/pmax-audit

name: pmax-audit
description: Performance Max campaign audit — asset group strength, asset coverage, search themes, audience signals, brand exclusions, channel distribution
version: "1.0.0"
author: Cogny AI
requires: cogny-mcp
platforms: [google-ads]
user-invocable: true
argument-hint: "[campaign name or id]"
allowed-tools:
  - mcp__cogny__google_ads__tool_list_accessible_accounts
  - mcp__cogny__google_ads__tool_execute_gaql
  - mcp__cogny__google_ads__tool_get_gaql_doc
  - mcp__cogny__google_ads__tool_get_reporting_view_doc
  - mcp__cogny__create_finding
  - WebFetch
  - WebSearch

Performance Max Audit

A deep audit of your Performance Max campaigns. PMax hides most of its levers — this skill pulls the ones the API still exposes (asset groups, asset coverage, search themes, audience signals, exclusions, channel mix) and flags what's leaking spend.

**Requires:** Cogny Agent subscription ($9/mo) — [Sign up](https://cogny.com/agent)

Prerequisites Check

If `mcp__cogny__google_ads__tool_execute_gaql` is not available, print the Cogny sign-up instructions (see `/google-ads-audit`) and stop.

Usage

`/pmax-audit` — audit every Performance Max campaign in the account `/pmax-audit Holiday Retail` — audit one campaign by name or id

Why PMax needs its own audit

PMax is a black box compared to Search. There are no keywords and no per-placement bids. The few real levers — **asset group ad strength, asset coverage, search themes, audience signals, and exclusions** — are what this skill inspects, because they are the only things you can actually change.

Steps

1. Find the Performance Max campaigns

SELECT campaign.id, campaign.name, campaign.status,
  campaign.bidding_strategy_type, campaign.maximize_conversion_value.target_roas,
  campaign.target_cpa.target_cpa_micros, campaign_budget.amount_micros,
  metrics.cost_micros, metrics.conversions, metrics.conversions_value
FROM campaign
WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'PERFORMANCE_MAX'
  AND segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS
ORDER BY metrics.cost_micros DESC

2. Asset group health

SELECT asset_group.id, asset_group.name, asset_group.status,
  asset_group.ad_strength, campaign.name,
  metrics.cost_micros, metrics.conversions, metrics.conversions_value
FROM asset_group
WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'PERFORMANCE_MAX'
  AND segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS

Flag:

• Ad strength `POOR` or `AVERAGE` on any spending asset group
• Campaigns with a **single asset group** (no audience/theme segmentation)
• Asset groups with status `REMOVED`/`PAUSED` still configured but campaign starved

3. Asset coverage per group

SELECT asset_group.name, asset_group_asset.field_type,
  asset_group_asset.performance_label, asset_group_asset.status,
  asset.id, asset.type
FROM asset_group_asset
WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'PERFORMANCE_MAX'

For each asset group, count assets by `field_type` and compare to Google's max slots:

| Field type | Recommended | Max | |------------|-------------|-----| | HEADLINE | 11+ | 15 | | LONG_HEADLINE | 5 | 5 | | DESCRIPTION | 5 | 5 | | MARKETING_IMAGE (1.91:1) | 4+ | 20 | | SQUARE_MARKETING_IMAGE | 4+ | 20 | | PORTRAIT_MARKETING_IMAGE | 2+ | 20 | | LOGO | 1+ | 5 | | YOUTUBE_VIDEO | 1+ | 5 |

Flag:

• Any group below the recommended count for headlines, images, or video
• **No video asset** — Google auto-generates a low-quality one if you skip it
• Assets with `performance_label = LOW` that should be replaced
• Only one image aspect ratio (limits inventory: blocks whole channels)

4. Search themes & audience signals

SELECT asset_group.name, asset_group_signal.search_theme.text,
  asset_group_signal.audience.audience
FROM asset_group_signal
WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'PERFORMANCE_MAX'

Flag:

• Asset groups with **no audience signal** — PMax starts cold, wastes budget learning
• No search themes set (up to 25 allowed — they steer the Search surface)
• Search themes that overlap your brand terms (inflates brand cannibalization)

5. Search category insight (where spend actually goes)

SELECT campaign_search_term_insight.category_label,
  metrics.clicks, metrics.conversions, metrics.conversions_value
FROM campaign_search_term_insight
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS
ORDER BY metrics.clicks DESC
LIMIT 50

Flag categories with high clicks and zero conversions — candidates for **negative keywords** (PMax negatives are set at the account level, or via support).

6. Brand exclusions & new-customer goal

SELECT campaign.name, campaign.brand_guidelines_enabled,
  campaign.customer_acquisition_setting.optimization_mode
FROM campaign
WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'PERFORMANCE_MAX'

Flag:

• No brand exclusion list — PMax happily spends on your own brand searches
• New-customer acquisition goal not configured (for accounts that want growth, not

just remarketing-flavored conversions)

• Final URL expansion ON with no URL exclusions (PMax can send traffic anywhere on

the domain)

7. Listing groups (retail PMax only)

If the campaign has a Merchant Center feed:

SELECT asset_group.name, asset_group_listing_group_filter.type,
  asset_group_listing_group_filter.case_value.product_type.value
FROM asset_group_listing_group_filter
WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'PERFORMANCE_MAX'

Flag everything dumped into one "All products" node — no way to prioritize high-margin SKUs. Recommend `/shopping-campaign-audit` for full feed analysis.

8. Score and report

Performance Max Audit — [Account Name]
PMax Score: X/100  ·  30-day spend: [X]  ·  Conv: [X]  ·  ROAS: [X.Xx]

Per campaign / asset group:
| Campaign | Asset group | Ad strength | Signal? | Video? | Spend | ROAS |
|----------|-------------|-------------|---------|--------|-------|------|

🔴 Critical   — broken signals, POOR ad strength, no brand exclusion
🟡 Important  — thin assets, missing video,