AI-Max and PMAX Channel Reporting: Major Take-Away’s from Google Marketing Live 2025

Google Marketing Live 2025 introduced powerful innovations aimed at reshaping how media buyers plan, manage, and optimize campaigns across the Google Ads network. Two standout updates—AI Max for Search and Channel Performance Reporting for Performance Max (PMAX)—are especially noteworthy for advertisers looking to sharpen their performance and gain more transparency across Google’s increasingly automated platforms.

These updates signal a major shift in how search and cross-channel campaigns will be managed in the coming year. Here’s what you need to know.

AI Max for Search: A New Era of Automated Search Advertising

AI Max is Google’s next-generation solution for Search campaigns. It uses real-time AI models to identify untapped conversion opportunities, expand search coverage, and personalize ad delivery.

Key features include:

• Keywordless Search Expansion: Instead of requiring exact-match keywords, AI Max dynamically identifies relevant queries, offering broader visibility and traffic potential.

• Flexible Bidding Models: Advertisers can set flexible return on ad spend (ROAS) goals, allowing Google’s AI to test and adapt based on market conditions and user behavior.

• Real-Time Creative Optimization: Ad copy and creative assets are automatically tested and adjusted to better align with user intent, device type, and browsing behavior.

This is particularly useful for large-scale search campaigns, where managing keyword lists and variations can become overwhelming. According to early testing shared during the keynote, AI Max has outperformed standard campaigns in several verticals by identifying search queries that would otherwise be missed.

PMAX Channel Reporting: Greater Transparency, Smarter Decisions

One of the biggest frustrations with Performance Max campaigns has been the lack of visibility into which specific channels (e.g., Search, YouTube, Display, Gmail, Maps) are driving performance. That’s changing in 2025.

Google announced Channel Performance Reporting for PMAX campaigns, which will give advertisers access to:

• Breakdown by Channel: View impressions, clicks, and conversions by channel, so you know exactly where your ad dollars are going.

• Search Term Data: PMAX will now provide detailed reports on which queries are triggering your ads—critical information for refining ad copy and landing pages.

• Asset-Level Insights: Gain transparency into how each creative asset is performing, helping inform which headlines, videos, or images are driving results.

While advertisers still cannot manually toggle off individual channels within a PMAX campaign, the new reporting offers far more clarity and the ability to steer creative and budget decisions more strategically.