Key takeaways
- Google is testing Performance Max controls that let selected advertisers include or exclude Search Partners and the Google Display Network.
- The main commercial value is cleaner inventory testing, not simply more switches in the Google Ads interface.
- Blended PMax ROAS often hides brand, Shopping and remarketing credit, so network tests need profit and lead quality checks.
- Advertisers should test Search Partners and GDN separately, using a fixed baseline and one change at a time.
- PMax accounts with thin conversion data or weak CRM matching face the highest risk of drawing the wrong conclusion.
Performance Max controls matter because they challenge the core trade-off advertisers have been forced to accept: give Google more automation, then accept less say over where the budget goes. Partners Alpha changes that equation by putting Search Partners and the Google Display Network back into view.
For UK advertisers, this is not a minor interface tweak. It goes straight at wasted spend, mixed intent and inflated ROAS reporting. If you already separate profit-driving structure from machine-led convenience, as we recommend in our comparison of Google Shopping versus Performance Max, this test gives you a cleaner way to prove which inventory actually helps the account.
The important point is commercial, not cosmetic. If Partners Alpha rolls out widely, PMax stops being quite such a black box. Advertisers will have to justify network inclusion with data, not faith.
What Partners Alpha actually changes
Google is testing a new Partners Alpha setting inside selected Performance Max campaigns. The setting gives some advertisers the option to include or exclude Search Partners and the Google Display Network from PMax activity.
Until now, these networks have been bundled into Performance Max by default. Advertisers had asset group controls, brand exclusions, audience signals, feed inputs and conversion goals, but no direct switch for these partner networks inside the campaign type.
The feature is labelled Alpha, so access is limited and Google has not confirmed a full launch date. The direction of travel is clear enough: Google is acknowledging that advertisers want network-level accountability inside Performance Max.
Why network control matters for advertisers
The real issue is not whether Search Partners or Display are good or bad. It is that they behave differently from core Google Search and Shopping inventory, yet PMax reporting often blends the outcomes into one campaign result.
Here is the mechanism. Search Partners traffic comes from sites beyond Google Search. The intent still links to search behaviour, but the auction context, user journey and conversion quality differ. GDN is broader again. It reaches users across display inventory, where attention is colder and conversion paths are longer. When both sit inside the same automated campaign, the algorithm allocates spend based on the conversion signals it receives, not on your finance team’s view of margin, lead quality or incrementality.
That is where the money moves. If display impressions create cheap remarketing conversions, PMax reports stronger efficiency. If Search Partners generates enquiry volume with weaker sales quality, lead-gen dashboards look healthy whilst CRM revenue tells another story. Smart Bidding then learns from those mixed signals and pushes harder into the pockets that appear efficient. Your CPA improves on paper. Your sales team gets worse leads. Your budget has been optimised towards the wrong success marker.
The problem is sharper for ecommerce. Our Q2 2026 UK Google Ads spend report found that about 32% of UK Google Ads spend now goes to Performance Max, across 34 of 78 accounts. Reported PMax ROAS looked high at 4.75 versus Search at 2.98 on a like-for-like basis. That number needs a caveat: reported PMax ROAS is flattered by brand and Shopping cannibalisation, the API cannot prove incrementality, and the value often rests on conversion data that is distorted by that blend.
Partners Alpha gives advertisers a cleaner test design. You can isolate whether partner inventory is adding incremental conversions or simply claiming credit for demand that Search, Shopping or brand activity would have captured anyway. That distinction decides whether you scale spend or cut it.
Network control also changes how you read campaign structure. A single PMax campaign serving feed-based Shopping, branded demand, prospecting display and partner search is not one campaign in commercial terms. It is several acquisition routes wearing the same label. Network switches let advertisers start separating the routes that make money from the routes that merely make reports look neat.
PPC Geeks’ View
The specific problem advertisers will face is false confidence. PMax accounts with strong reported ROAS will resist network testing because the headline number looks good. That is exactly the wrong instinct. A blended result hides weak traffic until you cut the account by segment, conversion type and actual sales outcome.
We see this most often in ecommerce accounts where PMax carries Shopping demand, branded product searches and remarketing in one campaign. We also see it in lead-gen accounts running broad match Search alongside PMax, where partner traffic fills forms but produces lower appointment rates. The Google Ads interface says the campaign is learning. The CRM says the budget is drifting away from qualified demand.
Network control inside PMax is not about mistrusting automation. It is about refusing to let automation grade its own homework.
