Should You Use Performance Max Without a Product Feed?

By: Jyll Saskin Gales, Google Ads Coach

Do you have an ecommerce site, but no product feed? Whether you sell highly customized B2B equipment or unique B2C products, the standard Google Merchant Center feed isn't always a perfect fit. This often leads to a big question: can you still use Google's most powerful campaign type, Performance Max?

I'm often asked whether you should run a feed-only PMax campaign, but this article addresses the opposite scenario: should you run a feed-less PMax campaign?

Making the right choice helps you achieve your specific business goals, whether that's an immediate online sale or a qualified lead for your sales team to nurture. We’ll break down a strategic approach to using Performance Max and other powerful campaign types for your B2C or B2B ecommerce business.

We'll cover:

• How to determine your campaign’s primary goal: ecommerce sales vs. lead generation.
• The specific conditions under which PMax can work for ecommerce sites without a feed.
• Why PMax is often the wrong choice for lead generation in this scenario.
• Effective alternatives to PMax that give you more control and better lead quality.

The First Crucial Decision: Are You Seeking Sales or Leads?

Before you can choose the right campaign type, you need to define what a "conversion" means for your business. While you might ultimately want both online sales and sales inquiries, each individual Google Ads campaign needs to have one clear, primary goal.

Think of it like having two different entrances to your business. One door leads to a self-service checkout where customers can buy directly off the website. The other leads to a consultation desk where they can speak with an expert before making a decision. You need to decide which door you’re sending people to with each campaign.

• Ecommerce Goal (The Self-Checkout): The desired action is a direct, online purchase. The customer adds a product to their cart and completes the transaction on your website without needing to speak to anyone. The campaign is optimized for the "Purchase" conversion action.
• Lead Generation Goal (The Consultation Desk): The desired action is for a potential customer to express interest by filling out a contact form, requesting a quote, or calling your business. The campaign is optimized for conversion actions like "Contact" or "Form Submission."

You can absolutely run both types of campaigns in your account, but you can't mix the goals within a single campaign. A campaign trying to optimize for both immediate purchases and form fills will perform poorly. Deciding on this goal is the foundational step that determines your entire campaign strategy.

Using PMax for Ecommerce Sales (Without a Feed)

So, can you run a Performance Max campaign with an ecommerce goal if you don't have a product feed?

The short answer is yes, but with a very important condition: you need to be generating enough sales for the algorithm to learn effectively.

As a rule of thumb, you should aim for at least one purchase per day through the campaign. Why? Because Performance Max is driven by machine learning. It needs a steady stream of data to understand who your ideal customer is and what actions lead to a sale. Without a product feed, PMax relies heavily on other signals you provide:

• Your Website: It will crawl your landing pages to understand what you sell.
• Creative Assets: Your headlines, descriptions, images, and videos are crucial pieces of information.
• Conversion data: Your conversions further guide the campaign's targeting, as it tries to optimize

If your campaign is only getting a sale every week or two, the algorithm won't have enough data to find patterns and optimize your bids and targeting. In this case, while you can technically run PMax, it may struggle to deliver a positive return.

Recommendation: If your ecommerce site can generate consistent daily sales, it's worth testing a feed-less Performance Max campaign. Just be sure to monitor its performance closely, especially in the first few weeks.

The Big Warning: PMax for Lead Generation (Without a Feed)

This is where things get tricky. If your goal is lead generation, using Performance Max without a very specific setup is generally not a good idea.

The problem lies in the conversion data. If you tell PMax to optimize for "form submissions," it will do exactly that. It will become incredibly efficient at finding people who are happy to fill out online forms. However, it has no way of knowing whether those submissions are from high-quality, qualified leads or from tire-kickers who will never become customers.

This can lead to a high volume of low-quality leads that waste your sales team's time. Think of it this way: telling PMax to get form fills is like telling a new salesperson to collect as many business cards as possible at a trade show. They might come back with a stack of 500 cards, but who knows if any of them will be interested in buying.

The only way to make PMax work effectively for lead generation is to implement full-funnel conversion tracking, known as Offline Conversion Tracking. This involves connecting your CRM software to Google Ads. This connection allows you to send data back to Google, telling it which leads turned into qualified prospects or, even better, actual paying customers.

This advanced setup gives the PMax algorithm the feedback it needs. The quality of leads will improve dramatically because the campaign is optimizing for real business results, not just surface-level actions.

Recommendation: Do not use Performance Max for lead generation unless you have offline conversion tracking fully implemented.

Alternatives to PMax if you don't have a Product Feed

If PMax isn't the right fit for your ecommerce efforts, what should you do instead? The best approach is often a strategic combination of Search and Demand Gen campaigns. This gives you more control and allows you to target potential customers at different stages of their buying journey.

1. Search Campaigns: This is your foundation. Search campaigns capture existing demand - they target people who are actively searching on Google for the products or solutions you offer. The intent is high, making these clicks incredibly valuable for generating sales. You control the keywords, the ad copy, and the landing pages, ensuring your message is perfectly aligned with the searcher's needs.

2. Demand Gen Campaigns: While Search captures existing demand, Demand Gen campaigns help create it. Or at least, move it along down the funnel. These campaigns allow you to proactively reach your ideal audience across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail before they even start searching for you. You can build audiences based on their interests, online behaviour, and demographics. This is perfect for reaching potential B2B or B2C customers who fit your ideal profile but may not be aware of your solution yet.

By using these two campaign types together, you create a powerful system. Search captures immediate intent, while Demand Gen builds a pipeline of future customers. This balanced approach can be a more reliable and controllable way to drive sales for your ecommerce business when you don't have a product feed.