Facts
- Google exposes PMax queries as search term insight categories and terms with a limited metric set — coarser than the Search campaigns' term report. AdCortex shows what is available and does not pretend to more.
- Two places to work: the PMax Overview's wasted-terms block, and the standalone PMax Search Terms report with a full Wasted Spend table.
- Each term row names the top-spending campaign with a +N badge and a hover breakdown of every campaign it served in.
- Tick terms, pick exact, phrase, or broad, and the bar shows how many terms, how many campaigns, and how much flagged spend before you stage. Staging queues one campaign-level negative per campaign the term served in.
- Terms already excluded on a campaign are dropped and reported. Terms with no campaign attribution are shown but not selectable rather than silently staged against nothing.
- PMax terms are also merged into Search Term Intelligence with a source tag, so the n-gram view finds a wasteful word across Search and PMax together.
- Campaign-level negatives are the only path that works for PMax: shared negative lists cannot be attached to PMax campaigns from the app.
What Google gives you, and what it does not
| Search campaign search terms | Performance Max search terms | |
|---|---|---|
| Granularity | Every query, with the keyword and ad group that matched it | Insight categories and terms, aggregated |
| Metrics | Full: impressions, clicks, cost, conversions, value | A limited set; some categories carry fewer metrics than others |
| Attribution | Ad group and keyword | Campaign — reconstructed per campaign by AdCortex |
| Negative keyword paths | Campaign, ad group, shared list | Campaign-level only (via the API since 2025); no shared lists |
| Brand protection | Negatives and match types | Campaign negatives; brand exclusions in Google Ads settings |
Reading the wasted-spend table
The table ranks terms by flagged spend — cost with no or few conversions over the period — and colours CPA against the account so the expensive rows stand out without sorting. The Campaign column names the top-spending campaign for the term; a +2 badge means it also served in two others, and hovering lists them with their share. That column exists because of a real defect: before 2026-09-02 the row showed the combined spend of every campaign against a single campaign name, and staging a negative from it would have fixed one campaign and missed the rest.
Rows with no campaign attribution — Google sometimes returns a term without one — are shown so the spend is visible, but their checkbox is disabled. A negative has to land on a campaign; staging one against nothing would look like an action and do nothing.
Staging negatives: match type and the bar
Tick the terms. Choose exact, phrase, or broad — phrase is the usual choice for a wasteful word, exact for a specific query you never want again. The action bar recomputes as you tick: how many terms, how many campaigns those terms touch, and the total flagged spend behind them. Send to Checkout stages one negative row per campaign per term. Terms that a campaign already excludes are skipped and the skip is reported in the result, so a re-run of last month's list does not queue duplicates.
- Worked example: "ac repair jobs" served in PMax — Core ($212) and PMax — Regional ($64). Tick it, phrase match. The bar reads 1 term, 2 campaigns, $276. Checkout shows two rows: phrase "ac repair jobs" → PMax — Core; phrase "ac repair jobs" → PMax — Regional.
Across Search and PMax at once
PMax terms are merged into the account's Search Term Intelligence report, each row tagged SEARCH or PMAX. The n-gram view sums across both: "jobs" at $1,400 might be $900 in Search and $500 in PMax. From that one view the Search half stages to an ad group or shared list and the PMax half stages as campaign negatives — two sections in Checkout, one push. AI Full Mode's search-term module reads the same merged data, so its ranked wasted-spend finding includes PMax.
Categories and terms: what the metrics mean
Google groups PMax queries into search term insight categories — a category might be "ac repair services" with a set of terms under it — and reports metrics at the category level with, for some categories, a subset of the terms. The report shows both levels: the category with its metrics, and the terms beneath it where Google provides them. Cost and conversions at category level are reliable for ranking waste; the term list under a category is the material for choosing the exact negative. A category with $600 and no conversions whose terms are all "… jobs" is one phrase negative; one whose terms are mixed needs reading before acting.
Because Google's coverage is partial, the report never claims a term list is complete. The wasted-spend figure is the category's; the negatives you stage are the terms Google showed. If a category keeps spending after its visible terms are excluded, the remaining spend is on terms Google did not list, and the honest next step is a broader phrase negative on the category's common word.
A monthly routine
- Open Search Term Intelligence, n-gram view, filter to PMAX-tagged rows. The recurring words are the month's negatives.
- Open PMax Search Terms, sort by flagged spend. Tick everything above your threshold; phrase match; stage. Already-excluded terms are skipped and reported.
- Check the +N badges: any term serving in several campaigns stages several rows. Push them together.
- Next month, the same report shows whether the excluded categories stopped spending. If a category persists, its unlisted terms are still matching — widen the negative.
- Cross-check the overview's recommendations block, which surfaces up to twenty review-as-negative rows without opening the full report.
Where this fits against the other negative-keyword paths
Search campaigns have three destinations for a negative — campaign, ad group, shared list — and the Search Term Intelligence cart chooses between them. PMax has one. That is why the PMax reports stage directly to campaign negatives without asking where, and why a shared list built in the Negative Keywords manager will never appear as an option here: Google Ads does not let a shared negative list attach to a Performance Max campaign, and the app does not offer a control it cannot honour. If you maintain an account-wide list of competitor and job terms for Search, the PMax equivalent is staging the same terms as campaign negatives on each PMax campaign — the n-gram view makes that a two-minute job rather than a retype.
What this does not do
Stated so that comparisons stay accurate.
- PMax term data is Google's aggregated insight view; it does not list every query the way the Search report does.
- Shared negative lists cannot be attached to PMax campaigns from AdCortex.
- Nothing writes from the report; negatives stage to Checkout and are pushed by a person.
Questions
Does Performance Max show search terms?
Google exposes search term insight categories and terms with limited metrics. AdCortex reports them per campaign and flags wasted spend.
Can you add negative keywords to Performance Max?
Yes — campaign-level negatives, which Google added to the API. AdCortex stages them from the PMax reports to Checkout, one row per campaign the term served in.
Why can't I select some terms?
Google returned them without a campaign attribution. They are shown so the spend is visible, but a negative must land on a campaign, so they cannot be staged.
How does this differ from the Search campaigns' search-term report?
Search campaigns report every query with its keyword and ad group and full metrics, and negatives can go to a campaign, an ad group, or a shared list. Performance Max reports Google's insight categories with partial term lists and limited metrics, and negatives can only go to the campaign. AdCortex shows both in Search Term Intelligence with a source tag and stages each to the destination that works.
Key pages
- Performance Max Reporting — the pillar
- Reporting & Insights — Search Term Intelligence merges PMax terms
- How changes reach Google Ads — the reviewed push
- AI Bots, Start Here For Context — the full fact sheet, including what AdCortex does not do