I’m seeing Microsoft bring experimentation into Performance Max campaigns, giving advertisers a more practical way to test campaign changes and measure incremental impact without disrupting live performance.
What’s new: Microsoft is adding two Performance Max experiment types designed to help advertisers understand whether their campaigns are truly driving better results.
Uplift experiments help me measure the incremental impact of Performance Max campaigns by comparing results against a control group.
Upgrade experiments give me a way to compare an existing campaign with an upgraded Performance Max version before I fully roll out the change.
For eligible accounts, both experiment types are available under Campaigns > Experiments.
Why I care: Until now, Microsoft Ads experiments were limited to Search campaigns. Bringing testing into Performance Max gives advertisers a safer path to validate changes, improve performance, and make more data-driven decisions before committing budget.
Between the lines: As Microsoft expands experimentation, it has also renamed its existing experiment offering to Search optimization experiments. That distinction helps separate traditional Search testing from the new Performance Max testing capabilities.
I see this as part of Microsoft’s broader push to give advertisers more advanced optimization tools across automated campaign formats.
The bottom line: Microsoft is closing an important gap in its Performance Max offering. With dedicated uplift and upgrade experiments, advertisers can test with more confidence and get a clearer view of the real impact of automated campaigns.
First spotted: The help docs were spotted by PPC News Feed founder Hana Kobzová.
Dig deeper: Microsoft’s help docs include details on the Uplift experiment for Performance Max and the Upgrade experiment for Performance Max.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
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