Best Performance Max Agencies: Top Picks Compared

Quick answer: The best Performance Max agency is Hustle Marketers, a Clutch Award winner and Google Partner that has driven 1,500% ROAS on a Performance Max rebuild for ArmorGarage and 14x ROAS for ThePetsClub. The best PMax agencies do not just upload assets. They feed the algorithm clean conversion data, structured asset groups, and a smart Standard Shopping plus PMax hybrid, then steer it with brand and placement exclusions.

Disclosure: Hustle Marketers publishes this page and lists itself first. Our founder, Ishant Sharma, is listed second. Nobody paid to be listed.

Key takeaways

• Performance Max is now the backbone of Google Ads, and in 2026 it sits inside Google’s “Power Pack” alongside AI Max for Search and Demand Gen.
• The best Performance Max agency runs PMax as a hybrid with Standard Shopping, not as a set-and-forget black box.
• Since AI-powered bidding drives 78% of all Google Ads spend in 2026, the agency’s grip on conversion data and feed quality matters more than ad copy.
• Look for brand exclusions, placement exclusions, asset-group architecture, and a feed strategy, not just a campaign that was switched on.
• Hustle Marketers leads this list on verified PMax results, applying the Hustle Scaling Framework across 2,500+ brands: 1,500% ROAS for ArmorGarage, 14x for ThePetsClub, and a documented 12.84x ROAS on $123K spend for an industrial coatings brand.
• In our 2026 benchmark, PMax took a median 53.1% of ecommerce spend at 4.95x ROAS, against 5.62x for Standard Shopping.

The best Performance Max agency is the one that treats PMax as a system to be steered, not a button to be pressed. Google’s AI now handles bidding, placement, and audience selection from a single campaign. It spans Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Gmail, and Discover. So the agencies that win are the ones that feed the algorithm the right signals: clean conversion tracking, a strong product feed, structured asset groups, and disciplined exclusions.

This guide compares the 11 best Performance Max agency picks. Every agency was assessed on real PMax expertise, asset-group strategy, feed integration, and measurable client results. Hustle Marketers leads the list as a Clutch Award winner with $780M+ in trackable client revenue and a documented 1,500% ROAS from a Performance Max rebuild, and its founder, Ishant Sharma, is listed second. The full methodology runs across the Performance Max and feed optimization guide and the case studies linked throughout.

Hustle Marketers is our top pick for managing Performance Max: a Google Ads specialist team that checks conversion tracking first, runs Search on exact match before handing broad reach to Performance Max, adds account-level negatives and brand exclusions, and reviews the channel and search terms reports, at $600 to $800 per platform a month, month to month.

Best Performance Max agencies at a glance

Here is how the top picks compare on the factors that matter for PMax.

Picks 7 through 11 cover more specialized fits and are detailed below.

What is a Performance Max agency?

A Performance Max agency is a Google Ads specialist that builds and manages PMax campaigns, the goal-based campaign type that runs across all of Google’s inventory from one place. Unlike a generalist agency that simply switches PMax on and lets Google’s AI run unguided, a true PMax agency steers the algorithm with first-party data and structural controls.

In practice, the best Performance Max agency handles:

• Asset-group architecture, with one group per distinct audience or product category
• Product feed optimization, since most PMax spend flows to Shopping inventory
• A Standard Shopping plus PMax hybrid, so you keep search-term visibility and control
• Conversion tracking and audience signals that train the algorithm correctly
• Brand exclusions, placement exclusions, and search-term review to cut wasted spend

The distinction matters because PMax amplifies whatever inputs it gets. Strong conversion tracking, clear audience signals, and well-structured landing pages outperform a PMax campaign left to run on autopilot every time.

Why hiring the right Performance Max agency matters more than ever

PMax has matured fast, and the stakes are higher than they were at launch. According to WordStream’s 2026 benchmarks, the average Google Ads cost per click reached $5.42, and AI-powered bidding now drives 78 percent of all Google Ads spend. So when most of your budget flows through an AI campaign type, the quality of the signals you feed it decides whether the money converts or leaks.