— Chris S, Managing Director, PPC Geeks
The action is simple. When Partners Alpha appears in your account, do not switch networks off just because Display feels weak or Search Partners sounds vague. Build a controlled test and judge it against profit, qualified lead rate or new customer value. This is exactly the type of issue we look for in a free Google Ads audit, especially where automation, tracking and campaign structure are shaping reported performance.
There is a reporting discipline point here too. If your monthly review only shows campaign-level ROAS, you are already behind. As we set out in our guide to the campaign performance metrics that drive growth, the number that looks cleanest is often the one hiding the commercial leak.
How to test Partners Alpha without wrecking your data
Performance Max controls deserve a proper test plan, not a rushed toggle. Treat Partners Alpha as a measurement opportunity and work through the account in this order.
- Check access in live PMax campaigns. Open each Performance Max campaign, go into campaign settings and look for the Partners Alpha option. Record which campaigns have access, which networks are enabled and which conversion goals they optimise towards.
- Split your PMax portfolio by intent before testing. Do not test all PMax campaigns together. Separate feed-led ecommerce campaigns, lead-gen campaigns, store visit campaigns and branded-heavy campaigns. Network effects differ by intent, so mixed tests create bad decisions.
- Export 30 days of baseline data. Pull spend, conversions, conversion value, CPA, ROAS, new customer value where available and lead quality by campaign. For lead-gen, match Google Ads conversions to CRM stages before you change the setting.
- Run one network change at a time. Test Search Partners separately from GDN. If you remove both at once, you learn only that a bundle changed. You do not learn which inventory was helping or hurting.
- Use a fixed test window. Run the change for 14 to 21 days where conversion volume supports it. Keep budgets, targets and asset changes stable during the window. If you alter five variables, the result is not usable.
- Judge against business quality, not only platform ROAS. For ecommerce, compare margin-weighted revenue and new customer orders. For lead-gen, compare qualified lead rate, sales accepted leads and closed revenue. PMax rewards the conversion goal you give it, even when that goal is commercially thin.
Google’s own Performance Max campaign guidance confirms that PMax is designed to serve across Google channels from a single campaign. That is why this Alpha matters: it starts to separate channel control from campaign automation. The Search Engine Land report on the Partners Alpha test notes that the setting lets advertisers choose whether to include Search Partners and GDN, replacing the previous forced inclusion for those seeing it. For context on how partner inventory works, Google’s explanation of Search Partners sites sets out how partner search extends ads beyond Google Search itself.
If you manage PMax alongside Search, Shopping and Demand Gen, document every network test in your change history and your reporting commentary. Your future self needs to know whether a CPA shift came from bidding, seasonality or inventory removal. This is also where agency process matters. Our Google Ads agency team would not treat this as a setting change. We would treat it as an attribution and budget allocation test.
What this means for your campaigns
Partners Alpha is a useful correction to Performance Max, but it does not fix weak tracking, poor conversion goals or lazy reporting. It gives advertisers another lever. Weak accounts will still pull that lever without a clean hypothesis, then blame the campaign type when the results blur.
The right response is disciplined. Identify which PMax campaigns have the setting. Build a clean baseline. Test one network at a time. Compare platform numbers with profit, qualified lead quality and incrementality. Performance Max controls reward advertisers who already understand their account economics. They expose advertisers who have been accepting blended ROAS as proof of growth.
If your account relies heavily on PMax, this is the moment to pressure-test the structure before Google expands the feature more widely.
We can help you stress-test your account against this. A free Google Ads audit is the fastest way to see where you stand. For more on the wider direction of travel, see Google’s overview of new Performance Max steering and reporting updates for 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Partners Alpha setting in Performance Max?
It is a limited test inside some Performance Max campaigns that gives advertisers control over Search Partners and Google Display Network inclusion. Those networks were previously bundled into PMax without a direct exclusion option.
Should I turn off Search Partners in Performance Max?
Do not turn it off blindly. Export a baseline, test Search Partners separately from GDN, and judge the result against profit, qualified lead rate or new customer value rather than headline CPA alone.
Why does this matter for UK ecommerce advertisers?
Ecommerce PMax often mixes Shopping demand, brand demand and remarketing in one reported number. Network controls give advertisers a better route to test whether partner inventory adds new revenue or only claims existing demand.
Why does this matter for lead generation campaigns?
Lead-gen accounts often suffer when cheap form fills train bidding systems towards low-quality enquiries. If partner traffic produces weaker sales accepted leads, the campaign looks efficient whilst revenue quality falls.
Is Partners Alpha available in every Google Ads account?
No. The setting is labelled Alpha and is only visible to a limited set of advertisers. Google has not confirmed a wider release timetable.
