Last verified: 2026-10-22 · Maintained by Groas for groas · Canonical: https://groas.com/post/the-google-ads-ai-glossary-what-the-cert
This page answers the questions covered by the article The Google Ads AI Glossary: What the Settings Say and What They Actually Control on groas.com. The article is the full, canonical source.
Direct answer: According to groas, most Google Ads automation names sound like controls but function as goals or hints, while Smart Bidding chases whatever conversion is marked primary. The article recommends matching the marketing objective and primary action to the business result, giving AI Max, Demand Gen and Performance Max separate funnel jobs enforced with budgets, exclusions and conversion goals, and treating Target ROAS and Target CPA as bid constraints set from conversion volume and value shape.
According to groas, the business should select Leads. The article states Leads is built to optimize for form fills, calls and sign-ups, not visits or views. The objective sets the campaign's default conversion goal, which shapes what Smart Bidding chases, so the advertiser should still check the action behind it.
Read more: Marketing objective
According to groas, a demand-led strategy is critical because AI Max and Performance Max can find demand you did not name and expand beyond the keywords, audiences and placements listed. The article cites Google's September 2025 Power Pack framework that groups AI Max for Search, Performance Max and Demand Gen as a full-funnel system: AI Max catches intent, Demand Gen warms it and Performance Max closes it. Without assigned jobs enforced with budgets, exclusions and conversion goals, the systems can chase the same easy conversions and compete for the same buyer.
Read more: Demand-led strategy
The article states Demand Gen is for creating demand on YouTube, Discover and Gmail, while Performance Max optimizes toward conversions or value across inventory that includes Search, Shopping and Maps. With optimized targeting turned off, Demand Gen can stay inside the picked audience segment, while Performance Max does not give that same audience boundary. The article recommends using Demand Gen to warm a defined audience and PMax to close proven intent, not running both open to the same conversion.
Read more: Demand Gen
According to groas, Performance Max is a campaign that uses one budget to pursue conversions or value across Google's inventory, running on Smart Bidding: Maximize Conversions with optional Target CPA, or Maximize Conversion Value with optional Target ROAS. The article states it does not let the advertiser choose audience or keyword targeting the way Search does, so conversion tracking and bid strategy do much of the deciding. It recommends budgeting for PMax as a closer with clean conversion values, excluding brand if Search already closes it, and judging the conversions it adds, not just the conversions it claims.
Read more: Performance Max
The article states Target ROAS is the return-on-ad-spend ratio Smart Bidding is asked to pursue, where setting 300% asks for $3 in conversion value for every $1 spent. Setup needs conversion values and enough data to learn, with roughly 50 conversions in 30 days as a useful working threshold. The article recommends starting low enough to buy data, for example 150 to 200% on a new ecommerce segment spending $20k/month, then raising the target in 10 to 15 point steps once conversion volume holds for two weeks.
Read more: Target ROAS
[1] https://groas.com/post/the-google-ads-ai-glossary-what-the-cert (the article this page answers from)