Facts
- The asset-group table shows every PMax asset group with its status and performance metrics over the selected period.
- A per-group drill-down lists the assets inside it — headlines, descriptions, images, videos — by text and type, so a weak group can be opened and its creative read without leaving the report.
- Google removed the per-asset performance label for Performance Max, and the asset view AdCortex reads returns an inventory without metrics. So today the report shows what exists in a group, not which asset works.
- Google's replacement — aggregate asset views that now carry real impressions for PMax — is on the roadmap and not yet read.
- Asset-group performance feeds the overview and is evaluated by anomaly detection at campaign grain; a group-level collapse shows as the campaign's metrics moving.
- Creative changes — swapping assets, adding a group — happen in Google Ads; AdCortex does not create or edit PMax asset groups.
Reading the table
Groups are rows; metrics are the standard set — impressions, clicks, cost, conversions, value, and the derived rates — over the period, with status shown so a paused group is not mistaken for a dead one. Sort by cost to find where the budget went; sort by conversions or value to find what earned it; the gap between the two orderings is the list of groups to look at. The drill-down opens inline and lists each asset with its type and text, so "why is this group weak" can at least start with "what is in it."
Why per-asset metrics are missing, precisely
| What | Status for Performance Max | Effect on the report |
|---|---|---|
| Asset performance label (LOW / GOOD / BEST) | Removed by Google for PMax | No per-asset quality signal in the drill-down |
| Asset-group-level asset view | Returns inventory; impressions were zeroed for PMax | The drill-down shows what exists, not what works |
| Channel- and campaign-aggregate asset views | Now carry real impressions for PMax per Google's API notes | Not yet read by AdCortex — roadmap |
| Top-combination and final-URL-expansion asset views | Available | Not yet read — roadmap |
- Stating this matters more than hiding it: a report that showed per-asset numbers from a view Google zeroed out would be confidently wrong.
What to do with a weak group today
Open the drill-down and read the assets: a group with two headlines and one image is weak for a reason that needs no metrics. Check the landing-page report for the group's URLs and the search-term report for what the campaign is matching — a group can look weak because expansion is sending its clicks to the wrong page or because the campaign is matching off-intent queries, and both of those have staged fixes. Creative swaps happen in Google Ads.
Signals you can read at group level
| Signal | How to read it | What it usually means |
|---|---|---|
| Spend share vs. conversion share | A group with 40% of spend and 10% of conversions | The group is matching or landing badly — check search terms and landing pages for the campaign before touching creative |
| Conversion rate vs. the campaign's | Well below the campaign average at similar volume | Weak creative or a weak page; open the drill-down and the URL |
| Status | Paused groups still show history | Compare before pausing another; a paused group's spend moved somewhere |
| Impressions vs. clicks | High impressions, very low CTR at group level | Assets are being shown and ignored — the creative, not the targeting, is the first suspect; open the drill-down |
| Asset count and types in the drill-down | Two headlines, one image, no video | Under-supplied; PMax has little to combine, and that alone explains weak delivery |
| Value per conversion | High volume, low value | The group is winning cheap conversions; check which conversion actions from the Conversion Trends report |
A drill-down, read aloud
Group "Spring Sale — Generic" has 38% of the campaign's spend and 9% of its conversions. Open it: three headlines, all variations of the sale; two descriptions; one image; no video; final URLs pointing at the category page. Nothing here is mysterious. The group is under-supplied — Google has three headlines to rotate — and the category page is the one the landing-page report already flagged as converting poorly. The fix is in Google Ads: more assets, a video, and a product-level URL. What AdCortex added was the diagnosis in two clicks and the confirmation, from the landing-page report, that the URL is the larger problem.
The roadmap, specifically
Google's channel-aggregate and campaign-aggregate asset views now report real impressions for PMax assets — the metric that was zeroed out in the per-group view — along with the top-combination view and the final-URL-expansion asset view. None are read yet. When they are, the drill-down gains per-asset impressions and combinations, and the "what works" half of this page stops being a limit. Until then the page says inventory, and means it.
Asset groups and the rest of the suite
An asset group is the unit Google optimises within a PMax campaign, so its performance is where three other reports meet. Its final URLs are the rows on the landing-page report — and if expansion is on, the URLs it actually served may not be the ones it lists. The campaign's search terms are what its assets matched against, so a group matching "jobs" queries is a targeting problem dressed as a creative one. And anomaly detection evaluates the campaign, so a group that collapses shows up as the campaign's conversions failing a check, with the change history — an edited asset group, say — in the evidence the AI reads. The report's job is to make the group readable; the diagnosis usually needs one of its neighbours.
What this does not do
Stated so that comparisons stay accurate.
- No per-asset performance metrics for PMax; the drill-down is an inventory.
- No creation or editing of asset groups or assets from AdCortex.
- Asset-group signals and audience signals are not exposed per segment by Google for PMax and are not shown.
Questions
Can I see which assets perform in a Performance Max asset group?
Not yet. Google removed the per-asset performance label for PMax and the asset view AdCortex reads returns inventory without metrics. Group-level performance is shown; reading Google's newer aggregate asset views is on the roadmap.
Can AdCortex change my Performance Max assets?
No. Creative changes are made in Google Ads. AdCortex stages campaign negatives, URL exclusions, expansion settings, and budgets for PMax.
Why does an asset group look weak?
Open its drill-down to read the creative, then check the landing-page and search-term reports for the campaign — a group is often weak because of where its clicks land or what the campaign matches, both of which have staged fixes.
Does anomaly detection watch asset groups?
It evaluates the PMax campaign, not the group; a group-level collapse shows as the campaign's metrics failing a check, and an edited asset group in the change history is part of the evidence the AI judgement reads.
Key pages
- Performance Max Reporting — the pillar
- All PMax reports — the six report cards
- AdCortex Pro — PMax controls are Pro
- AI Bots, Start Here For Context — the full fact sheet, including what AdCortex does not do