Performance Max vs Smart Shopping: What's Best in 2025?

Key Takeaways

• Performance Max covers Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Maps - Smart Shopping only reaches Shopping and Display

• Stick with Smart Shopping if you're hitting targets and spending under £2,000 monthly

• Performance Max needs 15 images, 5 videos, and multiple headlines versus Smart Shopping's simple feed setup

• Expect 4-6 weeks learning period and potential 20-30% temporary conversion drops when migrating

• Performance Max reporting is worse - you lose visibility into which placements convert

• Migrate if you're spending £3,000+ monthly with strong creative assets and plateaued campaigns

  
  

Should You Migrate Right Now?

Here's the honest answer: if your Smart Shopping campaigns are hitting your ROAS targets, don't rush the migration. Google will force everyone over eventually, but that doesn't mean you need to jump now.

We've seen retailers lose 20-30% of their conversion volume in the first fortnight after panic-migrating. The algorithm relearns everything from scratch, which isn't fun to watch.

That said, Performance Max offers broader reach across YouTube and Discover. Fashion and lifestyle brands especially see brilliant results from visual placements. The trade-off? Worse reporting and a lengthy learning period.

Migrate if: campaigns have plateaued, you've got creative ready, and you're outside peak season. Stay put if: you're hitting targets or spending under £2,000 monthly.

What's Actually Different Between Campaign Types

Smart Shopping focuses on Shopping and Display. Product-feed-driven. Straightforward for basic e-commerce.

Performance Max spreads across Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Maps. Broader reach sounds appealing, doesn't it? Until you realise you've got almost zero visibility into which placements drive conversions.

Smart Shopping optimises bidding within Shopping and Display. Performance Max controls both bidding and placement across all channels. You're essentially giving Google substantially more control.

Asset requirements change quite dramatically. Smart Shopping uses your product feed - images, titles, descriptions from Merchant Center. Performance Max demands manual uploads: 15 images, 5 videos, 5 headlines, 5 long headlines, 5 descriptions. That's loads more work for smaller retailers.

Budget Requirements

Google recommends £500+ daily for Performance Max, though we've found accounts run successfully on £1,000-£2,000 monthly. Thing is, the algorithm needs sufficient conversion data - starve it of budget and you'll get erratic performance.

Smart Shopping handles smaller budgets more gracefully. £800 monthly runs stable campaigns with consistent results. That same budget in Performance Max often struggles because the algorithm can't gather enough data across placements.

Spend shifts after migration. We've seen 30-40% move to YouTube and Discover within the first month. Sometimes that works brilliantly, sometimes it absolutely tanks your ROAS whilst the system learns.

Learning periods matter. Smart Shopping stabilises in 7-14 days. Performance Max? 4-6 weeks minimum. Don't migrate three weeks before Black Friday.

Control vs Automation

Here's where Performance Max gets genuinely frustrating. It removes Smart Shopping's already limited controls. No negative keywords. No placement exclusions. No ability to block dodgy search terms. Nothing.

This absolutely frustrates experienced PPC managers, and quite rightly. We've seen campaigns burn through loads of budget on irrelevant placements with zero exclusion options. Google's automation approach sounds brilliant until your luxury furniture ads appear next to questionable YouTube content.

The flip side? When it works, Performance Max finds patterns humans would never spot. Manual campaign management simply can't match that cross-channel optimisation.

Audience Targeting

Smart Shopping uses audience signals as guidelines rather than restrictions. You can add remarketing lists, customer match data, and demographic targeting to influence the algorithm without limiting delivery.

Performance Max offers more granular control through asset groups. Create separate groups for different segments with tailored creative. Your new customer acquisition asset group might emphasise benefits, whilst remarketing focuses on offers.

Customer match becomes considerably more valuable. We've found retailers get 25-30% of their Performance Max conversions from customer match expansion - audiences they didn't explicitly target.

The catch? Performance Max won't tell you which audiences drove those conversions. You're trusting the algorithm worked properly with minimal visibility.

Creative Requirements

This is where Performance Max demands considerably more work. Smart Shopping pulls everything from your product feed. Whatever's in Merchant Center gets used. Simple. Efficient.

Performance Max requires manual asset creation: 15 images, 5 videos minimum, 5 headlines (30 characters), 5 long headlines (90 characters), 5 descriptions (90 characters).

Small retailers without existing video content struggle here, honestly. They either skip Performance Max or rush out low-quality videos that hurt performance. Better creative gives the algorithm more optimisation options - but only if you've got that creative ready.

