In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital advertising, Google’s Performance Max (PMax) and AI Max campaigns have emerged as powerful tools for B2B marketers seeking to leverage automation and artificial intelligence to drive lead generation and account-based marketing efforts. As we navigate through 2025, these campaign types have undergone significant enhancements, offering unprecedented opportunities for B2B companies to reach decision-makers with greater precision and efficiency than ever before.
This comprehensive guide explores the latest updates to Google Ads Performance Max and AI Max campaigns, with a special focus on how B2B marketers can leverage these tools to generate high-quality leads, support account-based marketing initiatives, promote events, and optimize product demos. We’ll dive deep into setup procedures, optimization techniques, and integration strategies that will help you maximize your return on ad spend (ROAS) and minimize cost per lead (CPL) in the competitive B2B landscape.
Understanding Performance Max and AI Max Campaigns in 2025
What is Performance Max?
Performance Max is Google’s AI-driven campaign type that allows advertisers to run ads across Google’s entire advertising inventory from a single campaign. Launched in 2021, Performance Max has evolved significantly by 2025, becoming an essential component of many B2B marketing strategies.
Performance Max campaigns leverage Google’s machine learning algorithms to automatically show your ads across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and Maps, optimizing in real-time to find the most valuable conversion opportunities. The system uses your assets, audience signals, and conversion goals to determine where, when, and to whom your ads should appear.
According to Tal Akabas, Director of Product Management at Google Ads, “Performance Max gives you the full power of Google’s channels and AI, all in one campaign to maximize your performance. In 2025, we’ll continue growing Performance Max in several key areas to help you improve results and gain more transparency into what’s driving performance.”
What is AI Max?
AI Max is Google’s newest feature suite for Search campaigns, introduced in 2025. It brings the best of Google’s AI capabilities to traditional Search campaigns, allowing advertisers to expand their reach while maintaining granular controls and reporting transparency.
Brian Burdick, Senior Director of Product Management at Google Ads, describes AI Max as “a comprehensive suite of targeting and creative enhancements that brings the best of Google AI to help you take your Search campaigns to the next level.”
AI Max includes three core components:
- Search term matching – Expands upon existing keywords using broad match and keywordless technology
- Text customization – Generates new text assets based on your landing page, ads, and keywords
- Final URL expansion – Sends users to the most relevant pages on your website
What’s New in 2025?
Performance Max and AI Max have received several significant updates in 2025, making them more powerful and transparent for B2B marketers:
New Campaign Controls for Performance Max
- Campaign-level negative keywords – Now available to all advertisers, allowing you to exclude specific queries for brand suitability or other reasons
- New customer acquisition goal with high value mode – Helps prioritize winning new customers with higher lifetime value
- Brand exclusions for different formats – More granular control over how brand exclusions work across different ad formats
- “URL contains” rules for campaigns with product feeds – Target traffic based on specific page categories on your website
- Demographic exclusions – Exclude specific age brackets from your targeting
- Device targeting – Customize targeting to computer, mobile, or tablet traffic
Enhanced Reporting for Performance Max
- Channel performance reporting – Understand how your campaign is delivering results across Google’s full range of channels
- Search themes usefulness indicator – See whether your provided search themes are driving incremental traffic
- Search terms insights source column – Identify whether queries are coming from Performance Max’s keywordless targeting or from your added search themes
- Asset group segmentation and downloading – Break down your results more granularly and access this data outside of the Google Ads UI
AI Max Innovations for Search Campaigns
- Keywordless targeting – Find more relevant and high-performing search queries based on your landing pages and assets
- Locations of interest – Reach specific customers based on their geographical intent at the ad group level
- Brand controls – Specify the exact brands you want your ads to be associated with at both campaign and ad group levels
- URL parameter – Greater visibility into search terms across all match types
- Improved asset reports – See how your assets are performing against KPIs like spend and conversions
B2B Use Cases for Performance Max and AI Max
Lead Generation Optimization
B2B lead generation through Performance Max requires a strategic approach focused on quality over quantity. According to research from Optimum Click, “For B2B lead gen to truly work, you need lead generation tactics that zero in on sales qualified leads instead of flooding your inbox with random sign-ups.”
