Google phasing out Smart Campaigns in favor of Performance Max

Google is discontinuing its Smart Campaigns offering and integrating its features into Performance Max campaigns.

Why we care. This shift impacts advertisers using Google’s simplified campaign management tool and signals a broader push towards AI-driven, cross-platform advertising solutions.

The big picture. Performance Max represents Google’s next-generation approach to digital advertising, leveraging AI and machine learning to optimize ad performance across multiple platforms.

Key features of Performance Max:

• Broader reach across Google’s ecosystem (Search, YouTube, Display, etc.).
• AI-powered optimization.
• Customized results based on specific business goals.

What’s happening. Google will automatically upgrade existing Smart Campaigns to Performance Max campaigns.

• Even though a deadline hasn’t been set, advertisers will need to adapt to the new system.
• The transition aims to streamline Google’s ad products and improve performance through AI.

What they’re saying. In a letter to advertisers, Google stated, “This upgrade will drive even higher return on investment for advertisers, to take advantage of Google AI and optimize towards your business goal.”

“Some customers will still have access to Smart Campaigns, but we’re continuing to customize which campaign types are available for others based on their specific needs,” according to a Google spokesperson.

First seen. We first came across this update from Adriaan Dekker’s LinkedIn, showing the letter one of his followers received from Google:

What’s next. Google plans to provide more information about the transition in the coming months.