In a hurry? Find our PMax Junk Exclusion list here to instantly boost PMax campaign performance.

Want a deeper understanding of PMax exclusions to make the most out of your campaigns? Then read on…

PMax offers a powerful, data-driven approach to advertising - yet it’s a bit of a black box for advertisers. 

Creatives go in, conversions come out. How? No idea. Want a quick peek at what the targeting algorithm is prioritizing? Unless you work for Google, not a chance. 

Ok, maybe we’re being slightly hyperbolic, but the point stands - PMax represents a significant shift in advertising. One that leaves us, as marketers, with less direct control over our own campaigns than ever before. 

Yet one key element you still have control over - thank goodness - is PMax exclusions. 

Strategic use of PMax exclusions can significantly improve campaign performance. By focusing your budget on the most relevant placements and audiences, you can see a boost in clicks, conversions, and overall ROAS. 

Here, we’ll discuss the power of PMax exclusions - and share our PMax junk exclusion list to give your PMax campaigns an instant uplift.

PMax exclusions: The key to efficient ad spend

In order to maximize ROAS for PMax campaigns, it’s important to use placement exclusions. 

Exclusions stop your ads from showing on irrelevant placements (websites or apps), audiences, content categories, or even specific content you deem to be "junk." 

In other words, they help you ensure your ads are shown to the right people, in the right place, at the right time. 

Exclusions in Performance Max empower you to:

• Prevent Wasted Spend: PMax casts a wide net, which can occasionally be beneficial. Yet more often than not, it results in your ads being shown to people unlikely to convert. Exclusions help you filter out the noise, focusing your budget on placements with higher conversion potential. 
• Boost Performance: By eliminating junk placements and audiences, you optimize your campaigns for better click-through rates (CTR) and conversion rates. Imagine your ad only appearing in front of highly relevant audiences.
• Protect Your Brand: Not all online spaces are created equal. Exclusions allow you to shield your brand from appearing on websites with content that doesn't align with your image. Think of it as building a brand safety moat around your castle of reputation.
• Refine Audience Targeting: While PMax offers basic audience targeting options, exclusions take it a step (or three) further. You can exclude specific segments that have historically shown low conversion rates, ensuring your ads reach the right people at the right time.

Our PMax junk exclusion list

At Lunio, we analyzed over 100,000 placements that appeared in the PMax campaigns we protect against Invalid Traffic.

Unbelievably, 41% of them were classified as junk - meaning they resulted in virtually zero valid or valuable conversions.

In other words, that means 41% of PMax placements are completely useless. Not a valid click or conversion in sight.

Marketers shouldn’t have to deal with 41% of their placements being total junk. Therefore, we pulled together a list for anyone to add to their PMax campaigns in order to filter out the junk. 

It’s completely free to download, no strings attached. Hit the button below and add it to your PMax campaigns for an instant performance uplift.

PMax placements Lunio excludes

So how do we decide what placements are ‘junk’? And how can we be sure that we’re not filtering out anything that might lead to conversions? 

We classify a junk placement as any placement that doesn’t drive genuine engagement or results. Junk placements consist of 4 main categories: 

1. Made-for-Advertising (MFA) websites

These websites are designed solely to generate ad clicks and offer little value to users. Essentially ad fraud to generate money for the publisher, and nothing else. Our PMax exclusion list filters out over 10,000 MFA sites.

2. Brand unsafe placements

Placements that may result in brand risk or damage - illegal, offensive, or dangerous content that you definitely don’t want your ads appearing next to.

3. Advertising junk placements

Think poor user experience, including too many ads above the fold, lots of ad stacking, ad refreshing, and other shady, low-value placements.

4. Historically poor ROAS performance

This includes placements where the ROAS and CPA is at least 10 times worse than the campaign average. This tends to include places where invalid traffic is rampant. Our list filters out over 20,000 placements like this. 

In short, these placements are of no value to PMax campaigns whatsoever. Unless your target audience is bots - and you’re highly allergic to conversions - we’d recommend adding our PMax junk exclusions to a global exclusion list right away. Here’s how: 

How to implement PMax exclusions: A step-by-step guide

You’ve got the PMax exclusions - now discover how to implement them in your Google Ads account:

1. Navigate to Your PMax Campaign: Log in to your Google Ads account and head to the "Campaigns" tab. Locate the PMax campaign you want to edit and click on it.
2. Access Settings: Within the campaign menu, find "Settings" and click on it.
3. Unlock the Vault of Exclusions: Under the "Settings" tab, you'll see an option titled "Additional settings." Click on this to reveal a treasure trove of advanced features - including exclusions.
4. Add Your Exclusion List: Here, you'll see options for content exclusions. Simply insert our list of junk exclusions as a global exclusion list, and voilà - you’ve successfully filtered out a huge chunk of low quality traffic. 

The next level: Blocking invalid traffic

Our PMax exclusions can be a game-changer when it comes to optimizing your PMax campaigns. Download the junk exclusions list for a quick and easy performance uplift that’s effective as soon as it’s implemented.

If you’re looking to take campaign optimization a step further, consider looking at ways to filter out the invalid traffic your campaigns are receiving.

Invalid traffic (IVT) is the silent killer of your advertising budget. Our Wasted Ad Spend Report showed that 1 in 12 clicks made online are invalid - meaning they’ll never convert.

Lunio’s IVT protection system stops IVT in its tracks, meaning your ad campaigns - including PMax campaigns - are protected from bots, fake clicks, and other bad actors. 

See how much invalid traffic is affecting your PPC success (and know exactly how much you can save by eliminating it) with a free, no-obligation traffic audit from Lunio.