Are Hidden Income Exclusions Sabotaging Your Performance Max Campaigns?
Ever felt like your ads are fishing in the wrong pond? Google might just hand us a sharper spear. Imagine being able to exclude certain household income groups right within Performance Max campaigns — something we didn’t see before in PMax. This new setting, spotted in Europe, lets advertisers filter audiences based on estimated household income brackets, from the top earners to those unknown. It’s a bit like giving marketers the power to dial in their ideal crowd or avoid the ones that just don’t fit the bill. Think luxury brands zeroing in on high spenders or budget-focused businesses steering clear of premium earners. This change could be a game-changer, flipping the way Google’s AI serves ads while keeping that smart optimization we rely on. Intrigued to see how this will reshape campaign strategy? LEARN MORE.
Google appears to be rolling out household income exclusions for Performance Max campaigns, giving advertisers a level of audience control that hasn’t previously been available in PMax.
If the feature is widely released, it would allow advertisers to exclude specific household income segments directly at the campaign level.
What’s happening. A new setting has been spotted in a European Performance Max campaign that enables advertisers to exclude users based on Google’s estimated household income.
The available exclusion options include:
- Top 10% of household income.
- 11–20%.
- 21–30%.
- 31–40%.
- 41–50%.
- Lower 50%.
- Unknown household income.
The feature appears within campaign settings, allowing advertisers to remove selected income brackets from targeting.
Why we care. Household income exclusions could help advertisers in industries where income is a strong purchase signal such as luxury goods, financial services, automotive, or premium home services, better align campaign delivery with their target audience. Conversely, brands focused on value-conscious shoppers could exclude higher-income segments if appropriate.
Bottom line. Household income exclusions could become one of the more meaningful audience controls added to Performance Max, giving advertisers greater flexibility over who sees their ads while maintaining Google’s AI-driven campaign optimization.
First spotted. This update was spotted by Paid Search expert Thomas Eccel who shared spotting on LinkedIn.
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