How To Test Google Ads Performance Max at ANY Budget Level

If you run an ecommerce store and Google Ads feels hard or scary, this guide is for you.

In the last years I spent over €20 million on Google Ads and worked with more than 150 ecommerce brands. From small Shopify stores to bigger brands. We used one simple Performance Max strategy to grow stores from zero to €63,000 and even over €200,000 in revenue from Google Ads alone.

You do not need a big budget to start. You just need a clean setup and the right settings.

In this article you will learn, step by step.

• Which campaign type to use.

• How to set it up from a fresh account.

• Which bidding option to pick when you have no data yet.

• How much to spend per day at the start.

• The “hidden” settings you must fix after launch.

Follow the order as you read. It is the same order as in the video.

Why Performance Max is the best simple start for ecommerce

The campaign we use is called Performance Max.

Performance Max is a powerful Google Ads campaign that can show your products on many places at once. Search. Shopping. Display. YouTube. And more.

Google is pushing this campaign type very hard right now. It is packed with AI that helps you get sales faster, especially when your account is new and has no data yet.

For ecommerce stores there is one big reason we use Performance Max.

Most sales come from the Shopping row at the top of Google when people search for products. From real accounts we see that about 80–85 percent of sales from Performance Max come from Shopping.

If you want a deep-dive on this channel after this article, read the full guide “Master Google Shopping Ads in 2025: Turn Clicks Into Customers With This Winning Strategy” in the library.

Step 1. Create your first Performance Max campaign the right way

Open your brand new Google Ads account. Maybe your spend is still zero. That is fine.

On the left side click “Create” and then “New campaign.”

Google now asks for a campaign objective. Because you run an ecommerce store and you want sales, you pick “Sales.”

Make sure your conversion tracking is ready. When a sale happens in your Shopify store, the data must go back into Google Ads so the system can learn. You should see that a purchase conversion is already connected. Then click “Continue.”

Next you see the list of campaign types. This is where you choose Performance Max.

You pick Performance Max because:

• Google gives it the most love and reach.

• It uses AI to find buyers faster.

• It can feed on your product feed from Merchant Center.

Select your Merchant Center account and the country of sale that fits your store.

Now give your campaign a clear name. A simple format you can use is:

RTM . PMX . All Products . Max Conversions . [Date]

For example:

RTM PMX All Products Max Conversions 2025 12 05

You can use any naming style you like. The key is that you can see in one glance.

• It is a Performance Max campaign.

• It uses all products.

• It is set to maximize conversions.

• When you created it.

Click “Continue.”

Step 2. Pick the right bidding strategy when you have no data

You now land on the bidding part. This is where many beginners make their first big mistake.

Google gives you options like “Maximize conversion value” or “Maximize conversions.”

When your account is brand new, Google does not know yet what a “high value” order looks like for your brand. Maybe some products are €20 and some are €200. The system needs data first.

So when you start with a new Performance Max campaign.

• Do not choose “Maximize conversion value.”

• Do choose “Maximize conversions.”

With “Maximize conversions” you tell Google.

Just get me as many sales as possible for my budget.

Later, after you have 50 or more sales and some stable data, you can test other strategies. But at the start you keep it simple.

Click “Next.”

Step 3. Choose the right country and keep language settings clean

Now you set up the locations and language.

Pick the country where you actually want to sell. For example.

• Netherlands.

• Germany.

• France.

Do not target the whole world if you are not ready for that.

For language many people think they should click their store language. Dutch. English. German. But Google is very smart at this stage. It knows what language people use from their browser and search behavior.

So in most cases you can deselect all languages and let Google handle language detection. It keeps your setup clean and avoids weird overlaps.

If Google asks about EU political ads, you can mark that you are not running political ads, because you run an ecommerce store.

Click “Next.”

Step 4. Skip the noisy assets and focus on Shopping sales

Now Google tries to push you into adding all kinds of assets.

• Headlines.

• Long descriptions.

• Images.

• Logos.

• Even YouTube videos.

This looks nice, but remember the key fact.

Most of your Performance Max sales will come from the Shopping row.

When you add all those other assets, Google can start spending more of your budget on Display, YouTube and extra Search placements that are not needed in your first phase. You spread your tiny budget too thin.

So what do we do.

• Scroll all the way down.

• Click “Skip” when Google wants you to fill in those assets.

• Rename the asset group to “Products.”

• Leave all fields (headlines, descriptions, images, videos) empty.

This feels strange at first, but it is on purpose. You force the campaign to focus almost fully on Shopping traffic. That is the lowest hanging fruit for ecommerce and where most of the revenue comes from anyway.

If you like to work with checklists, you can combine this setup with the “Ultimate Google Shopping Ads Checklist” from the library, so you can tick off all extra Shopping details when you are ready to go deeper. 

Click “Next.”