Written by Emily Schaffer (Senior Manager - Paid Search) and Scott Gracie (Associate - Paid Search)

In the article “Mastering Measurement in an AI-First World”, we explored how marketers can adapt to a privacy-centric digital landscape by leveraging first-party data and AI-driven tools to maintain performance and measurement accuracy. 

In the second part, we’ll look at how to “Unleash the Power of AI to Boost Marketing Performance”, driving deeper into practical strategies for signal optimisation, smart bidding, and customer lifecycle targeting. 

The future of marketing is being reshaped by AI - and it’s happening faster than ever. By 2027, AI-powered advertising is expected to drive 90% of all campaigns, with early adopters already reaping the rewards. To stay ahead, marketers need more than just awareness of AI - they need the skills and strategies to use it as a true performance engine. 

That’s where Google’s bootcamp comes in. In this blog recap you’ll gain hands-on knowledge of Google’s latest AI advancements and learn how to translate them into stronger optimisation, smarter bidding, and higher ROI. 

 What you’ll explore: 

• The Power Pack: A new generation of AI-driven campaign solutions designed for the evolving world of Search and multi-modal experiences. 
• Concrete Optimisation Best Practices: Practical examples to fine-tune campaigns, from advanced setups and solid measurement frameworks to creative strategies that resonate. 
• Unleash Value-Based Bidding: Move beyond clicks and costs by weaving customer value directly into Smart Bidding strategies to maximise profitability. 
• Navigating PMax with Confidence: Unlock the newest features and understand the latest best practices to make Performance Max work harder for you. 

Master "The Power Pack" 

Google’s new power pack bundles the best of their AI to maximise performance, across Performance Max, AI Max for Search, and Demand Gen.  

Some questioned the need for AI Max in Search, since PMax already covers that space. But Google advises AI Max isn’t a new campaign -it’s an add-on built to boost Search performance. It remains strictly in the search sphere, meaning advertisers should continue investing here to capture high-intent queries. 

But what has changed? Google’s new AI features give advertisers greater control, customisation, and creative flexibility to optimise the search experience. AI Max tailors creatives to match user queries and routes clicks to the most relevant pages. The result: a smoother customer journey with richer experiences -without losing the precision of Search. 

A major part of this shift also includes the role of broad match. With AI Max, broad match allows Google’s AI to interpret intent in real time, matching against a wider set of queries. This will allow advertisers to spend less time building keyword lists and more time providing the right signals and data.  

The combination of broad match and dynamic creatives enables search campaigns to become much more adaptive and efficient. 

Concrete Optimisation Best Practices 

In today’s AI and data-driven world, one of the most important steps in optimisation is being able to clearly show the system what success looks like. Implementation of all durable solutions is recommended, including Google Tags with Enhanced Conversions, adjusting for Enhanced Conversions for Leads, and integrating with Google Analytics. Without this foundation, AI simply does not have the data it needs to optimise effectively. 

With strong measurement in place, advertisers can start to connect their business goals directly to campaign outcomes through Value Based Bidding. The inputs will vary depending on objectives, but they could include sales value data, in-store visits and purchases, or app conversions. The goal is to pass Google AI the most relevant signals so that it understands not just when a conversion occurs, but the value of that conversion to the business. 

Of course, deciding what that value is often requires an internal discussion. For example, what is the worth of a qualified lead compared to a newsletter sign up, or how does a free trial compare to an online purchase? Retailers may find this easier as they often have direct access to transactional data, whereas service-based businesses may need to map customer journeys more carefully to understand the lifetime value of each step. Once agreed, this data can then be carried into Google Ads through Enhanced Conversions, Enhanced Conversions for Leads imports, or API integrations, allowing AI to use it for optimisation. 

A key part of this process is measuring all micro and macro conversions. This does not mean optimising to smaller actions such as browsing a product page but using these signals to build a full-funnel view. Micro-conversions provide early intent data, helping the algorithm identify which behaviours most often lead to high-value outcomes. If you only measure the final sale, you risk starving the system of the signals it needs to join the dots between early engagement and eventual revenue. 

