Google is rolling out new AI features in Performance Max

Google is set to roll out new AI features in Performance Max for all U.S. advertisers by the end of the year.

Marketers will be able to use the technology to generate text and image assets for campaigns using prompts within a matter of seconds.

PMax will take performance data into consideration when suggesting certain assets for campaigns to help ads perform across all of Google’s inventory and formats.

Why we care. Generative AI can help advertisers deliver fast results, save money and provides the freedom to explore different creative directions instantly.

Leveraging AI. Google explained that its new PMax generative AI features can be used in two ways:

• Text generation: Agencies and brands can create new headlines, descriptions, and images to test fresh creative ideas alongside their current ones. Additionally, they can employ image editing to experiment with different versions of both existing and generated images.
• Image generation: For businesses with limited creative resources, you can use a few prompts to bring your creative ideas to reality and swiftly produce high-quality image assets for your campaign. These assets can serve as the basis for your creative concepts, and image editing allows you to effortlessly experiment with new versions to enhance your impact and insights.

Retaining control. Google reassures advertisers that, while using AI to generate creatives, they will retain control. Advertisers can enhance both generated and existing assets with AI-based image editing within Google Ads. This enables teams to experiment with different versions of their main images on a larger scale. For instance, an agency can easily update a client’s images to reflect various winter scenes for the holiday shopping season.

Moving forward. By early 2024, all accounts will be able to edit images using the Google Ads asset library. Shareable previews for all assets, including generated ones, are on the way. This will streamline the creative review process, making it simpler for agencies and in-house marketing teams to share creative ideas, according to Google.

Safety and transparency. Any images produced with generative AI, including PMax, will be clearly marked as AI-generated by Google. The search engine is also using SynthID to watermark its AI-generated images subtly, including standard metadata to show they’re AI-generated.

Combating misuse of generative AI. Google Ads has set up safeguards to stop its systems from dealing with inappropriate or sensitive requests or suggesting ads that break its company policies. Every ad made using generated content is checked against Google’s Ads policies before it goes live. If it doesn’t comply, the company will take necessary actions.

What Google is saying. A Google spokesperson said:

• “As we bring these generative AI capabilities into Performance Max, we hope you’re empowered to build new ads at a scale greater than ever before across all of Google’s performance inventory and formats, all while bringing your creative vision to life.”
• “Our goal is to help marketers of all sizes drive greater performance. We want to help you generate and try creative concepts — whether that’s experimenting with new types of images and messaging or building your creatives from scratch.”
• “You’re always in control and can decide which assets you want to add to your campaign and any images generated will be unique to your business or client. Google AI will never create two identical images.”

Deep dive. Visit the Google Ads Help Center for more information on asset generation in Performance Max and Google’s AI Essentials.