Microsoft Ads has outlined the current status of various controls for Performance Max campaigns, as detailed in its recent Product Newsletter. Advertisers should be aware of which controls are generally available and which remain in pilot:
- Age and gender exclusions: generally available (GA). See our coverage from August 2026.
- Device targeting: in pilot. Details on the expansion are available from October 2026.
- Audience exclusions: in pilot. These allow excluding audiences like Customer Match lists and remarketing audiences. Learn more from our report in October 2026.
- Brand exclusions: in pilot and applicable to text ads only, permitting product ads to show for those brand searches. Our story from October 2026 covers the pilot’s refinement.
- PMax uplift experiments: these experiments isolate the increase in conversions from adding PMax to existing Search, Shopping, or Audience campaigns. See details from June 2026.
Microsoft advises using exclusions strictly when there are legal, operational, economic, or verified performance reasons. Testing assumptions with reporting or experiments is recommended to ensure unnecessary restrictions do not narrow PMax’s reach.
Read the official announcement here: Product Newsletter.