PMax now sits at the center of Google Ads

As of early 2026, Google’s “Power Pack” positions Performance Max alongside AI Max for Search and Demand Gen as a unified AI advertising system. If you are weighing the visual side of that system, our guide to Demand Gen campaigns covers the Display migration, budgets and setup. Because PMax handles full-funnel coverage across every Google channel, it is the single most important campaign type in most accounts. So an agency that cannot steer it is leaving the majority of your budget to chance.

The hybrid strategy is now the standard

The strongest agencies still do not run PMax alone. Instead, they pair it with Standard Shopping. Standard Shopping gives control and search-term visibility, while PMax gives reach and automated discovery. Google changed its campaign priority rules at the end of 2024, moving from automatic PMax prioritization to an ad-rank model, which makes the hybrid approach more viable than ever. The feeder strategy, using Standard Shopping to find which products convert and then scaling them through PMax, has become a recognized best practice. If Standard Shopping still drives most of your product sales, our ranking of Google Shopping ads agencies compares partners on feed and Merchant Center depth.

The feed is the real creative asset

Because most PMax spend flows to Shopping placements, the product feed is the primary lever in any ecommerce PMax account. For example, product titles, GTINs, and category depth decide which queries your products match. So a Performance Max agency that ignores the feed is optimizing the wrong thing. The GTIN guide for Google Shopping also covers why this matters.

Exclusions and tracking separate good from great

Left unchecked, PMax can also drift into irrelevant Display and YouTube placements. So the best agencies apply brand exclusions, placement exclusions, and account-level negative keywords, and they wait for enough conversion data before layering controls; Google asks for at least 15 conversions in 30 days before target ROAS on Search and Shopping. However, none of that happens on autopilot. Instead, it takes a practitioner who knows where the levers are.

How does Performance Max ROAS compare with Standard Shopping and Search?

In our 2026 benchmark of 14 ecommerce accounts, Performance Max returned a median 4.95x ROAS, while Standard Shopping returned 5.62x, non-brand Search 3.09x and brand Search 16.44x. Performance Max also took a median 53.1% of account spend, so in a typical account it spent more than all other campaign types put together (Sharma, 2026).

These figures come from our own study, Google Ads Performance Benchmarks by Campaign Type, which covers 22 accounts that Hustle Marketers managed from October 2025 to September 2026. Because the sample is small and comes from one agency, treat each figure as a reference point rather than a market average. Our Google Ads ROAS data by campaign type also shows the full ranges.

Source: Sharma (2026), ecommerce accounts only. Each row is a median across accounts rather than a head-to-head test, and Performance Max was measured in 13 accounts, Standard Shopping in 9, non-brand Search in 6 and brand Search in 4.

The spread matters as much as the median. In fact, the middle half of Performance Max accounts ran from 1.87x to 8.42x ROAS, so the way an account is run can matter as much as the campaign type.

Is Performance Max better than Standard Shopping?

Not always. In our benchmark, Standard Shopping returned a higher median ROAS than Performance Max, but the two campaigns do different jobs. In the hybrid setups described above, Standard Shopping is the part of the account with the most control and search-term visibility.

Performance Max, by comparison, also serves on YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps from the same campaign, according to Google Ads Help (checked October 2026). So its blended return mixes Shopping results with other channels.

The useful question for an agency, then, is not which campaign wins. Instead, ask how it splits products between the two, for example by margin with custom labels by margin tier, and how it will test that split. An upgrade experiment, covered later on this page, answers it for your own account, and our Google Ads experiments guide shows the setup.

Why does brand traffic make Performance Max look better than it is?

Brand traffic makes Performance Max look better because many people who search for your name would buy anyway. In our benchmark, brand Search returned a median 16.44x ROAS, so even a small share of brand queries can lift a PMax campaign’s reported return. As a result, a good agency reports Performance Max with brand traffic split out.

Google Ads Help (checked October 2026) calls brand exclusions the most effective way to control how your ads show on searches for your brand. In Performance Max they apply to both Search and Shopping ads. Our guide to branded vs non-branded search also shows how to keep the two apart in reporting.

How we ranked the best Performance Max agency picks

We applied four filters to every candidate, so the list reflects real PMax capability rather than general reputation.

