Can I see Performance Max search terms?

Yes. Since 2025, Performance Max has a full search terms report, in the same search terms page as your Search campaigns, with data going back to March 2023.

Can I add negative keywords to Performance Max?

Yes. You can add up to 10,000 negative keywords per Performance Max campaign, and account-level negative keywords apply too. They only affect Search and Shopping inventory.

How do I stop Performance Max showing ads for my own brand?

Create a brand list with your brand under Tools, Shared library, Brand lists, then add it as a brand exclusion in the campaign’s settings. Brand exclusions cover Search, Shopping and YouTube search inventory.

Is it a good idea to exclude my brand from Performance Max?

Often, if you also run a Search campaign for your brand: people searching for you by name would likely find you anyway. Google warns that brand exclusions limit a campaign’s reach, so watch results after the change.

Performance Max search terms and brand exclusions

Performance Max used to hide which searches it showed your ads for. Since 2025 it doesn’t: there’s a full search terms report, you can add up to 10,000 negative keywords per campaign, and brand exclusions keep it off searches for your own name. Here’s how to use each one.

See the searches

In Google Ads, open Campaigns > Insights and reports > Search terms.
Choose Search terms and landing pages for Performance Max from the drop-down.
You’ll see each search with its clicks, cost and conversions, the landing page used, and whether it was a Shopping or text ad.

Data goes back to March 2023. Google’s older search terms insights (on the Insights page) group searches into categories; they’re useful for a quick picture, but they don’t show cost. Google renames menus from time to time, so the labels may differ slightly in your account.

Look for two kinds of waste:

Searches you don’t sell to: wrong services, jobs, “free”, DIY and other junk. These are the same leaks as in Search campaigns; our page on negative keywords for small businesses lists the common ones.
Your own brand name: people who already know you. If you also run a Search campaign for your brand, Performance Max showing for these searches may only be taking credit for customers you’d have got anyway.

Block junk with negative keywords

You can add negative keywords to one Performance Max campaign: open Campaigns > Keywords > the Negative keywords tab, select the plus button, pick the Performance Max campaign, and add keywords or a negative keyword list. Google raised the limit from 100 to 10,000 per campaign in 2025.

Account-level negative keywords apply to all Search and Shopping inventory, including Performance Max, so terms you never want to pay for can go there once.

Two limits to know:

Negative keywords in Performance Max only affect Search and Shopping. They don’t stop YouTube, Display, Gmail or Discover placements; for those, see Performance Max placement exclusions.
Google suggests watching how negatives affect your reach. Blocking too much can starve the campaign.

Keep it off your brand: brand exclusions

Brand exclusions stop a Performance Max campaign serving on searches about the brands you choose, usually your own, so that brand traffic goes to your Search campaign instead.

Make a brand list: Tools > Shared library > Brand lists > Create a brand list, add your brand, and save. If your business isn’t in Google’s list, you can request it; small businesses qualify by business name.
Apply it: open the campaign’s Settings > Additional settings > Brand exclusions, pick your list, and save.

What brand exclusions cover in Performance Max: Search, Shopping and YouTube search inventory. They also catch misspellings and other ways of writing the brand. For online shops, an option lets Shopping ads still show on searches that mention the excluded brand.

Google warns that brand exclusions limit a campaign’s reach, and results can drop. That’s expected: some of what Performance Max reported was people who were looking for you anyway. Judge it by your total leads or sales, not Performance Max’s numbers alone.

Also check: final URL expansion

Performance Max can send people to other pages on your website than the one you set, picked by what they searched. It’s on by default. If it sends clicks to pages that don’t sell (your blog, careers or contact page), turn it off under the campaign’s Asset optimization settings, or add URL exclusions for those pages.

See where the money goes by channel

Search is only part of Performance Max. The channel performance report (Insights and reports > Channel performance) splits results across Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Maps, Gmail and search partners. Our page on Performance Max spending on YouTube explains how to read it.

Sources

Google: Search terms reporting for Performance Max (30 April 2025).
Google Ads Help: Performance Max search terms, Search terms insights, Negative keywords in Performance Max, 10,000 negative keywords, Brand exclusions, Brand lists, Final URL expansion, URL exclusions, Channel performance.