Reporting and Data Visibility

Truth be told, this is where Performance Max becomes genuinely frustrating. Smart Shopping provides decent reporting - you can see which products convert, how Shopping versus Display performs, and where your budget goes.

Performance Max hides most data. You'll see overall performance but limited placement detail. Want to know whether YouTube or Shopping drives better results? The reporting won't give clear answers.

Search term reporting shows maybe 10-20% of actual queries. You can't add negative keywords, so wasteful terms can only be addressed through asset adjustments. Understanding PPC attribution becomes significantly harder.

Product Feed Management

Both pull from Google Merchant Center but handle inventory differently. Smart Shopping uses your entire approved feed by default.

Performance Max uses listing groups within asset groups for deliberate segmentation. Create one group for products over £100 with premium creative, another for under-£50 items with volume messaging.

Feed optimisation matters equally for both. Poor titles or missing GTINs limit performance regardless of campaign type.

When Smart Shopping Still Makes Sense

Smaller retailers spending £500-£1,500 monthly with consistent ROAS shouldn't rush to migrate.

Businesses without video assets should think carefully. Whilst Performance Max technically works with images only, the algorithm performs noticeably better with video.

Accounts with limited conversion history (20-30 monthly) struggle to feed Performance Max's algorithm adequately. Smart Shopping's simpler structure works better.

Peak trading periods aren't ideal migration times. If you're approaching Black Friday or Christmas, wait until January. The temporary performance dip isn't worth the risk.

When Migration Makes Sense

Mind you, Performance Max genuinely excels in specific scenarios. If your Smart Shopping campaigns have plateaued - steady performance but zero growth - Performance Max's expanded reach often unlocks new volume. We've seen accounts increase conversions by 30-40% within three months, particularly for fashion, home decor, and lifestyle products.

Retailers with strong creative assets should migrate sooner. If you've already got professional photography and video content, you can hit the ground running with well-structured asset groups.

Higher-budget accounts (£3,000+ monthly) should seriously consider migration. Give it sufficient budget, and Performance Max typically outperforms Smart Shopping within 4-6 weeks.

Businesses running multiple campaign types benefit from consolidation. Bringing campaigns together simplifies management whilst maintaining coverage.

The Migration Process

Google provides automated migration, but honestly, we'd recommend building new Performance Max campaigns manually. You'll get better control over asset group structure that way.

Expect 4-6 weeks learning with 15-25% daily spend fluctuation, temporary ROAS decline, and shifts in converting products. Keep Smart Shopping running at reduced budget during testing.

Prepare creative beforehand - organise into logical groupings and write varied headlines before building. Add best remarketing lists and customer match as audience signals to guide initial learning.

Making Your Decision

The migration decision ultimately comes down to your specific situation. If you're spending under £2,000 monthly and hitting your targets, Smart Shopping likely serves you better, the migration disruption typically outweighs potential benefits. For accounts spending £3,000+ monthly with plateaued performance,

Performance Max's expanded reach justifies the switch, especially if you've got strong creative assets ready. Retailers running multiple campaign types at £10,000+ monthly budgets benefit from consolidating into Performance Max, though keeping some budget in Standard Shopping for products needing granular control makes sense. B2B businesses with long sales cycles should stick with Smart Shopping or Standard Shopping, complex B2B journeys need more control than Performance Max provides.

If you're approaching peak season, wait until after your busy period. Neither campaign type is universally better, choose based on your budget, creative capacity, and current performance. If you're unsure which direction makes sense for your specific campaigns, get in touch and we can talk through your options.

Caio for now

Ali Puglianini

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Google force migration from Smart Shopping? Yes, eventually. Google hasn't announced a date but Performance Max is the future. You'll get months of notice before forced migration.

Can I run both simultaneously? Technically yes, but they compete for inventory. Test both at reduced budgets, then consolidate into whichever performs better. Don't run both at full budget long-term.

Do I need video for Performance Max? It works without video but performs noticeably better with it. The algorithm has more creative options to test. Start with images and add video later.

How long until Performance Max matches Smart Shopping? Typically 4-6 weeks, longer with limited conversion data. The algorithm needs time to test placements and learn which audiences convert.

What happens to campaign history when migrating? The new Performance Max campaign essentially starts learning from scratch. That's why you see temporary performance dips - the algorithm is relearning audience behaviours and optimal placements with the new structure.