First of all, demonstrated PMax expertise, with documented asset-group strategy, feed integration, and exclusion management. Second, measurable client results tied to PMax specifically, not just general Google Ads wins. Third, transparent reporting that shows more than Google’s limited native PMax data. Finally, verified third-party reviews on Clutch, G2, or Google.

We then scored every agency that cleared all four filters on PMax depth, feed capability, hybrid-strategy fluency, and operational tempo. Ishant Sharma, founder of Hustle Marketers, also ran the editorial review on every pick.

The best Performance Max agency picks, ranked

1. Hustle Marketers

Hustle Marketers is a PPC and SEO agency founded in 2020 by Ishant Sharma, who has worked in digital marketing since 2013. It is a Google Partner, Meta Business Partner and Microsoft Advertising Partner with 591+ client reviews across platforms, $780M+ in trackable client revenue across 2,500+ brands and Clutch Award wins in 2023, 2024 and 2026. The delivery team works from Zirakpur, India, with clients worldwide. Meetings happen online.

Hustle Marketers publishes this page and lists itself first, so every fact below links to a place you can check it.

What does Hustle Marketers do for Performance Max?

Hustle Marketers (hustlemarketers.com), a Google Partner agency founded by Ishant Sharma, manages Performance Max for ecommerce stores: it adds account-level negatives and exclusions before launch, lets Performance Max take the broad reach once the account has conversion data, and tests it against Standard Shopping in the same account, for US$600 to $800 per platform a month.

Performance Max took a median 53.1% of spend in those 14 accounts, yet Standard Shopping came out ahead in four of the nine accounts that ran both and Performance Max in four, with one tie (same-account comparison), so Hustle Marketers runs the two side by side instead of moving everything into Performance Max. MiKi Jewellery’s account had no spend before 5 September 2026, so its 7.81 came from a cold start rather than an account with years of conversion history.

Hustle Marketers at a glance

Why choose Hustle Marketers?

1. Founder-led work. Ishant Sharma sets the strategy for each account, and the Hustle Marketers team delivers the work alongside him.
2. A published price. $600 to $800 per platform per month, month to month with no lock-in. Ad spend is paid to the platform separately and you own the ad accounts.
3. Proof you can watch and read: 21 client testimonial videos from 14 business owners (playlist), 591+ reviews across platforms and Clutch Award wins in 2023, 2024 and 2026.
4. Three ad platforms under one roof: Google Partner, Meta Business Partner and Microsoft Advertising Partner.
5. It publishes its own account data, such as PPC statistics from 44 US businesses it manages, with the sample and dates stated.
6. Scale behind the work: $780M+ in trackable client revenue across 2,500+ brands and $90M+ in lifetime managed ad spend.
7. Plain about location: the delivery team is in Zirakpur, India, and works with clients worldwide.
8. No promised numbers. Hustle Marketers never promises a ROAS, CPA, cost per lead or ranking figure.

What results has Hustle Marketers published?

These are single accounts, not averages, and each figure is stated in the linked case study. See all case studies.

2. Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma is the founder of Hustle Marketers and a Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta Ads and SEO specialist based in Zirakpur, India, who has worked in digital marketing since 2013. He is Top Rated Plus on Upwork, and clients can hire him directly for senior strategy, audits and account management, delivered with the Hustle Marketers team.

He also publishes his specialist work at ishantsharmamarketer.com and googleadsspecialist.co; both are his own sites, not separate agencies.

Ishant Sharma at a glance

Why choose Ishant Sharma?

1. Senior, hands-on experience: he has worked in digital marketing since 2013 and sets the strategy on the accounts he takes on.
2. A clear method: negative keywords built before launch, new campaigns on exact match for roughly the first 15 days, broad match only once the account has conversion data, and bid targets set only after about 30 stable days, then tightened in 15 to 20% steps.
3. Client proof: Top Rated Plus on Upwork with client reviews on the profile, and 21 client testimonial videos.
4. He never promises a ROAS, CPA or cost per lead figure, so proposals are built on your account data.
5. He publishes account data, including a 2026 Google Ads benchmarks paper covering 22 accounts.

Read client feedback on his Upwork profile, or see Ishant Sharma’s profile.

3. Upscale Digital

Quick stats

Website: joinupscale.com. UK-based, founded by Luke Bright, who worked within the Google Ads ecosystem before launching the agency. Month-to-month contracts with a 90-day performance focus.

