Performance Max is a Google Ads campaign type that uses AI to show ads across all Google channels (Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps) from a single campaign. For hotels, Google offers a dedicated version, Performance Max for travel goals, set up property by property. It can bring new guests efficiently, provided tracking, assets and brand searches are under control.
Key takeaways
- One campaign covers every Google channel; Google's AI chooses where to show ads and which assets to combine.
- Performance Max for travel goals, launched in 2023, lets a hotel select its properties on a map and pre-fills ads with copy and images.
- Since 2025, advertisers have more control: channel reporting, search terms and campaign-level negative keywords, with new audience exclusions announced for 2026.
How does Performance Max work for a hotel?
The hotel sets a goal (usually bookings and their value), a budget and assets: images, videos, headlines and descriptions. It can add audience signals, such as past guest lists or website visitors, to show the AI which travelers to look for. Google then builds ads in every format and bids in real time on the channels most likely to bring a booking. Results depend directly on the quality of the conversion tracking from the website to the booking engine.
What are the risks of Performance Max for a hotel?
- Brand searches: without brand exclusions, the campaign can capture searches for the hotel's name, which a cheaper brand protection campaign would get anyway, and look better than it is.
- Brand image: automatically assembled assets must stay consistent with the hotel's art direction.
- Measurement: with poor tracking or consent gaps, the AI optimizes on incomplete data.
- Overlap: it can compete with search, metasearch and remarketing campaigns for the same travelers.
Which controls were added in 2025 and 2026?
In 2025, Google added channel performance reporting, search terms visibility and campaign-level negative keywords to Performance Max. In January 2026, it announced first-party audience exclusions, a budget report and fuller audience reporting. For a hotel, these tools make it possible to exclude past guests from prospecting, check which channels really bring bookings and keep brand searches out of the campaign.
How should a hotel structure Performance Max?
- Keep a separate Google Ads search campaign for the brand, and exclude the brand from Performance Max.
- Use Performance Max for travel goals for new travelers and non-brand demand.
- Run Google Hotel Ads and metasearch alongside, and compare the cost per booking of each.
- Provide strong assets: real photos, short vertical videos, offers and clear headlines.
- Judge the campaign on incremental bookings, not only on the conversions it claims.
How does Influence Society use Performance Max for hotels?
At Influence Society, we use Performance Max as one part of a hotel's acquisition plan, never alone. We set up booking tracking and consent first, feed the campaign with the hotel's own visuals, separate brand and non-brand demand, and compare its results with search, metasearch and paid social to see what it really adds.
Sources: Google, Performance Max for travel goals, March 7, 2023; PPC Land, Google wraps up Performance Max feature rollouts in 2025, August 7, 2025; Google, New Performance Max steering and reporting updates coming in 2026, January 9, 2026 (accessed November 2026).
FAQ
Does Performance Max replace search campaigns for a hotel?
No. A separate search campaign on the hotel's name remains the cheapest way to protect brand searches. Performance Max works best on new travelers and non-brand demand.
Can Performance Max show ads on searches for my hotel's name?
Yes, unless you add brand exclusions. Without them, the campaign may take credit for bookings that would have come through brand searches anyway.
What does Performance Max need to work well for a hotel?
Reliable booking tracking with consent, good images and videos, audience signals such as past guest lists, and enough budget for the AI to learn over several weeks.