The Expensive Problem with Google’s Search Partner Network (SPN): Insights from 1,500+ Campaigns

🚨 Breaking Google Ads News: Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) will be going "the way of the dinosaurs." As confirmed by Google's Ginny Marvin, DSA's time is limited, paving the way for AI Max as the future-proof campaign standard.

Is the Google Ads Search Partner Network draining your Performance Max budget? We looked at 1,500+ campaigns and finally have the data to prove it.

In this episode of Growing Ecommerce, Mike Ryan and Chris Scharmueller dive into data from over 1,500 PMax campaigns throughout 2025 and early 2026. The numbers are in—and they are highly concerning for advertisers relying on the Search Partner Network (SPN).

We break down exactly where your PMax impressions are going, why Google is hesitant to give you an opt-out button, and the massive impact SPN has on your ROAS and CPA. 

PLUS: We share exclusive breaking news confirmed by Google's Ginny Marvin: the sun is setting on Dynamic Search Ads (DSA).

If you want to stay ahead of the curve and stop wasting ad spend on low-intent, bot-heavy traffic, this episode is a must-watch!

Key PMax Data Insights Shared in This Episode: Based on a trimmed mean analysis of 1,500+ PMax campaigns with 30+ monthly conversions:

• PMax Impression Share (Excluding Search): YouTube (49%), Google Display (17%), SPN (17%), Maps (11%), Discover (7%), Gmail (0.5%).
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): 40% lower on the Search Partner Network.
• Conversion Rate: 63% lower on SPN.
• Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): 73% higher on SPN.
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): 63% lower on SPN compared to parent campaigns.
• Invalid Traffic (IVT): SPN holds the highest share of malicious and fraudulent clicks across networks.

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About Mike Ryan:

Based in Austria and originally from Boston, Mike Ryan is the Head of Ecommerce Insights at Smarter Ecommerce (smec) with over ten years of experience in retail and PPC landscape. With a robust background spanning retail operations, product management, and digital ads, Mike leverages his multidisciplinary expertise to drive data-informed strategies that help online retailers optimize their performance in an increasingly competitive market.

About Christian Scharmueller:

As a seasoned veteran in the PPC and Ecommerce space, Christian Scharmüller serves as the CCO & Managing Director of Smarter Ecommerce. With over 12 years of experience at the forefront of ad tech, Christian is a sought-after speaker at major industry events, including SMX and OMR, where he shares insights on hig

About Smarter Ecommerce (smec):

Smarter Ecommerce (smec) empowers e-commerce brands with AI-driven PPC automation that optimizes for profit and business outcomes while maintaining strategic control.

The platform activates first-party data - profit margins, customer lifetime value, and key business metrics - to automate campaign optimization toward goals like profitability and efficient growth, while detailed campaign insights provide full transparency and enable PPC teams to focus on strategic oversight rather than manual execution.

As a Google Premier Partner and three-time Microsoft Retail Partner of the Year, smec manages over €500 million in ad spend and drives €5B+ in annual e-commerce revenue for 350+ global retail clients including THG, Snipes, REWE, and Intersport.

Make sure to follow smec - Smarter Ecommerce for more performance marketing insights:

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Transcript

Intro: PMax is No Longer a Black Box

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Welcome to another episode of Growing E-Commerce brought to you by Smarter E-Commerce, also known as SMEC. I am one of your hosts, Mike Ryan, and with me is Chris, the other one of our hosts. Yeah. Welcome back, Chris. So let's jump right into it today, shall we? Uh great topics.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

I think two.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Yeah, that's right. We want to talk about last episode. We were talking about how PMAX is not a black box anymore. And we want to present to you some of the fruits of that transparency so Google can regret.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 0:39

That's what I smart to say.

The Problem with Google's Search Partner Network (SPN)

SPEAKER_00 0:41

So for the ones who missed the last episode, we were very positive about Google. Being very open with the data. And today we will be evil again. Yes. Let's make sure we don't hold back. No. But the numbers are really uh what is the right word?

SPEAKER_02 1:01

Concerning? Concerning is the word, yeah. Yeah. And uh they're not surprised. Yeah, that's good. They're not surprising at all, unfortunately. I mean, because network um, you know, channel reporting, it's also otherwise elsewhere in Google Ads called network reporting, they're the same thing as each other. Um and network reporting has been available for a long time in Google Ads. Um and you know, we'll get there. Uh yeah, getting a bit ahead of ourselves. But one of those networks that I'm not the biggest fan of is Search Partner Network, you know?

