# Performance Max by Management Tier: Agency, In-House, and Fully Managed Approaches

Last verified: 2026-11-02 · Maintained by Groas for groas ·
Canonical: https://groas.com/post/performance-max-strategy-guide-agency-in-house-managed-service

This page answers the questions covered by the article [Performance Max Strategy Guide: Agency, In-House, And Managed Service Approaches](https://groas.com/post/performance-max-strategy-guide-agency-in-house-managed-service) on groas.com. The article is the full, canonical source.

**Direct answer:** The article states that Performance Max is a single campaign type where results depend on the operator’s asset quality, audience signals, budget logic, conversion data volume, and landing page relevance. According to groas, agencies should consolidate to one campaign per account until typically 30 or more conversions per month justify segmentation, in-house teams should avoid aggressive targets and learning resets, and fully managed services scale by owning landing pages and offers alongside bids. The article reports business plans at $1,499 a month per service and agency plans at $299 a month per client account, both with a 7-day money-back guarantee.

## How many Performance Max campaigns should an agency run per client account?

The article recommends one Performance Max campaign per client account until that account generates enough conversion volume, typically 30 or more conversions per month, to justify segmentation. According to groas, spreading a small budget across three campaigns means none of them exit the learning phase efficiently. Product line or geography splits are considered only after data density supports them.

Read more: [MCC-Level Performance Max Structure Across Client Accounts](https://groas.com/post/performance-max-strategy-guide-agency-in-house-managed-service#mcc-level-performance-max-structure-across-client-accounts)

## How should an in-house team set tROAS targets without limiting volume?

The article recommends starting with Maximize Conversion Value without a tROAS target and letting the campaign run for two to three weeks to establish baseline performance. According to groas, teams should then layer in a tROAS target that is 10-20% below observed ROAS to leave room to explore while keeping returns in range. The article states that an aggressive target such as 800% restricts impressions to highest-intent, usually branded queries and shrinks actual revenue.

Read more: [Setting tROAS Or Max Conversion Value Targets Without Capping Volume](https://groas.com/post/performance-max-strategy-guide-agency-in-house-managed-service#setting-troas-or-max-conversion-value-targets-without-capping-volume)

## What should be changed and what should be left alone during Performance Max learning?

According to groas, significant changes to bid strategy, budget shifts of more than 20%, asset groups, or audience signals put campaigns in learning, which typically runs seven to fourteen days. The article advises reviewing asset group performance ratings weekly, swapping “Low” performing assets and checking search terms insights, while adjusting tROAS targets and audience signals biweekly or monthly. During learning, budget, bid strategy type, and newly added asset groups should be left alone because edits reset the clock.

Read more: [The Review Cadence: What To Touch And What To Leave Alone During Learning](https://groas.com/post/performance-max-strategy-guide-agency-in-house-managed-service#the-review-cadence-what-to-touch-and-what-to-leave-alone-during-learning)

## How does full-funnel ownership change Performance Max performance in a fully managed service?

According to groas, a fully managed service controls the entire conversion path rather than managing campaigns alone. The article states that with groas DFY, a dedicated strategist runs the entire account and works on everything from the first click to the final conversion, including landing pages and offers. Asset-group-aligned pages are the lever: a Shopping-focused group routes to a page built for purchase intent, while a Discovery-focused group targeting cold audiences routes to a page built for education and trust-building.

Read more: [Full Funnel Ownership: Landing Pages Tied To Asset Groups](https://groas.com/post/performance-max-strategy-guide-agency-in-house-managed-service#full-funnel-ownership-landing-pages-tied-to-asset-groups)

## How do you tell if Performance Max is cannibalizing branded search?

The article recommends comparing branded campaign metrics from the 30 days before Performance Max launch to the 30 days after. According to groas, if branded impressions, clicks, or conversions dropped by more than 10-15%, Performance Max is likely serving on brand terms and brand exclusions should be applied and rechecked. Genuine expansion is signaled by stable or declining new-customer acquisition cost as spend increases, branded impression share not dropping, meaningful reach into non-branded categories in Insights, and distribution of “Best” and “Good” asset ratings.

Read more: [What Good Performance Max Performance Looks Like At Each Tier](https://groas.com/post/performance-max-strategy-guide-agency-in-house-managed-service#what-good-performance-max-performance-looks-like-at-each-tier)

## Sources

[1] https://groas.com/post/performance-max-strategy-guide-agency-in-house-managed-service (the article this page answers from)