The key to successful B2B lead generation with Performance Max lies in:
- Aligning with your sales process – Ensure your campaign objective is configured to track marketing-qualified or sales-qualified leads, not just raw form submissions
- Implementing offline conversion tracking – Feed conversion data from your CRM to Google Ads to teach PMax to seek leads that become actual revenue opportunities
- Optimizing landing pages for B2B conversion – Present product demos or white papers that solve identifiable pain points, add clear CTAs, and provide trust signals like case studies or certifications
A well-structured Performance Max campaign can reduce cost per lead by 34% when optimized for sales-qualified leads, according to data from GrowLeads. Additionally, brands using creative optimization frameworks have achieved 65% better click-through rates in their B2B campaigns.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Applications
Account-based marketing has become a cornerstone strategy for many B2B companies, and Performance Max offers unique capabilities to support ABM initiatives in 2025.
Ilse Van Rensburg, a B2B marketing expert at Cognism, explains: “An ABM campaign is a B2B digital marketing strategy where sales and marketing align to engage with potential customers who will most likely bring in the highest revenue.”
To leverage Performance Max for ABM:
- Create target account lists – Upload customer match lists with business emails segmented by industry, company size, or sales stage
- Develop account-specific asset groups – Create customized messaging for different industries with relevant case studies and social proof
- Implement location targeting – Target specific business locations of key accounts using radius targeting around corporate headquarters
The effectiveness of ABM through Performance Max is evident in case studies like the “Cupcake Campaign” mentioned by Cognism, which resulted in an 80% increase in response rates when targeting key accounts with personalized messaging and direct mail integration.
Event Promotion Strategies
B2B events, whether virtual or in-person, benefit significantly from the cross-channel reach of Performance Max campaigns. For effective event promotion:
- Create time-bound campaigns – Set specific start and end dates aligned with your event timeline
- Develop event-specific asset groups – Highlight speakers, agenda items, and the unique value proposition of your event
- Implement audience segmentation – Target past attendees and create custom segments for industry-specific professionals
AI Max can enhance event promotion by using the new “locations of interest” feature to target potential attendees based on their geographical intent, even if they’re not physically located in the event area. This is particularly valuable for attracting out-of-town attendees to conferences and trade shows.
Product Demo Optimization
Product demonstrations are critical conversion points in the B2B sales process. Performance Max and AI Max can optimize the demo request process through:
- Demo-focused asset groups – Highlight key product features and benefits with screenshots or video snippets
- Lead qualification in forms – Add qualifying questions to demo request forms and implement lead scoring
- High-intent targeting – Focus on users who have visited product pages or searched for product-specific keywords
According to B2B marketing experts, campaigns optimized for demo requests should use the “Maximize Conversion Value” bidding strategy with values assigned based on the historical close rates of demo-generated leads.
