Perpetual Traffic PMAX vs. Standard Shopping: The $80K Test That Shocked Us
Oct 7, 2025
John Moran, a Senior ad strategist at Tier 11 and Google Ads expert, dives into the intriguing comparison between Standard Shopping and Performance Max campaigns. He reveals the surprising results from a $40K test, demonstrating that while Performance Max often promises efficiency, Standard Shopping frequently outperforms in terms of new customer acquisition. Moran discusses campaign behavior, ROAS limits, and why Standard Shopping can adjust budgets better. This episode is a goldmine for marketers looking to optimize their ad strategies!
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Feed-Only PMax ≈ Standard Shopping
- John Moran found feed-only Performance Max and Standard Shopping perform almost identically for non-brand new-customer acquisition.
- When isolating clean data, the expected PMAX advantage largely disappears.
Test With Identical Targeting And Tracking
- Measure identical segments (non-brand, new customers) when testing campaign types to get accurate comparisons.
- Use edge tagging and consistent tracking to isolate true incremental performance.
Top-Line Results Show Minimal Difference
- Swinging $40K between feed-only PMAX and Standard Shopping produced only minor week-over-week differences under 10%.
- Top-line conversions and conversion value stayed within natural variance, so neither dominated consistently.