A new creative feature has been spotted inside Google Ads Performance Max campaigns – and it could change the way advertisers without a video budget approach animated advertising.
What was found. Vice President of Search at JumpFly, Inc. Nikki Kuhlman saw the option to create animated video clips directly within PMax asset groups, using AI to enhance and animate a single source image.
How does this work.
- Upload a source image — logo, product image, location image
- The AI generates several “enhanced” versions of that image
- Each enhanced image generates two animated clips
- Select up to five animated clips from each asset group
- Note: faces cannot be used in source images, although AI may generate people in enhanced versions
Early test results. The logo generated a rotating animation of the image element. The sold-out house produced a slow-motion cinematic pan. Simple input, but the output quality seems usable for advertising without video production required.
Where ads appear. Google hasn’t provided in-product documentation about placement, but early testing shows animated clips appearing in ad previews when added to an asset group.
Why do we care. Video assets continue to be a strong creative option in Paid Media — but producing video has always required time, budget, and resources that many advertisers don’t have. This feature effectively removes that barrier — turning a single product image or logo into an animated display in seconds, with no additional production costs.
For marketers who have been using PMax for static images alone, this could be a win-win.
An important point. This feature hasn’t been confirmed by Google, but advertisers using PMax should check their death groups now. If it’s available in your account, it’s worth checking out — especially for campaigns that have been running on still images alone.
It was first seen. Kuhlman shared a glimpse of this new feature on LinkedIn.
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