Step-by-Step Walkthrough: Setting Up and Optimizing for B2B
Setting Up a Performance Max Campaign for B2B Lead Generation
Step 1: Define Your B2B Conversion Goals
For B2B marketers, setting the right conversion goals is critical to PMax success:
- Identify your primary B2B conversion actions:
- Form submissions for lead generation
- Demo requests
- Whitepaper/case study downloads
- Webinar registrations
- Free trial sign-ups
- Assign appropriate values to different conversion types:
- High-value conversions (demo requests): $200-500
- Medium-value conversions (whitepaper downloads): $50-150
- Low-value conversions (newsletter sign-ups): $10-30
- Configure conversion tracking:
- Set up Google Ads conversion tracking code on your website
- Implement offline conversion tracking for sales-qualified leads
- Connect your CRM data for closed-loop reporting
Step 2: Create Your B2B Performance Max Campaign
- Access Google Ads and start a new campaign:
- Sign in to your Google Ads account
- Click the “Campaigns” tab
- Click the “+” button to create a new campaign
- Select campaign goals and type:
- Choose “Leads” as your campaign goal
- Select “Performance Max” as the campaign type
- Configure campaign settings:
- Name your campaign descriptively (e.g., “B2B SaaS Demo Requests – PMax”)
- Set your bidding strategy (Maximize conversion value with target ROAS for established accounts)
- Define your budget based on industry benchmarks (minimum $50/day recommended for B2B)
- Set your campaign duration (ongoing or with specific end date for event promotions)
Step 3: Create Targeted Asset Groups for B2B Audiences
- Develop audience signals:
- Custom segments based on B2B intent keywords
- Upload customer match lists of target accounts (for ABM)
- Include industry-specific affinity audiences
- Add competitor URLs as custom segments
- Create compelling B2B assets:
- Headlines (10-15): Focus on pain points, solutions, and unique value propositions
- Descriptions (5-8): Emphasize ROI, case studies, and industry expertise
- Images (5-20): Include product screenshots, data visualizations, and professional team photos
- Logos: Upload your company logo in multiple formats
- Videos (optional): Product demos, customer testimonials, or explainer videos
- Optimize landing pages for B2B conversion:
- Ensure landing pages match ad messaging
- Include clear CTAs and lead capture forms
- Add trust signals (client logos, testimonials, certifications)
- Optimize page load speed and mobile responsiveness
Step 4: Implement B2B-Specific Campaign Controls
- Set up negative keywords at the campaign level:
- Exclude consumer-focused terms
- Filter out irrelevant industry terms
- Block competitor brand terms if needed
- Configure brand exclusions:
- Prevent your ads from appearing alongside competitor content
- Exclude irrelevant or inappropriate brand associations
- Utilize URL expansion controls:
- Limit URL expansion to specific sections of your website
- Exclude pages not relevant to your B2B campaign goals
- Implement location targeting:
- Target specific business districts or regions
- Exclude residential areas for B2B campaigns
- Use locations of interest for ABM targeting
Optimizing with AI Max Features for B2B
Step 1: Activate AI Max for Search Campaigns
- Enable AI Max features:
- Navigate to your Search campaign settings
- Find the AI Max section
- Toggle on AI Max features
- Configure keywordless targeting:
- Review and approve suggested targeting expansions
- Add industry-specific search themes
- Ensure B2B intent is captured in targeting signals
- Set up text customization:
- Review AI-generated headlines and descriptions
- Approve or modify suggested assets
- Ensure B2B messaging is maintained
Step 2: Optimize Asset Performance
- Review asset performance regularly:
- Check asset group performance reports weekly
- Identify top-performing and underperforming assets
- Note which messages resonate with B2B audiences
- Implement A/B testing for assets:
- Create variations of headlines and descriptions
- Test different value propositions
- Experiment with different CTAs
- Leverage AI-generated asset suggestions:
- Review AI-suggested assets
- Modify to ensure B2B relevance
- Implement high-potential suggestions
Step 3: Enhance with First-Party Data
- Upload customer match lists:
- Export customer data from your CRM
- Format according to Google’s requirements
- Upload as customer match audiences
- Create similar audiences:
- Build lookalike audiences based on your best customers
- Segment by industry, company size, or lifetime value
- Use as audience signals in your campaigns
- Implement offline conversion tracking:
- Track lead quality beyond the initial form submission
- Import sales-qualified lead data from your CRM
- Use this data to optimize for higher-quality leads
Step 4: Analyze Performance Reports to Improve ROAS and CPL