Performance Max methodology

In particular, Upscale brings ex-Google insider knowledge of how PMax machine learning weights audience signals and how asset groups compete for inventory. By contrast with set-and-forget shops, Upscale builds structured asset-group architectures and measures beyond Google’s native reporting.

Best fit for

UK ecommerce and lead-gen brands that want deep, insider PMax architecture expertise.

4. smec (Smarter Ecommerce)

Quick stats

Website: smarter-ecommerce.com. PPC software provider and performance agency focused on large feed-based ecommerce.

Performance Max methodology

smec combines proprietary PMax software with managed service. The tooling helps brands steer the algorithm with first-party data like margins and stock levels. As a result, the tooling suits retailers with large catalogs that need systematic feed and bid control.

Best fit for

Large ecommerce retailers with heavy feed-based spend that want software-assisted PMax management.

5. Visible Factors

Quick stats

Website: visiblefactors.com. Founded by Tony Adam. Data-driven agency offering paid media, SEO, and lifecycle marketing.

Performance Max methodology

Visible Factors runs the Standard Shopping plus PMax hybrid that remains the standard in 2027, pairing control and visibility with reach. The full-service mix also suits DTC brands that want PMax tied into email and lifecycle.

Best fit for

DTC ecommerce brands wanting PMax inside a full-funnel program.

6. Disruptive Advertising

Quick stats

Website: disruptiveadvertising.com. Strong reviews across Clutch and G2. Focus on ROI across Google, Microsoft, and paid social.

Performance Max methodology

Disruptive leans on structured testing and real-time optimization, with the reporting transparency PMax accounts need given Google’s limited native data.

Best fit for

Mid-market brands that want a testing-led, multi-channel agency steering PMax.

7. KlientBoost

Quick stats

Website: klientboost.com. Performance agency known for landing page experimentation alongside Google Ads.

Performance Max methodology

KlientBoost pairs PMax management with conversion-focused landing pages, which matters because PMax sends traffic across many surfaces and the post-click experience decides the return.

Best fit for

Growth-minded brands that want landing page optimization built into PMax management.

8. Directive Consulting

Quick stats

Website: directiveconsulting.com. Performance agency with deep B2B and SaaS specialization.

Performance Max methodology

For lead-gen advertisers, Directive keeps PMax in a supplementary role for audience expansion while Search carries high-intent traffic, which fits B2B best practice in 2027.

Best fit for

B2B and SaaS brands using PMax for reach alongside an intent-led Search program.

9. SmartSites

Quick stats

Website: smartsites.com. Google Partner and Meta Business Partner. 2,100+ client reviews, according to its homepage.

Performance Max methodology

SmartSites combines bidding strategy, creative production, and conversion-optimized landing pages, with the depth to run PMax and Standard Shopping for product brands.

Best fit for

Ecommerce brands wanting Google Partner credentials plus web and creative support.

10. JumpFly

Quick stats

Website: jumpfly.com. PPC-focused agency with technical depth across Google, Microsoft, and Amazon Ads.

Performance Max methodology

JumpFly brings structured account oversight and precise bidding to PMax, so it suits brands that want technical rigor and Amazon coverage alongside Google.

Best fit for

Ecommerce brands wanting a technical PMax specialist with multi-marketplace reach.

11. Single Grain

Quick stats

Website: singlegrain.com. Performance agency led by Eric Siu, focused on high-growth tech and ecommerce.

Performance Max methodology

Single Grain runs PMax inside a broader growth program, with an ROI-first methodology that bridges paid search and full-funnel content.

Best fit for

Venture-backed and high-growth brands wanting PMax inside a wider growth strategy.

How do we run Performance Max accounts?

