Google tests channel value controls for Performance Max

What changed

Heidi Sturrock shared the account setting and explained how it could steer Performance Max toward conversions from channels an advertiser values more. The accompanying screenshot labels the controls as an alpha. It also explains that increasing a channel’s priority relaxes that channel’s CPA, while decreasing priority tightens it. That supports a bidding-value interpretation, rather than a promise to allocate a fixed share of spend.

A useful starting question is whether the business values the conversion differently or merely dislikes the channel’s reported result. Those are separate problems. If two conversions produce the same customer value, changing the signal solely to improve a channel chart can move the campaign away from the economics the advertiser actually wants. The first investigation should concern conversion quality, attribution and the role that channel plays in the buying journey.

For example, a retailer might see purchases credited mainly to Search after customers first encounter a product on YouTube. Reducing YouTube’s priority could make its direct CPA look less important in the allocation, but the test still needs to watch total sales and delayed outcomes. This is an illustrative decision problem, not a measured result from Heidi’s account. Her post specifically cautions readers about attribution blind spots.

Why it matters for advertisers

The control adds a way to express a business preference inside an automated campaign. It does not remove the need to explain that preference. Write down the expected mechanism, the channels affected and the result that would justify keeping the adjustment. Allow for the advertiser’s conversion lag before drawing a conclusion, and compare the campaign’s total outcome with the change in channel mix.