You own a small business that sells scented candles. You’re prepared to run your first Performance Max campaign that uses a set budget. How does the system allocate budget on a Performance Max campaign?
Correct Answer
Budget is allocated automatically across channels based on performance. There’s no need to create a different campaign for each channel.
Key takeaways
Budget is allocated automatically across channels by performance.
One campaign covers every surface — no per-channel builds.
You cannot steer spend towards a preferred channel.
Why is this the correct answer?
Performance Max allocates your budget across channels automatically, moving spend to wherever performance is strongest, and there is no need to build a campaign per channel. That is the central simplification of the campaign type: one budget, one campaign, and the system decides the split. The cost is that you cannot direct spend towards a channel you happen to prefer.
Why are the other options wrong?
Budget is manually allocated across channels based on your channel preference. You maintain control over the campaign setup while you optimize by channel manually.
Manual allocation by channel preference is not available. The split is decided by the automation.
Budget is automatically allocated by campaign, so you’ll need to create a separate campaign by channel, and Smart Shopping will optimize budget.
Budget is allocated across channels within one campaign, so separate campaigns per channel are unnecessary.
Budget is allocated manually by campaign, so you’ll need to create a separate campaign channel and separate campaign for budget.
Neither the manual allocation nor the separate campaigns described here reflect how the type works.
Frequently asked questions about this topic
How do I influence the channel mix indirectly?
Through the assets you supply. Providing strong video makes YouTube inventory more usable; a rich product feed leans the campaign towards Shopping surfaces. Withholding assets does not block a channel, it just leaves the system to auto-generate weaker creative.
Topics in this question
About the Shopping Ads Certification
The Shopping Ads Certification checks that you can run retail campaigns end to end: product data in Merchant Center, linking it to Google Ads, and choosing between Standard Shopping and Performance Max to drive sales and value.
Exam guide and all 407 Google Ads Shopping questions →Related Google Ads Shopping questions
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