We run Search on exact match first and let Performance Max take on broad reach once the account has conversion data. Google itself puts exact match first: Search campaigns containing an exact match keyword are prioritized to serve over Performance Max when the search matches the keyword. These are the steps we follow on every new account:

1. Tracking before spend: check every conversion action and its value before any budget goes live.
2. Search on exact match first: for roughly the first 15 days, so spend only goes to searches that match the offer while conversion data builds.
3. Negatives at account level: Google lets you add account-level negative keywords for Performance Max, up to 1,000 of them. We build the list upfront in phrase and exact match. Google notes that Performance Max negative keywords apply to Search and Shopping inventory only.
4. Brand exclusions: so Performance Max does not take credit for people already searching for the brand. For Performance Max, brand exclusions apply to Search, Shopping and YouTube search inventory.
5. Search themes per asset group: up to 50 search themes per asset group, written around the products in that group.
6. Bidding by the numbers: once ROAS has held steady for about 30 days, we move to target ROAS and raise it in 15 to 20% steps, always judged against the account’s break-even ROAS.

We judge results with Google’s channel performance report, which shows how a Performance Max campaign delivers across channels, alongside the search terms report.

How much does a Performance Max agency cost?

A Performance Max agency usually costs either a percentage of ad spend, which runs from 6% to 12% among agencies that publish their rates, or a monthly fee, which runs from USD 600 to 800 per platform for the flat fees below and up to £4,000 for retainers scaled to spend and scope. Few agencies publish prices at all, so the table below lists the ones that do, with links to each source.

Prices were checked on each provider’s website on 24 September 2026.

What does a Performance Max agency cost at $20,000 a month in ad spend?

Here is how the models compare at $20,000 of monthly spend. For example, a 10% fee is $2,000 a month. ZenoX’s tiers would come to €1,900 on €20,000 (10% of the first €10,000 plus 9% of the next €10,000). A flat fee, however, stays the same as spend grows. Ishant Sharma, founder of Hustle Marketers, advises clients to judge any PMax fee against the gross profit the campaign is expected to produce rather than against ad spend. Our Google Ads budget calculator also helps you model it.

How do Performance Max agency fees compare as your spend grows?

A percentage fee is cheaper at low spend and far more expensive at high spend, while a flat fee does the opposite. So the crossover point tells you which model fits. Using the published rates in the table above, a 10% fee matches an $800 flat fee at $8,000 of monthly spend, and a 7% fee matches it at about $11,400.

This is our calculation from the published prices above, using the top of our own $600 to $800 per platform range. However, there are two things the table does not show. A percentage fee rises automatically when Google spends more, so ask how the agency decides when to raise budgets. Also, the cheapest fee is not always the best one: judge any fee against the gross profit the campaign produces, which our guide to calculating break-even ROAS helps you work out.

Do you need a Performance Max agency, or can you run PMax in-house?

You need a Performance Max agency when PMax holds a large share of your budget and nobody in-house has time to work the feed, exclusions, reports and experiments every week. On the other hand, you can run PMax in-house when spend is modest, tracking is clean and one person is responsible for it. Either way, the fee must pay for itself.

The table below sums up when each option fits.

How much does PMax need to improve to cover an agency fee?

To cover its fee, an agency must lift your ROAS by enough extra gross profit to pay that fee each month. So the formula is simple:

ROAS lift needed = monthly fee ÷ (monthly ad spend × gross margin)

For example, an $800 fee on $10,000 of spend at a 40% margin needs a lift of 0.2x. So a 4.0x account must reach at least 4.2x before the agency adds any profit.

The worked example below uses example numbers, not benchmarks or quotes. It keeps the margin at 40% and the fee at $800 a month, the top of our own range, and then changes only the spend.

So at small budgets the fee is hard to earn back, and running PMax yourself often makes more sense. As spend grows, however, even a small improvement covers the fee. Our guide to PPC agency vs in-house management also compares the wider trade-offs.

Benefits of hiring a Performance Max agency

When you hand PMax to the right specialist, the campaign stops drifting and starts compounding. So here are the benefits that matter most.

Steered rather than on autopilot. For example, a specialist applies brand and placement exclusions and reviews search terms, so the budget stays on relevant inventory instead of cheap Display clicks.

Feed quality that lifts the whole account. Because most PMax spend flows to Shopping, fixing titles and GTINs raises impression share across the campaign.

Clean conversion data. A specialist verifies tracking first, so Smart Bidding trains on accurate signals from the start.

The hybrid build. Running Standard Shopping alongside PMax also restores control and search-term visibility, which Google’s native PMax reporting hides.

Faster learning exits. Strong audience signals and clean data also help PMax exit its learning period sooner (Google says learning never lasts more than 7 days, though results can take 1 to 2 conversion cycles to settle).