- Monitor channel performance:
- Review the new channel performance reports
- Identify which channels drive the most valuable B2B leads
- Adjust asset groups based on channel insights
- Analyze search terms insights:
- Review the search terms that trigger your ads
- Identify high-converting B2B search queries
- Add negative keywords for irrelevant terms
- Optimize for lead quality, not just quantity:
- Track lead-to-opportunity conversion rates
- Calculate cost per qualified lead (not just cost per lead)
- Adjust bidding strategies based on lead quality data
- Implement regular optimization cycles:
- Weekly: Review and adjust assets
- Bi-weekly: Analyze search terms and channel performance
- Monthly: Evaluate overall ROAS and CPL against benchmarks
- Quarterly: Reassess campaign structure and strategy
Combining PMax with Search Campaigns and First-Party Data
Strategic Integration of Performance Max and Search Campaigns
Performance Max and traditional Search campaigns can work together effectively when structured properly:
- Use Search campaigns for high-intent, bottom-funnel keywords
- Reserve branded terms and high-converting product/service keywords for Search campaigns
- Maintain granular control over ad copy and landing pages for these high-value terms
- Implement exact match and phrase match for precision targeting
- Deploy Performance Max for discovery and expansion
- Leverage PMax to find new, untapped B2B audiences
- Use PMax to capture long-tail queries that Search campaigns might miss
- Allow PMax to identify cross-channel opportunities beyond Search
- Implement a tiered bidding strategy
- Allocate higher bids to Search campaigns for known high-converting terms
- Use moderate bids for PMax campaigns to efficiently explore new opportunities
- Regularly review and adjust budget allocation based on performance
Cliff Sizemore, Senior Marketing Manager at LocaliQ, notes: “Costs are rising, but so is performance—65% of industries saw better conversion rates in 2025. The main takeaway here is that a smart strategy beats cheap clicks.”
Budget Allocation Best Practices
- Start with a 70/30 split (Search/PMax) for established accounts
- Maintain the majority of budget in proven Search campaigns
- Allocate 30% to PMax for expansion and discovery
- Adjust the ratio based on performance data over time
- Consider a 50/50 split for new accounts or markets
- Equal budget allocation allows faster data collection
- Helps identify which approach works better for your specific B2B offerings
- Shift budget toward the better-performing campaign type after 30-60 days
- Implement seasonal adjustments
- Increase PMax budget during discovery phases (early in sales cycles)
- Shift more budget to Search during peak conversion periods
- Align budget allocation with your B2B sales cycle and fiscal calendar
Leveraging First-Party Data for Enhanced Performance
In the increasingly privacy-focused digital landscape, first-party data has become invaluable for B2B marketers. Here’s how to leverage it effectively:
- Import customer data for audience targeting
- Upload customer lists segmented by industry, company size, or value
- Create separate lists for current customers, past customers, and prospects
- Refresh these lists regularly (at least monthly) to maintain accuracy
- Develop lookalike audiences from your best customers
- Identify your highest-value B2B customers
- Create similar audiences based on these seed lists
- Use these audiences as signals in your PMax campaigns
- Implement closed-loop reporting
- Track leads from ad click through to closed deal
- Import offline conversion data back into Google Ads
- Use this data to optimize campaigns toward quality, not just quantity
Owen Steer, Senior Strategist at Digital Radish, advises: “Run a pilot program. Probe the market with the one-to-many method. If you get good results, you can ramp up the pilot into one-to-few or one-to-one. You need to know the science behind your ABM operation to help you make informed decisions.”
Performance Benchmarks for B2B PMax Campaigns
Understanding industry benchmarks is essential for evaluating the performance of your B2B Performance Max campaigns. Here are the latest metrics from 2025:
ROAS Benchmarks by Channel
According to data from Varos, the median ROAS for B2B SaaS companies using Google Ads in April 2025 is 1.29, representing a 13.03% decrease compared to the previous month. However, when broken down by channel within Performance Max campaigns:
| Channel | Median ROAS | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| Performance Max | 1.98 | +18.99% |
| Search | 1.14 | -23.19% |
| Shopping | 3.84 | +59.41% |
| Video | 0.03 | -68.85% |
This data indicates that Performance Max is outperforming traditional Search campaigns for B2B advertisers, with a significantly higher ROAS and positive year-over-year growth.