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Let me I I have to ask you there. You are not the biggest fan. What does it mean?

SPEAKER_02 1:44

You know, the the premise of search I don't want to push the button. No, it's fine. The the premise of Search Partner Network is fine. It's great, actually. The idea is that Google's not the only search engine in the world. Um, there's all these different uh publishers and um and other websites that have built-in search engines. And if a commercially relevant search is made, if there's intent, then your text ads or shopping ads can appear on these other properties. eBay was one of the big hallmark search partners at the start. And that's that's cool. Um there's nothing wrong with that. Yeah. The problem is that um Google doesn't really do a lot of quality control or gatekeeping on this. It's this philosophy, the same problem with Google Display Network, that more is more. Um and I don't know if there's even an official number about how many search partners there are, but it's it's gonna be millions. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

And we talked about that. I think this is one of the reasons why it it feels like it's not under control anymore, because maybe it's even too big for Google.

unknown 2:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:54

Um Well, you we talked about that back with that um that CSAM scandal last year. Google Yeah, Google didn't just didn't even know everything that was in there, I think. Um and that that's concerning.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

And so the search partner network is the thing we're talking about today. And again, shout out to Google. The reason why we can talk about that is because they really open up the black box. Yes, exactly. So all all good here, but the numbers we want to talk about today, by the way, great job again, Mike, to to dig into this. Um they are concerning. And one thing which I would like to put on front, Surge is you have probably similar issues uh also with with uh Microsoft Ads. Just just just saying here. Yeah. The numbers are not that relevant for for a lot of clients. That's why we focus on Google right now. But the the search partner network idea is in general a great one, but the big platforms struggle to really ensure quality. Yes. It's not just the Google thing.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

No, it's it's also, you know, we'll see this topic rising more and more with um with Amazon and their kind of their off-site. Uh this is a problem within digital marketing at large.

PMax Network Breakdown: Where is Your Ad Spend Actually Going?

SPEAKER_00 4:04

But Google is by far the biggest player, and and that's why we talk about them. And and maybe Mike, uh, we showed a slide. All right.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Yeah, yeah, yeah. First, but let's just I just want to just to lead into this real quick. I've I'm first gonna put up data um that's showing the development of this reporting over time. So what we did is we pulled um the network data for um yeah, hundreds of advertisers for all of 2025 and even through January 2026. Um and until May of 2025, that was the classic black box era. And the stuff was all categorized as cross-network. Um and we've already known that shopping for e-commerce, anyways, shopping and search, so Google search network is the biggest part of PMAX. Um, but now we can really see Google validated numbers of the rest, and we find out that these scripts and things like that that were popular a couple of years ago, they were actually really quite inaccurate, unfortunately. Um, but Google has given us accurate data. So beginning in June, um that data is is available back to June, and we've pulled it. So we can see um the black box open up. And um and you know, excluding Google Search Network, it's not too surprising, but um it's mostly display on YouTube after that. That's most of what GMX is.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Which is fine, I would say. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:39

Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's uh I've got the numbers here. It's um 49%. This is the the median amount of uh of impressions. And it's like excluding Google Search Network, it's 49% YouTube, so it's half YouTube. Uh so this has been very big for YouTube sales, of course. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

And it but by the way, no surprise here because um it's clearly the one of the strategic focal points of Google. Um YouTube is the channel where they want to tap into classic TV at budgets. It's for Google the next growth uh story. Yeah. So for me, not surprising at all. And by the way, I love YouTube. I love YouTube. And yeah, I think it's working. All right. So all all good, yeah. All good.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

Absolutely. Um then we've got um, you know, uh 17% Google display network, um a lot of remarketing on there, 17% search partner network. Yes. We can't. That's why we're going to talk about it. 7% discover, and uh currently a very small amount. Oh, sorry, 11% maps, that gets that gets a bit skewed. Yeah. But for for you know multi-channel or omnichannel retailers, hybrid, online, offline, maps is quite big on PMAs.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

Right, you can really do cool things.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

Yeah, exactly. If you want to target you can target that through the man gen as well. And then uh yeah, I don't know if I didn't say something yet, but uh um oh yeah, a half a percent Gmail. So very little Gmail activity that we're that we're seeing. But um but it's great that this data is available and we can also see the performance of each of these. And but you know, I have a special request to Google. What is it? Let us opt out of search partner network in PMAX. And that's where I want. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

Plus one.

