Generative AI is coming to Performance Max – What we know so far?

Another week, another AI development that looks like it’s going to put me out of work. Google have just dropped Generative AI for performance max in Google Ads. However, when you dig a little deeper it makes a lot of sense and us humans are still going to be very much needed.

What can the Generative AI for Performance Max actually do?

The new generative AI tool will allow us advertisers to create fresh new content in a matter of seconds. It will be able to provide text headlines (responsive ads already provide a ton of ideas), ad descriptions and image assets. It will also start to produce video assets (but the jury is out on how good the videos will be at this stage).

You’ll be able to take a standard image of one of your products and ask the AI to create a cool background. This is great if you’re someone struggling to come up with ideas, as this could help a campaign that is waning through lack of varied content (this really matters in Performance Max).

So, for example, if you sell shampoo but you don’t have the budget or the time to find a cool place to take photographs you can pop in a quick prompt and the AI will start creating different background versions for you.

And don’t worry about taking the photo of your product with a white background, as the tool has a built-in capability to remove any background first to allow the tool to populate it with a fun new one.

Why is Google launching this now?

One of the reasons that Google is doing this is because many people are struggling to scale their ad campaigns due to the time it takes to develop creative. Even more so with the new performance max system that NEEDS variety to maximise the testing.

As someone who works with performance max campaigns everyday, I know this can be a major challenge.

What’s performance max?

Before we carry on, for those thinking what the hell is this performance max he’s going on about, well, in a nutshell, it’s a relatively new ad campaign option you’ll find in Google Ads.

Basically, it takes your assets and turns them into ads which it shows across YouTube, Gmail, Display and even search. It’s important to remember that unlike your more traditional search ads or display ads, you don’t have as much control as to where they are shown. Below is a screenshot of the performance max setup that you see in the google ads interface.

When can we start using it?

At the moment, they’re running tests to all U.S. advertisers, and you’ll need a United States business location.

With the pace of change around AI technology, I imagine it won’t be long before it reaches the UK (my guess is 2nd quarter of 2024) – so my advice is to think about how your business can start developing content that will make it easier for the generative AI tool.

Google’s decision to provide access for all US advertisers shows that they are confident the AI will work correctly because let’s be honest, it’s hardly a small test group.

How should be we using it?

It’s important to remember that this is not a simple case of setup ads and leave it. Google is still giving you control over which one of the generative images are released into the world.

Interestingly Google itself is cautious of the negative implementations as they note that “generative AI is experimental technology and may display inaccurate or offensive content that doesn’t represent Google’s views.”

How will it impact the wider ad space?

As we all know, the internet is already awashed with a lot of crap and some fear this ease of content creation could make it worse? Well, I take a different view, I think it will improve things because a lot of poor content is out on the internet due to low content budgets and time. This tool is designed to address that problem.

As well as this, Google claims that its AI will never produce the same piece of content twice (this will be a relief for businesses worried about performance max running an ad with the same image as one of their competitors).

Conclusion

So, to all my advertiser friends out there, your job may be safe but it’s a good time to start talking to your clients and developing your product imagery with this new tool in mind.