skill-092-pmax-final-url-expansion-control

Skill 092: Performance Max Final URL Expansion Control

Purpose

Audit Performance Max Final URL Expansion settings to ensure appropriate control over landing page selection. URL expansion allows Google to dynamically select landing pages, which can be beneficial or problematic depending on business goals and website structure.

Data Requirements

Data Source: Standard + Custom GAQL

Standard Data:

• data/account/campaigns/*/campaign.md — The Asset Automation Settings field shows opt-in/opt-out status per automation type. Check for FinalUrlExpansionTextAssetAutomation to determine URL expansion status. If not listed, defaults apply (opted in).

GAQL Query - Asset Group Final URLs:

SELECT
  campaign.name,
  asset_group.name,
  asset_group.final_urls,
  asset_group.final_mobile_urls,
  asset_group.status
FROM asset_group
WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'PERFORMANCE_MAX'

GAQL Query - Landing Page Performance:

SELECT
  campaign.name,
  campaign.advertising_channel_type,
  landing_page_view.unexpanded_final_url,
  metrics.impressions,
  metrics.clicks,
  metrics.cost_micros,
  metrics.conversions
FROM landing_page_view
WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'PERFORMANCE_MAX'
  AND segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS
ORDER BY metrics.clicks DESC
LIMIT 100

Run via /google-ads:get-custom with query name pmax_url_expansion.

Analysis Steps

1. Check URL Expansion Status: Read Asset Automation Settings from campaign.md for each PMax campaign. Look for FinalUrlExpansionTextAssetAutomation: OptedOut. If absent, URL expansion is enabled (default)
2. Analyze Landing Page Distribution: Compare intended URLs vs. actual URLs receiving traffic
3. Assess URL Quality: Identify non-commercial pages, outdated content, policy-risk pages
4. Evaluate Business Impact: Calculate conversion rate by landing page; identify wasted spend

Thresholds

Condition	Severity
Non-commercial pages receiving traffic	Critical
>20% spend on expanded URLs with low conversion	Warning
Zero-conversion expanded URLs with >$100 spend	Warning
URL expansion ON with no exclusion rules	Info