SPEAKER_02 7:32

I think it's reasonable, you know?

The Big Ask: Why Won't Google Let Us Opt-Out of SPN?

SPEAKER_00 7:34

The data we are going to talk about in in a second uh will make it very, very reasonable. Yes. I mean, before we jump into the data, what is your what what what do you think is the reason why Because it's not the first time we we talked about this, it's not the first time we talk about this with Google. What do you think is the reason why Google is hesitant to to to to give us the opportunity or the possibility to opt out? Um is it as straightforward as it might be that it's just revenue impacting?

SPEAKER_02 8:06

I don't I don't know. I mean, because actually, because while Search Partner Network generates a sizable amount of impressions, the you know, the saving grace of Search Partner Network, because it's it's both the problem and the solution in a way. The intent is so low. Oh, yes. That's what causes the performance to be really bad. But it's so low that it also doesn't generate that many clicks and that many costs. And so there's an extent to which you it's almost you can almost just overlook it. But I it's just bloat for a lot of advertisers. And um and why Google doesn't let an opt-out, I think um this is the one thing that has not changed about PMAX so far. A lot of things have changed, but the core identity of PMAX is that it is the one-stop shop where you buy all of Google inventory. And I really think they want to hold the line there because if they offer an opt-out for one what's next. Then we yeah, you know, and we see Demagin has a very different product philosophy. It's a mul it's a checkbox. You choose which what you want to appear in. Um and they could easily implement that for PMAX, but that's not what they want to do.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

That that that's that's where my question is coming from, because you can I mean Google is always offering it, right? I mean, when we talk about the Google Power Pack, the IMAX the Search Demarchan and PMAX, and there is one campaign tab in there where you have full control uh weakness mark chain.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Right? You can literally say, I want I want to be there, and but I don't want to be there. And uh PMAX, you can't. And uh that that's why I'm asking, and I think it makes perfect sense. Do they want to open the floodgates? Yeah, yeah. Uh you still I mean the the promise you made last last year, you you keep fighting for that, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

To all to all our fans out there, if we have some. I met one at at the at the convention about two weeks ago. Yeah. This this one fan. This one fan I have, I met him. Uh no, just kidding. To all the listeners, uh, if there will be one day the possibility to opt out, yeah, uh send Mike throughout because he was one of the main reasons why this is going to happen.

SPEAKER_02 10:13

I'm making, you know, I I wanted to do this in 2025, but I just didn't have the chance. But I'm making my most concerted effort now to do that. I'm gonna be writing a little op-ed piece for search engine lands. I don't know if that'll be live or not by the time this airs. That's why I'm preparing this data.

SPEAKER_00 10:28

And uh it's a noble font.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

It will help everyone.

The Hard Data: SPN vs. Parent Campaign Performance

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Yes. Why? Because well, you know, for some people, Search Partner works, but it it's a it's a decision that you should be able to make. Yeah. And yeah, you can't. Now let's talk about numbers. So first I want to talk, because I I really I tried to be fair here. First thing that I want to say. So what I did is I only looked at campaigns that had 30 or more monthly conversions. That's enough for smart bidding to learn. Yeah. You know, it should be, it should give a fighting chance here. Um the that's a whole other topic, is the interplay of Google's bidding and search partner network, but they've been trying to make improvements. They had a few updates last year. They are working on making Search Partner Network more performant and a bit better, but right now it's not showing. Uh, the other thing that I did, um, you know, I'll put this chart on screen, and I really like to show the range of outcomes so that you see that because if I just tell you like the average or something like that, it makes a singular monolithic number about this. And it's there, there are people who have better or worse outcomes. I want to highlight that. And um I've also when I'm looking at that average um to try to create a number to summarize these, I'm working with something called a trimmed mean. And what this does is it excludes the you know, the bottom and top outliers. So, you know, it's a very simple but robust number.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

And a fair, yeah, a fair approach.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