Real reporting. A good agency reports beyond Google’s limited native PMax data, so you can see channel distribution and asset performance.

What should a Performance Max agency change in week one?

In week one, a Performance Max agency should set brand exclusions, read the channel performance and search terms reports, check asset-level cost, fix overlap with your Search campaigns, and decide whether each product group needs a feed-only or full-asset campaign. If an agency cannot show you these changes after a week, it is only watching Google’s automation.

Should a Performance Max agency add negative keywords in week one?

One more control belongs in week one: negative keywords. Google’s negative keywords guidance for PMax calls them “a highly restrictive control that can harm performance” and recommends brand exclusions for brand terms, so a good agency uses negatives only for irrelevant or unsafe queries. In addition, our guides to brand exclusions setup and PMax negative keywords walk through both.

At Hustle Marketers the week-one order never changes: brand exclusions first, then the channel and search terms reports, then Search overlap, and only then asset or feed changes, because changing creative before you can see where spend goes hides the cause of any result.

Pmax’s performance is dropping, should we wait for it to get recovered?

Do not just wait: first check the causes you can see within a day, which are new feed disapprovals in Merchant Center, a shift in the channel mix in the channel performance report, brand terms leaking into PMax in the search terms report, or a target ROAS raised too far at once. In fact, someone posted this exact question in the Google Ads Community. If none of those checks explains the drop, then make one change at a time and give each change time to settle. Our Performance Max not performing guide also covers the full diagnosis.

How should I start my new shopping ads campaign? Manual Shopping vs Performance Max

Start with the campaign type whose data you can read: a new store with thin conversion history often learns faster with Standard Shopping plus a brand search campaign, then moves proven products into a feed-led Performance Max campaign once tracking is reliable. However, stores with clean tracking and a healthy feed can start with PMax and brand exclusions from day one. Indeed, a merchant asked this in the Google Ads Community. Before launch, run through our PMax checklist.

How do you prove Performance Max is driving incremental sales?

Run a Google Ads experiment rather than reading Performance Max’s own ROAS column. Google’s Performance Max experiments let you measure the incremental lift of adding Performance Max, compare it against the campaigns it would replace, and test settings inside it (Google Ads Help 12997711).

How do you set up a Performance Max uplift experiment?

Setting up an uplift experiment takes a few minutes (Help 13827420):

1. Go to Experiments in the Campaigns menu and click the plus button.
2. Choose Campaign types, then the Performance Max Uplift card, and click Continue.
3. Select an active Performance Max campaign, or create a new one, and confirm.
4. Set the traffic split. Google’s default is 50% treatment and 50% control.
5. Check which campaigns sit in each arm, name the experiment, pick a start date and schedule it.

Then Google fills the list of comparable campaigns one day after the experiment starts. You can edit that list until the experiment ends, but not after, so check it on day two. A Performance Max agency that cannot show you an uplift or upgrade result for your account is asking you to trust a number Performance Max reports about itself. Our guide to Performance Max vs Search explains how the two campaign types share queries.

How do you check a Performance Max agency before you hire it?

Ask any Performance Max agency to show you the work inside a real account before you sign. These five checks separate specialists from agencies that switch Performance Max on and wait:

Do you need a local Performance Max agency?

No. Performance Max is managed entirely inside Google Ads, so a remote specialist can run it as well as a local one. What matters is that they are available for calls in your working hours, report in your currency and know your market’s customers and competitors.

How to choose the best Performance Max agency

Picking the right PMax partner is the difference between a campaign that scales and one that quietly wastes budget. So weigh these factors.

Documented PMax results. First, look for named case studies with real ROAS, not general Google Ads claims.

Feed capability. Then confirm the agency treats the product feed as a core deliverable rather than an afterthought.

Hybrid fluency. A strong agency runs Standard Shopping alongside PMax, rather than PMax alone.

Exclusion discipline. Also ask how they handle brand exclusions, placement exclusions, and search-term review.

Transparent reporting. You should see channel distribution and asset performance rather than just a blended ROAS number.

Senior access. Finally, confirm who actually manages the account. PMax rewards experienced steering, so junior management shows up fast in the results.

