Digging around into your Google Ads and wondering what the difference is between Search vs. Performance Max? Below, we provide a solid overview of each, including advantages and disadvantages and when you should use one over the other.
Executive Summary: Understanding the Difference between Search and Performance Max
- The difference comes down to control. Search has (historically) allowed advertisers to have more control, whereas Performance Max offers a high-powered, AI-fueled approach.
- With Search, you have specificity in targeting and reporting, but you also face bigger costs.
- With Performance Max, you have broad reach and your ads are less susceptible to competition, but you also face the high potential for low-quality leads.
- Which one to use all comes down to goals and, of course, budget. Use Search when you need more high-quality leads and you have a robust budget for your market. Use Performance Max when you need volume and you don’t have the budget to compete with competitors in Search.
Table of Contents
What’s the difference between Search and Performance Max?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Search?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Performance Max?
When should you use Performance Max?
Need help managing your senior living paid ads campaigns?
What’s the difference between Search and Performance Max?
Search is Google’s classic ad format that lets you target keywords to show an ad to someone at the moment they’re thinking about and researching that topic. As an advertiser, you tend to have more control over exact keywords, negative terms, bidding, and ad copy. (We use the word “tend,” since Google is rolling out more AI-driven changes.)
Performance Max is Google’s high-powered AI-fueled approach to showing ads on every available platform, including Display, Discover, Gmail, Maps, Search, and YouTube. As the advertiser, you have very little manual control since Google will do the heavy lifting of mixing text, images, and videos into dynamic ads.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Search?
Search’s advantages include the following:
- Specificity in targeting
- Specificity in reporting
- Strong control, but again, with the caveat that this control is changing
Search’s disadvantages include the following:
- Increasingly expensive
- Less control than before as Google rolls out AI-driven changes
- Extremely sensitive to competition, especially in small markets
- Solely dependent on keywords
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Performance Max?
Performance Max advantages include the following:
- Broad reach
- Less susceptible to competition
- Drives conversion volume
Performance Max disadvantages include the following:
- Exceptionally broad
- High potential for low-quality leads
- Requires extensive use of placement exclusions and negative keywords
- Requires consistent updating of exclusions
Relatively new, which means it doesn’t always integrate properly with CRMs or marketing software for tracking purposes (although we expect this to improve over time)
When should you use Search?
Use Search when you need a higher quality of lead and you have a fairly high budget for your market. Your volume probably won’t be exceptional, but you’ll draw occasional inquiries.
When should you use Performance Max?
Use Performance Max when you need volume and you don’t have the budget to go toe-to-toe with competitors in Search. You’ll need a robust CRM or marketing software partner (like HubSpot) to monitor lead quality. We also highly recommend that whoever is running your paid ads remains in close communication with your senior living sales teams when Performance Max is in use to ensure leads are qualified enough for the sale reps to engage with.
Need help managing your senior living paid ads campaigns?
Setting up, managing, and monitoring Google Ads can be overwhelming for busy senior living marketing teams. That’s why so many communities outsource this work to us. We have a team of paid ads specialists whose only focus is paid ads (and keeping up with all the latest changes). Get in touch and let’s discuss your community’s specific needs.