Click-Through Rate and Cost Per Click
WordStream’s 2025 Google Ads benchmarks report reveals that the average click-through rate (CTR) across all industries is 6.66%. For B2B specifically:
- Business Services: 5.65% CTR
- Industrial & Commercial: 6.23% CTR
- Technology: 5.89% CTR
Cost per click (CPC) has increased for 87% of industries in 2025, with some sectors seeing substantial increases of over 40%. B2B marketers should expect to pay between $3.50 and $7.00 per click, depending on their specific industry and targeting parameters.
Conversion Rate and Cost Per Lead
The same WordStream report indicates that conversion rates have increased for 65% of industries in 2025, a positive trend after decreases in the previous year. For B2B marketers:
- Average conversion rate for Business Services: 3.8%
- Average cost per lead for Business Services: $65.23
- Average conversion rate for Technology: 3.2%
- Average cost per lead for Technology: $72.45
Performance Max campaigns specifically show stronger conversion rates than traditional campaign types, with B2B advertisers reporting 30-50% higher Return on Ad Spend than standard approaches when properly managed.
Industry-Specific Insights
Different B2B sectors are seeing varying results with Performance Max:
- SaaS and Technology
- Highest adoption rate of Performance Max (76% of advertisers)
- Average ROAS of 1.98
- 34% reduction in cost per qualified lead when using offline conversion tracking
- Professional Services
- 42% increase in lead quality with properly configured conversion values
- 28% higher conversion rates from video assets in Performance Max
- Most effective channel mix: Search (40%), Display (35%), YouTube (25%)
- Manufacturing and Industrial
- Slower adoption rate (42% of advertisers)
- 53% improvement in lead quality when using customer match lists
- Most effective asset types: Product specifications, technical diagrams, and case studies
Expert Commentary on PMax and AI Max for B2B
Industry experts and Google representatives have shared valuable insights on the evolution and application of Performance Max and AI Max for B2B marketing:
Tal Akabas, Director of Product Management, Google Ads: “In 2025, we’ll continue growing Performance Max in several key areas to help you improve results and gain more transparency into what’s driving performance. Start the year strong with new features like campaign-level negative keywords, new customer acquisition goals, and improved asset group reporting.”
Brian Burdick, Senior Director of Product Management, Google Ads: “AI is unleashing the full potential of Google Search by enabling it to become more exploratory and multimodal. As Google Search makes finding what you need even more effortless, opportunities to grow your business expand. We’re moving beyond simply matching to users’ queries to predicting what they might need next.”
Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Liaison: “Advertisers should continue thinking strategically about ad group theming because search term matching uses the keywords, assets and landing pages in your ad group to find new queries that are predicted to perform.”
Cliff Sizemore, Senior Marketing Manager at LocaliQ: “Costs are rising, but so is performance—65% of industries saw better conversion rates in 2025. The main takeaway here is that a smart strategy beats cheap clicks.”
Owen Steer, Senior Strategist at Digital Radish: “Getting buy-in from internal stakeholders, first and foremost, is absolutely essential. Of course, you need to secure a budget for your ABM campaign, but make sure you’re setting realistic expectations. Be aware that it’s a long-term campaign. ABM is not a short-term revenue grab.”
Marnie Giuranna Zaccaria, Global ABM Lead at Finastra: “We had 25 strategically-chosen accounts we were working on in our ABM team. The sales team chose three accounts to focus more attention on, and the others we clustered together to do a 1:few approach. Of the three we bet on, only one was worth the time and resources we put into it.”
Nick Mason, Founder and CEO of Turtl: “Start small and get an understanding of what you want to achieve.”
