TPE #91: 5 pMax scripts for more control and insights
Apr 29, 2024Read time: 3 minutes
Welcome back to The PPC Edge!
As you know, Performance Max is a giant black box.
It’s easy to set up, but also hard to optimize due to a lack of data and insights.
Thankfully, there are some very bright minds in the PPC industry that create scripts to give us back valuable control and insights.
In today’s issue, I’ll list 5 of them I like using myself — and I’m sure you will love them too.
Let’s just dive right in!
1: Brand Traffic Analyzer by SMEC.
Since pMax was introduced, I’ve been super vocal about why I think you should exclude brand from pMax in 99% of the cases:
- It inflates your data.
- The goal is to scale your account efficiently, not Performance Max.
- You’re probably overpaying for branded clicks on pMax.
Luckily for us, Smarter Ecommerce (SMEC) have built a fantastic script that allows you to see the share of brand within pMax over time. Here’s an example from one of my accounts with <0.2% of brand in pMax (job well done).
2: The Ultimate All-In-1 pMax Script by Mike Rhodes.
What started as a Spend Allocation Script is now so much more! Here’s what you can do with this powerful script by Mike Rhodes:
- See data across channels (Search, Shopping, Video, Display).
- Search categories and search terms insights.
- Additional asset group insights.
- Product performance data.
- … And a lot more.
Mike is constantly updating this script and you can grab it here (it’s not free, but 100% worth the one-time investment):
3: pMax Whisperer Script by Mike Rhodes.
This script requires a bit more effort to set up but is a fantastic innovation by Mike Rhodes. He presented it recently in a guest workshop in The PPC Hub and it can translate your pMax data into understandable insights (in any language you prefer).
Download the script here for free (you can also find additional instructions on this page).
4: Non-Converting Search Terms Alerts by Nils Rooijmans.
This script by Nils checks your pMax campaigns for search terms with a lot of clicks, but no conversions. It then saves them in a Google Sheet, which will be emailed to you. This script can save you a lot of time and reduce wasted ad spend!
Grab the script here for free.
5: Flowboost Labelizer by Flowboost.
The Flowboost Labelizer by Arjan & Floris script allows you to analyze product performance and create labels to segment your campaigns. It’s similar to ProductHero Labelizer, but in a script.
Based on this data, products will be put into one of five categories:
- Index (products that perform on target)
- Over-index (overperforming products)
- Near-index (products that perform near target)
- Under-index (underperforming products)
- No-index (products with not enough data)
You can buy and download the script here in Flowboost’s PPC Library (it’s a one-time purchase that gives you access to future updates — and it’s totally worth it).
Good luck optimizing your pMax campaigns!
So there you have it, 5 pMax scripts for more control and insights:
- Brand Traffic Analyzer by SMEC.
- The Ultimate All-In-1 pMax Script (1 account / MCC) by Mike Rhodes.
- pMax Whisperer Script by Mike Rhodes.
- Non-Converting Search Terms Alerts by Nils Rooijmans.
- Flowboost Labelizer by Flowboost.
Hopefully these scripts shine some light on your black box pMax campaigns.
That’s all for today — thanks for reading.
See you next week!
