Audience Signals are crucial for Performance Max (PMax) campaigns because they guide Google’s automated system toward the users most likely to convert, accelerating the learning phase and improving efficiency.Since PMax is a highly automated campaign, you don’t use audience lists for targeting (like you would in Search campaigns), but rather as a signal for the system to find similar, high-value users across all Google channels.

Step 1: Navigate to the Audience Signal Section

1. Go to your Campaigns.

2. Select your Performance Max Campaign.

3. Click Asset groups (PMax uses Asset Groups, which are similar to ad groups).

4. In the Asset Group menu, click Audience signals.

Note:If you haven’t added any audience signal while creating asset group, it would appear like this

Step 2: Create or Edit the Audience Signal

Note: If you have added Audience Signal while creating the Asset Group, edit option will be visible in the Audience Signal Column

1. Click Edit 

2. Click Add Saved Audience Signal

3. Click New audience to build a new signal, or select an existing one.

4. Name the Audience (e.g., “UTDS – High-Intent Signal”).

Step 3: Add High-Value Audience Components

You should combine several types of lists to create a strong signal.The goal is to give Google high-quality examples of your best customers.

Step 4: Save the Signal

1. After adding all relevant lists and segments, click Save Audience.

2. The PMax algorithm will now use this combined signal as a starting point, primarily focusing its initial efforts on finding users similar to those in your signal, before expanding to broader audiences.

Notes and Best Practices

• Do NOT Limit Targeting: Remember, this is a signal, not a hard target. PMax will always look beyond this audience if it finds better conversion opportunities elsewhere. The signal is just a strong hint.

• Prioritize Your Data: The lists under “Your Data” (Remarketing and Customer Match) are the most valuable signals because they represent users who have already engaged with your brand, making them the most qualified examples for the AI to learn from.

• Use Conversion Value Rules: If certain groups in your signal (e.g., past customers) are worth more to UTDS than a cold lead, use Conversion Value Rules to communicate that to PMax. This helps the campaign prioritize the high-value conversions, even within the same Target ROAS goal.