So I've really tried to be fair here, and unfortunately the results are still garbage. Yes. Um, I which is the the not nice part. But just to run through these, the trimmed mean um of the following KPIs. So this is search partner network compared to its parents campaign.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Um which are basically all the rest of uh PMAX campaign.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Yeah, this was this was in an initial sample. There were this is a sample of um over 1,500 PMAX campaigns that met the quality criteria. Got it. Um so yeah, that's CTR is 40% lower. Um conversion rate is 63% lower. Um CPCs are 14% lower in Google's defense. These clicks don't cost as much, but that's not proportional. Yeah. It's not proportional. The cost per acquisition or per conversion is uh 73% higher in the trimmed mean case. And the row and the ROAS is sim very uh same number almost as conversion rate. Uh it's it's uh to a decimal point. It's 63% lower.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

And so the greatest of all time KPI.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

Yeah, we talked about that last time, right?

SPEAKER_00 13:21

We talked about that last time. Okay. So across the board, a horrific.

SPEAKER_02 13:26

Yeah, and there are there are some advertisers for whom this works. Um and the only saving grace, again, is that it's not spending that much money typically. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

But m m my takeaways are So A, yes, it might work for some. Uh but having the again, and we talked about this the last time, having this data available now. Yeah. Right? But I can't do anything about it. It it it's it it's it feels like torture, right? You have these numbers available and you basically can't do it.

SPEAKER_02 13:57

Well, you you can exclude single placements, but you can't, you know, there are limits and how many placements you want to exclude.

Invalid Traffic: Malicious Bots & Wasted Ad Spend

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Exactly. For me, this is just I mean, Google, if you're listening, this this would be I I know there are reasons for it, but and and um maybe we don't know all of the reasons, but this would make perfect sense because it there are retailers or clients where it's working, yeah, but for for the majority it's not. And Mike, the the the major thing which which I hold hold against Google here is they are now massively jumping on the train of really trying to find the incrementally most profitable next dollar revenue for you.

SPEAKER_02 14:36

Yeah, we talked about that last year, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:38

And this is a joke. Sorry. I mean, Google, you did a lot of things perfectly well, but this doesn't make sense at all because if they're really serious about the incrementality of your uh return assessment for instance, for instance, I mean how how how this this doesn't fit.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Yeah, that you know that they they uh wrote articles about this. There's it's in their help center. They really want to they're they were hesitant to disclose this data because of things like this. Um but they're saying like you have to understand that um at the time that conversion was bought, it was the cheapest conversion that we could buy. Well, don't buy that conversion. The intent is too low. There's there's a limit to that, you know? And in these campaigns, by the way, I mean if I would compare this to uh yeah, like what I see is that these campaigns, and we know this about PMAX, they're typically meeting the rowest target or even exceeding it. Um and this is it's just this weird bloat, it's dragging down the average, like and I don't think that those conversions paid off. I I mean I know they don't.

SPEAKER_00 15:46

That's the thing, it's not about thinking anymore. Based on the data we have, they are not it's and by the way, this it's so significant. Um and uh like I said, this is certainly contradicting what Google promises to do. And again, it's it's not that big of a you know that the the the it's not that big of a portion of your of your whole uh ad spend. I I get it, yeah, but still it's costing me money for no reason. Uh why would I spend in in this? I mean, with I mean it's it's it's it's really crazy, it's it's horrific. And um yeah, I mean Google has to do something about it. And uh you know what what you said in the beginning that it's not even that big of a chunk uh in terms of revenue for Google because not that many clicks happen. The risk reward ratio is not there for Google.

SPEAKER_02 16:35

No, they talked about that this brand safety after brand safety scandal for what then, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:42

It's dragging performance.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

If if if I go into that placement report, I mean we have a uh we have a script that helps evaluate your placements and let's show this slide again. We'd love to show this slide. Yeah, let's go for it. I mean, because like some of these some of these websites, um I don't believe that there's any human traffic on there. And this is another thing I uh I mean I throw this chart up as well, but I looked at the uh at the invalid traffic rate per network, and um there are two kinds of categories of of invalid traffic. There's basically harmless bots that just crawl websites and stuff like this, many of them are beneficial, and then there's like this kind of malicious invalid traffic. And Search Partner Network, unsurprisingly, has the highest share of malicious fraud or fraudulent clicks as well. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

Serious thing. Uh we keep you posted. Yeah. Um and um mate, I think uh it's it's great data, super interesting. Thanks. And you you keep fighting. I keep fighting the good for the rest of us.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

And you know, and you know, um to if there's some Googler listeners getting pissed or anything, I'm sorry, but I actually I want people to like PMAX. Yes. I want these objections that people can reasonably have to be resolved.