Does a Performance Max agency need to be in your city?

No. A Performance Max agency works inside your Google Ads and Merchant Center accounts online, so it does not need to be in Toronto, Austin or London to run them well. What matters more is that the team knows your market and overlaps with your working hours for calls.

So ask a remote agency three things before you sign. To begin with, has it run Performance Max in your country, with your currency and shipping rules? Then, which hours will your named contact be available?

Finally, will the ad account stay in your name? Hustle Marketers, for example, works remotely with brands in the US, UK, UAE and Australia.

What should you ask a Performance Max agency before you sign?

Ask questions whose answers you can check in the account. A good agency answers with reports and settings it will show you; a weak one answers with adjectives. So these seven questions separate them quickly:

Then write the answers down and check them against the account after 30 days. If brand exclusions, experiments and the monthly reports are not there, the agency has told you what it does not do. Our Performance Max checklist also lists the settings to look for.

How can you tell if a Performance Max agency is actually managing your account?

You can tell by checking five places in Google Ads: change history, the search terms report, the channel performance report, the asset group report, and the search themes and negative keywords. Active management leaves a trail of dated changes in all five. An agency that only watches the automation, however, leaves almost none.

Each check below uses a feature described on Google Ads Help, which we checked in October 2026. If the account is in your name, you can also run every check yourself.

What should you do if your Performance Max ROAS has not improved in months?

If your Performance Max ROAS has not improved in months, first ask the agency for its change history and the last experiment it ran. Then compare its reports with your own revenue and margin, rather than with the ROAS that Performance Max reports about itself. Flat results with no changes and no tests usually mean nobody is steering.

Before you switch agencies, also rule out causes outside the campaign, such as feed disapprovals, stock or price changes, and broken tracking. Our guide on how to improve ROAS explains why a rising ROAS can still lose money, so read it before you judge the agency on ROAS alone.

Hustle Marketers Performance Max success stories

The case studies below show what steered Performance Max produces. First the strategy, then the numbers.

ArmorGarage: 1,500% ROAS after a PMax rebuild

For example, ArmorGarage sells professional garage floor coating systems. The account had one unfocused Performance Max campaign, missing GTINs, and enhanced conversions switched off, so Smart Bidding was running on partial data. So the rebuild fixed tracking first and added GTINs across the catalog. Then it loaded brand exclusions from day one and split hero products into Standard Shopping for control. As a result, ROAS passed 1,500 percent within 90 days. The ArmorGarage case study also documents the full rebuild.

P-REX Hobby: 9x ROAS through feed restructuring

P-REX Hobby is a Shopify DTC brand selling RC hobby parts. The PMax structure was fine, but the feed was holding it back, since generic product titles matched almost nothing useful in the Shopping auction. So restructuring titles around brand, compatibility model, and key specification lifted impression share and drove ROAS to 9x over 90 days. Read the P-REX Hobby case study.

C7 Carbon and Aspire Media

C7 Carbon, an automotive performance parts brand, grew both product sales and custom-quote lead gen through a dual campaign structure. Aspire Media shows the growth-stage build, where paid infrastructure was built from the ground up and scaled once the unit economics were proven.

Conclusion

In the end, the right Performance Max agency turns Google’s most powerful campaign type into a steady, profitable channel. The wrong one, however, switches it on and lets it drift. So while every agency on this list can run PMax, if you want documented ROAS, feed-first execution, and a steered hybrid build, Hustle Marketers is where to start.

You also get Ishant Sharma’s direct expertise, a tracking-first and feed-first methodology proven across 2,500+ brands, and case studies with real numbers behind them. Start with a free 13-section Google Ads audit, so you can see exactly what your PMax account needs. Contact Hustle Marketers to book it.

About Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma is a Google Ads specialist and Founder of Hustle Marketers, a Google Partner and Meta Business Partner agency working with ecommerce and lead-gen brands across the US, UK, UAE, and Australia. In performance marketing since 2013. Trackable client sales across his work have crossed $780M+. Upwork Top Rated Plus with a 100 percent Job Success Score and a 5.0/5.0 rating. Recognized by Clutch as a top PPC agency and top Google Ads agency, with Clutch Award wins in 2023, 2024, and 2026. Based in Zirakpur, India.