Unleash Value-Based Bidding

We have now fed the algorithm with the best data we can, and now it is time to unleash Value-Based Bidding. Using this methodology helps you maximise conversion value at a target ROAS or within a given budget. Through the data we have already provided to Google, the AI can more effectively prioritise the most valuable customers.  

Once VBB is running, Google recommends patience, giving the bid strategy time to learn. By doing so, you let it pick up enough conversion data to work with (ideally 30 a month). However, if you tweak the target of the strategy, you risk forcing the algorithm back into learning. Google recommends at least 4-7 days to get out of the initial learning phase before making changes. 

Another key factor to remember here is that you can end up limiting the algorithm’s ability to find high-value opportunities by being too restrictive with budgets and CPC caps. A more flexible approach enables the bid strategy to identify customers you might never have reached with rigid controls. 

This brings us on to Smart Bidding Exploration, Google’s new campaign level feature to help you scale your conversion volume. Here you can tell the system you are willing to adjust your target CPA or ROAS by a given percentage. Therefore, enabling the system to bid more aggressively to your current targeting set-up. Google has in fact found that this new tool has seen an average 18% increase in unique search query categories and a 19% increase in conversions. 

Value Based Bidding is not just reacting to what worked in the past, it is actively seeking out new audiences and bidding scenarios to unlock new growth.  

Navigate PMax with Confidence 

When initially setting up PMAX in your account it can be confusing on understanding the overlap between the different campaign types, especially with PMax and Search. Google recommend using PMax as a complimentary campaign type. It should not replace existing activity and instead should run alongside. The reason for this is that existing activity often has additional features and tools, e.g. keywords, which help in maintaining brand visibility as well as conversion volume. Whilst PMax can be used as a catch all to capture any demand not covered by your current structure. Additionally, only one ad from an account can be eligible to enter each auction, so concerns about bidding against yourself can be reassured. 

Google have also gone into detail on many of the best practices to set your campaigns up for success. 

• Budget and bidding: Identify the appropriate bid strategy by considering the priority of this activity, is it to achieve efficiency or is volume the main concern? Additionally, where possible avoid restricting budgets as this can harm performance, ideally budgets should be set high enough to achieve at least one conversion per day. 
• Measurement: Set attribution models to a data driven attribution model and implement enhanced conversions where applicable. 
• Creative: To maximise ad strength, consider adding video assets and ensure coverage of at least one video of each orientation. This will also ensure eligibility for coverage across multiple placements. 
• Audiences: Prioritise first party remarketing and customer match lists, inputting this data can be highly effective in giving the algorithm information to achieve quality leads. 
• New customer acquisition: This can be a powerful tool in giving signals to Google on which users to prioritise. By selecting this targeting option and adding customer lists of existing customers, brands are able to focus targeting on new customers. This can also be used to target both existing and new customers by assigning a higher value to new customer audience lists. 
• URL expansion: By enabling this feature, brands can grant Google permission to use landing page content to serve the most relevant ad based on the user’s query. As well as giving Google the flexibility to direct users to a more relevant landing page. Google have said this setting will increase the potential auctions PMax campaigns can participate in. 

There are a plethora of tools and resources available within Google Ads to help plan strategy and monitor performance. We would strongly encourage reviewing these in the interface to find those which are relevant for your brand’s goals.  

Conclusion 

Google’s AI Summer Bootcamp reinforced a simple truth: the future of marketing will be powered by AI - so marketers must embrace it with the right strategies and data foundations. The new generation of AI-driven tools like Performance Max, AI Max for Search, and Value-Based Bidding are not just enhancements, but essential performance engines that allow campaigns to scale, adapt, and deliver meaningful ROI. 

The biggest takeaway is that AI thrives on strong inputs - robust measurement frameworks, well-defined conversion values, and flexible bidding strategies. Marketers who provide Google’s AI with the right signals will unlock smarter automation, more relevant customer experiences, and sustainable growth. 

Ultimately, success will belong to those who combine strategic patience with bold adoption: feeding the algorithms with quality data, allowing them room to learn, and trusting AI to find new growth opportunities. The marketers who act now will be the ones best placed to lead in a landscape where AI is no longer optional - it’s the foundation of performance.