BREAKING NEWS: Google is Sunsetting DSA (Dynamic Search Ads)

SPEAKER_00 17:59

By the way, I I think we we want people to like Google because it's uh it's a fucking great company. Yeah they do a lot of great things. And by the way, doing a lot of great things, yes, of course, there might be things which are not that good, but uh it it it's great that you bring this up and it it's it's it's it's worth the discussion. Let's see. I'm curious about your article. Yes. That will will be a good one. Definitely. Mike, uh thanks a lot for that. Let's jump to um my no, I actually I think it's a big thing, but it's pretty big one, yeah. It's a big, pretty big one, but not that much to discuss about. Rather, um a newsbreaking uh uh section of of this today's episode. Mike, you had uh a great webinar with uh Chinnie Marmin. Um by the way, shout out to Chinie again for for joining. Uh I I really enjoyed it. Um a lot of registrants. This it was really great to see. Yeah. Um there was a lot of great discussions going on, but what is the big news? Yeah. The one the one thing big news we got out of this.

SPEAKER_02 18:58

Uh yeah, to me, the there are the biggest piece of news was um well, I asked Jenny, I said that you know, this was a webinar about AI Max, and um I said it would give a lot of advertisers clarity if they'd understand what's happening with DSA because you sense that there's a redundancy here. It's the same technology. They're very similar to each other. AI Max in some ways is superior. Others will say DSA, but whatever. Um and DSA is a popular product, it's well adopted. It's it's probably 20% of search costs. I'm not sure. Absolutely. So the thing is like um it will help people decide if they're gonna adopt AI Max or not. Yes. If they if they know what's gonna happen here. Is AI Max gonna replace it? And Ginny confirmed that DSA, its time on earth is limited. We do not have an exact date from Ginny. Um, and I don't know, you know, the details of is there gonna be a migration plan? I kind of assume so. Um or is it just are they just gonna sunset DSA? But DSA will go the way of the dinosaurs, and AI Max, therefore, is the future-proof technology for that kind of advertising. Um, so it's a simple news update, but um you know I I'm kind of sad here.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

Yeah. Uh I I I love the analogy with the dinosaur because I think it was was good for me kind that that that there was some extinction went on. Uh because else we probably wouldn't have have taken over. And maybe the sunset of DSA is is is good uh and and and and uh a good move for for for the greater good. But DSA was a great campaign type. Um at the at the end of the day, um not too surprising. Uh no, no. I guess they're too too big of a redundancy between AI Max or Circuit.

SPEAKER_02 20:50

Yeah, and PMAX as well.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

So but yeah, uh great news. And by the way, shout out to China that she was I mean, I I was super surprised that she was really I mean that concrete on that topic.

SPEAKER_02 21:01

Yeah, there's there hasn't been, I mean, at least time of recording and and at the time of the webinar especially, there's been no announcement from Google about this. Um but Ginny speaks from a position of authority. Yes. I think she she got that this will give people clarity and she went out there and said that. So thank you, Ginny.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

Thank you, Ginny. And uh yeah, to all listeners, uh DSA, there there is there is a timeline uh which will end. And um, of course, we keep you posted on what does that mean and how you can mitigate any risks whatsoever.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

Google typically gives a one-year sunset period.

Outro & How to Support the Podcast

SPEAKER_00 21:34

That depends, but and I certainly think there there will be migration plans. Uh yeah. I think it won't come that it won't be that difficult because it's so similar to from a technology perspective. But yeah, super interesting. Indeed. Mike, time flies. Yeah. It was a pleasure again.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

Absolutely. Yeah, thanks for spending the time with me, Chris. Um, thanks as well to our audience for taking the time and as always, uh grow. E-commerce is brought to you by Smarter Ecommerce, also known as SMEC. So please uh visit us at Smarter eCommerce.com if you'd like to learn more. Otherwise, give us a follow on our podcast, um, give us a recommendation to your friends, a positive review or rating. That means a lot to us. Thank you.