directly address one of the most persistent concerns shared by advertisers: transparency. Agencies and brands will now gain access to granular reporting on search terms, ad placements and user journeys within the Google ecosystem. These changes allow marketers to understand not just that a campaign is working, but why – and which touchpoints are contributing to performance.
This marks a major departure from the previous “black box” experience many had with PMax. Until now, agencies operated with limited visibility into how budgets were being distributed across channels, where ads were appearing, and what role PMax was playing in the broader user journey. Performance insights were often high-level and disconnected, making it difficult to optimise campaigns confidently or assess brand safety, particularly for clients with strict media and brand guidelines.
Previously, to work around these limitations, agencies had to rely on broader account trends, inferred insights and manual interventions – including requesting negative keyword exclusions via Google support, rather than through a self-serve feature. Reporting on brand exposure, placements and search intent was limited, making it harder to reassure brands that their campaigns were aligned with their values and goals.
With the introduction of channel-level performance reporting, enhanced search term visibility, and expanded negative keyword controls (up to 10,000 per campaign), agencies are now better equipped to manage and optimise PMax campaigns with precision. These updates support a more strategic, data-led approach and allow PMax to play a clearer, more accountable role across the full customer funnel — from awareness through to conversion.
At Tug, we’re committed to helping clients make the most of these new PMax capabilities. By combining performance data with strategic insight, we enable our clients to optimise targeting, refine creative and improve acquisition outcomes. Whether it’s interpreting placement data, improving campaign efficiency, or safeguarding brand integrity, our focus is on turning these updates into measurable results.
As PMax evolves into a more transparent and performance-driven platform, now is the perfect time for brands to re-evaluate their approach and work with a partner who understands how to unlock its full potential.
