Google lets Performance Max images carry text and graphic overlays: your message, your logo, your offer. Its only recommendation is to keep at least one image without overlays for each aspect ratio, square, horizontal and vertical. Image assets in Search campaigns are the opposite. Any digitally added text, logo or graphic overlay gets them disapproved.
So the poster approach belongs in PMax. Its assets are combined into ads across Search, Maps, Display, YouTube, Gmail and Discover, and on many of those the image is the first thing people see. If the image could be anyone's, it doesn't tell them what you sell.
Two calls, the same problem
On a mentoring call, a boat tour operator was running PMax to win corporate event bookings and getting every kind of enquiry except corporate ones. The copy said corporate. The images didn't: sightseeing snapshots, a family on deck, a bird on the boat. Our advice was to turn the images into posters, with the line the copy was already using (a boat rental for corporate events), a logo and a call to action like book now. One of each in landscape, square and portrait, six designs in all, gives 18 images, inside PMax's limit of 20.
On another call, we previewed a restaurant's PMax ad on YouTube. It showed a food photo, a people photo and a headline that read like a search term. Nothing said whose ad it was. Without a logo or a line of text, it could have passed for a stock image or an AI image. Our suggestion: a logo at the top and a headline that gives a reason to choose the place, like its ratings.
What Google allows, by campaign type
- Performance Max. Images with text or graphic overlays are allowed. Google recommends at least one image without overlays for each aspect ratio. An asset group takes up to 20 images and 5 logos.
- Search image assets. No digitally added text, logos or graphic overlays, or the image is disapproved. Google wants them to show the actual product or service and match the landing page.
The PMax specs: horizontal 1.91:1 (1200 x 628 recommended) and square 1:1 (1200 x 1200) are required, vertical 4:5 (960 x 1200) is optional. JPG or PNG, up to 5 MB. Keep the text in the center 80% of the image, the safe area that won't be cropped on any screen.
It doesn't work the other way round. Google lets you use Search image assets in PMax, but a poster made for PMax can't go into a Search campaign. Keep a plain version for Search.
Test text images against plain ones
On a third call, with an online art store, we suggested exactly that test: one asset group with plain product images, another with the same images plus text, and the same headlines and descriptions in both. The text was about what makes people buy: the discount, the best seller, the rating.
Keep the plain image per ratio in the text version too, since that's what Google recommends. And check the preview for each format before launch. If the ad doesn't say what you sell and who you are, the image needs more work.
The takeaways
- Performance Max allows text and graphic overlays on images. Search image assets don't allow any.
- Google recommends at least one image without overlays for each aspect ratio in PMax.
- Put the message, the logo and the offer on the image, inside the center 80%.
- Cover all three ratios: up to 20 images and 5 logos per asset group.
- Test text images against plain ones with the same copy, and check the preview before launch.
Common questions
Can Performance Max images have text on them?
Yes. Google allows images with text or graphic overlays in Performance Max campaigns. It recommends using at least one image without overlays for each aspect ratio, square, horizontal and vertical, so keep a plain version of each alongside your text images.
Can I put text or a logo on image assets in Search campaigns?
No. Google's instructions for Search image assets say to make sure there are no digitally added text, logos or graphic overlays, because those are disapproved. Images there should show the actual product or service and match the landing page.
What image sizes does Performance Max need?
Horizontal 1.91:1 (1200 x 628 recommended, 600 x 314 minimum) and square 1:1 (1200 x 1200 recommended, 300 x 300 minimum) are required. Vertical 4:5 (960 x 1200 recommended) is optional. Files must be JPG or PNG up to 5 MB.
How many images can a Performance Max asset group have?
Up to 20 images and up to 5 logos. Google recommends at least 4 horizontal and 4 square images, plus 2 vertical images, and a square logo is required.
Where should text go on a Performance Max image?
Inside the center 80% of the image. Google calls this the safe area: content there won't be cut off whatever the screen size.