B2B Marketer’s Actionable Checklist for PMax and AI Max in 2025
Initial Setup Checklist
- Audit existing campaigns and identify opportunities for Performance Max
- Define clear conversion goals aligned with your B2B sales funnel
- Assign appropriate values to different conversion types
- Set up proper conversion tracking, including offline conversions
- Prepare high-quality assets tailored to B2B audiences
- Develop audience signals based on your ideal customer profile
- Configure campaign-level negative keywords for brand safety
- Set appropriate budget and bidding strategy based on industry benchmarks
Optimization Checklist
- Review asset performance weekly and replace underperforming assets
- Analyze channel performance to understand which channels drive the most valuable leads
- Check search terms reports to identify new opportunities and irrelevant queries
- Update audience signals based on performance data
- Refine conversion values based on actual sales outcomes
- Test different asset combinations and messages
- Implement regular budget adjustments based on performance
- Coordinate messaging with other marketing channels for consistency
Integration Checklist
- Determine optimal budget allocation between Search and Performance Max
- Implement a clear campaign structure to prevent cannibalization
- Upload and regularly refresh customer match lists
- Create and test lookalike audiences based on your best customers
- Implement closed-loop reporting with your CRM
- Develop a testing schedule to apply learnings across campaign types
- Coordinate campaign timing with your sales cycle and key business events
- Establish regular reporting cadence to share insights with stakeholders
Advanced Strategy Checklist
- Implement account-based marketing strategies using customer match
- Develop industry-specific asset groups for key vertical markets
- Create event-specific campaigns with appropriate timing and messaging
- Optimize product demo campaigns with high-intent targeting
- Test AI Max features in Search campaigns alongside Performance Max
- Implement first-party data activation techniques
- Prepare for cookieless future with server-side tagging
- Develop channel-specific assets optimized for each placement type
Conclusion
Google Ads Performance Max and AI Max campaigns represent the cutting edge of AI-powered advertising for B2B marketers in 2025. By leveraging these sophisticated campaign types with a strategic approach focused on lead quality, account-based marketing, and first-party data integration, B2B companies can achieve significant improvements in both efficiency and effectiveness.
The key to success lies in understanding the unique requirements of B2B marketing—longer sales cycles, multiple decision-makers, and the critical importance of lead quality over quantity. By implementing the strategies, optimizations, and integrations outlined in this guide, B2B marketers can harness the full potential of Google’s AI-driven advertising solutions to drive meaningful business results.
As these platforms continue to evolve, staying informed about the latest features, benchmarks, and best practices will be essential for maintaining a competitive edge in the increasingly sophisticated world of B2B digital advertising.
References
- Google Blog. (2025, January 23). Kick off 2025 with new Performance Max features. https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/new-performance-max-features-2025/
- Google Blog. (2025, April 30 ). Channel performance and more reporting coming to Performance Max. https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/channel-performance-reporting-coming-to-performance-max/
- Google Blog. (2025, May 6 ). Unlock next-level performance with AI Max for Search campaigns. https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/google-ai-max-for-search-campaigns/
- Search Engine Land. (2025, May 17 ). Google AI Max for Search campaigns: New insights from Ginny Marvin. https://searchengineland.com/googles-ai-max-search-ginny-marvin-455582
- Optimum Click. (2025, March 11 ). How to Use Performance Max for B2B Lead Gen in 2025. https://optimumclick.co.uk/blog/performance-max-b2b-lead-gen/
- GrowLeads. (2025, April 30 ). Performance Max for B2B: 2025 Best Practices and Strategies. https://growleads.io/performance-max-for-b2b-2025-best-practices-and-strategies/
- Cognism. (2025, March 13 ). How to Build the Perfect ABM Campaign in 2025. https://www.cognism.com/blog/abm-campaign
- WordStream. (2025, May 19 ). Google Ads Benchmarks 2025: Competitive Data & Insights for Every Industry. https://www.wordstream.com/blog/2025-google-ads-benchmarks
- Varos. (2025, April ). Google Ads ROAS For B2B SaaS | April 2025. https://www.varos.com/benchmarks/google-roas-for-b2b-saas
- Jordan Digital Marketing. (2023, November 16 ). AI Creative in Performance Max: What to Know for B2B. https://www.jordandigitalmarketing.com/blog/ai-creatives-performance-max-b2b
