PPC trends have evolved rapidly, with 2025 marking a pivotal year of significant changes, especially in AI integration and Performance Max campaigns, as revealed in the SMX Next 2025 panel discussion.
The 2025 PPC Landscape: A Year of Transformation
Experts concur that 2025 witnessed an accelerated pace of change in pay-per-click advertising, driven by Google’s increased responsiveness to advertiser feedback and the surge of AI-powered tools. Ameet Khabra, founder of Hop Skip Media, highlighted Google’s newfound openness to advertiser input, particularly regarding channel reporting for Performance Max campaigns.
Chris Ridley, head of paid media at Evoluted, pointed out the proliferation of AI platforms like Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Gemini, which have revolutionized search and advertising strategies. Reva Minkoff, founder of Digital4Startups, dubbed 2025 “the year of the max,” citing an unprecedented number of new feature launches revolving around Performance Max and AI enhancements.
What’s Working: Back to Fundamentals and Authenticity
The panel emphasized that the foundation of successful PPC campaigns remains robust campaign structuring and signal quality. Minkoff stressed the necessity of controlled keywords and targeted ads, asserting that Performance Max delivers results only when quality signals are infused effectively.
Demand Gen campaigns, user-generated content, and influencer marketing continue to garner strong results, resonating with audiences who value authentic voices. Ridley stated that authentic user-generated content outperforms heavily polished creatives, especially in an era where AI-generated content’s authenticity is increasingly questioned.
The strategic use of automation and scripts to detect anomalies also surfaced as crucial. Khabra shared that their teams employ scripts as anomaly detectors to catch discrepancies early, such as broken URLs following developer updates, reducing downtime and inefficiencies.
Enhancing Client Communication
Remarkably, beyond tactical adjustments, Ridley underscored improved communication with clients to align PPC strategies with overarching business objectives rather than focusing solely on ROAS and CPA metrics.
Challenges and What’s Not Working in PPC
One major pain point is Automatically Created Assets (ACAs), which the panel criticized for undermining brand safety. Khabra clarified that advertisers have limited control over these assets, which lack pre-approval and can result in inconsistent or off-brand messaging. Echoing this, Minkoff highlighted the disconnect between automated content and nuanced brand or product strategies.
User interface and experience issues further complicate campaign management. Ridley lamented the excessive navigation within Google Ads’ UI, advocating for better tools like Editor and Optmyzr to bypass cumbersome platform interfaces. The poor synergy between UI and Editor forces advertisers to toggle between systems, adding friction to workflow.
Extended learning periods, especially for short-duration campaigns such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday, pose operational challenges. Minkoff questioned how advertisers are expected to optimize during these critical timeframes when platforms impose prolonged optimization phases unsuitable for rapid pushes.
Measurement remains a significant hurdle, particularly for small businesses. Khabra pointed out that limited budgets and data gaps, coupled with increasing privacy constraints, restrict the reliability of automated conversion modeling, which may not fully reflect real-world outcomes.
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Key Surprises and Announcements from 2025
Google Marketing Live introduced several game-changing updates, including A/B testing on product feeds and lower customer list thresholds for search targeting, enhancing accessibility for small and medium businesses. Ridley deemed these announcements transformative for advertisers’ strategic approaches.
Minkoff was notably surprised by the release of channel-level reporting for Performance Max, offering unprecedented transparency. She expressed anticipation for future capabilities to act on these insights.
Khabra revealed surprise at the inclusion of Waze pins as a placement option within Performance Max, a development previously unforeseen by many advertisers.
The rapid rollout of AI and large language models (LLMs) also stunned the panel. Minkoff remarked, “The cat is out of the bag and it is very out of the bag,” underscoring how AI has swiftly become integral in digital marketing.
The Channel Reporting Debate: Transparency Versus Purpose
Channel reporting in Performance Max has sparked debate. Minkoff noted campaigns often allocate disproportionate budgets to a single placement like display, seemingly contradicting Performance Max’s intent to diversify funnel coverage.
Khabra expressed ambivalence, recognizing that while transparency is welcome, it might inadvertently encourage over-optimization towards certain channels, undermining the platform’s design principles.
Potential solutions discussed include offering advertisers media mix controls to suggest channel budget splits or implementing bid adjustments to influence performance without rigid restrictions. However, consensus favored relying on high-quality signal inputs to enable smarter automated decisions behind the scenes.
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Current Struggles and Future Outlook
Automatic deployment of AI-driven recommendations remains a major challenge. Ridley observed persistent issues with settings reverting despite attempts to disable features, along with hidden toggles complicating management. These circumstances amplify stress for advertisers seeking precise control over campaigns.
Minkoff echoed frustrations regarding discoverability of settings, emphasizing the need for clearer and more accessible control mechanisms.
Measurement challenges, particularly for small businesses grappling with privacy-related tracking limitations, continue to be a pressing concern as highlighted by Khabra.
Looking Ahead to 2026
The panel conveyed cautious uncertainty about what innovations the next year will bring. Minkoff reflected on the unprecedented speed of change, suggesting that the most impactful developments remain unrevealed but will necessitate strategic flexibility and budget adaptability.
Khabra expressed interest in the ongoing Google antitrust trial and its implications, which could reshape the PPC ecosystem substantially.
Ridley anticipates that advertising within AI platforms themselves—such as integrated ads inside emerging AI search tools—will become more prominent carriers of spend.
Conclusion: Embracing Change with Fundamentals and Flexibility
2025’s PPC environment has been characterized by rapid innovation, deeper AI integration, and increased advertiser input. Success in this evolving landscape demands adherence to solid campaign fundamentals, authentic creative approaches, and sophisticated signal optimization, all while maintaining adaptability amid continuous platform updates.
As 2026 approaches, advertisers are advised to prepare for continued flux by retaining strategic agility, engaging in clear client communication, and leveraging enhanced transparency tools to maximize return in an increasingly automated realm.