• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, November 2, 2021

Google on Tuesday announced the general availability of "Performance Max," giving advertisers the option to select a marketing objective and choose the conversion goals supporting the objective.

This ad type also will become the next generation of "Smart Shopping" and "Local" campaigns, which will both upgrade to Performance Max next year, per Google. The goal is to move to one campaign type.

The feature -- which launched in beta in 2020 -- aims to complement keyword-based search campaigns to drive conversions across all ad inventory, from online to offline. It uses machine learning, among other technology, to automated goal-based campaign type.

“If change is the challenge, automation is the solution businesses and agencies are using to stay ahead of ongoing shifts in consumer demand,” per Google.

Performance Max campaigns are part of the Google Ads Insights page, which shows trending searches, auction insights and interest predictions tailored to the account.

Several brands have tested the platform will varying degrees of success. Overall, advertisers using Performance Max saw 13% average increase in incremental conversions.

Allianz, an insurance company that operates in Spain, partnered with its agency Jellyfish. It used Performance Max campaigns to increase qualified car insurance leads by 15% at a lower cost-per-lead compared to generic Search campaigns.

Deezer, a global music streaming service, and its agency Artefact increase subscriptions by 28% on the web path at a 15% lower cost-per-subscription compared to the app path, according to Google.

Other early adopters include SAIC-MG Motors, furniture retailer Joybird, and online retailer microspot.ch.