Improve PPC with Google Ads Campaign Mix Experiments (Beta)

If you’re looking to get more out of your Google Ads budget and refine campaign strategy with data‑backed decisions, Google’s Campaign Mix Experiments (Beta) could be just the tool you’ve been waiting for.

This new experimentation feature expands the ability to test campaign performance beyond traditional single‑campaign A/B testing and gives advertisers greater flexibility in how they allocate budget, structure accounts and compare different campaign setups.

Let’s break down what it is, why it matters and how you can start benefiting from it.

What are campaign mix experiments?

Campaign Mix Experiments are Google Ads tests that let you compare multiple campaigns, often of different types, side‑by‑side within a single experiment framework. Instead of only tweaking one campaign at a time, you can now:

• Combine Search, Performance Max, Shopping, Video, App and Demand Gen campaigns into experimental groups
• Test different budget allocations across campaign types
• Compare structural strategies, such as campaign consolidation versus separate campaigns
• Evaluate how different combinations of settings perform against each other
• Run up to five experiment “arms” simultaneously, giving you richer insights than a simple A/B split test

Campaign Mix Experiments are currently in beta, meaning features may evolve as Google refines the tool based on advertiser feedback.

Why this matters for your PPC strategy

This experiment type is especially valuable for advertisers with complex accounts or multi‑channel goals because:

• More holistic testing – Rather than testing a single campaign change, you’re testing combinations of campaigns
• Better budget decisions – Learn how to allocate spend across campaign types for maximum ROI
• Flexible structures – Decide whether separate campaigns or consolidated structures perform better
• Performance comparison in one place – Experiment results show key metrics like conversion rate, cost per conversion and average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) for each variant

For example: imagine you want to know whether a mix of Performance Max and Search campaigns outperforms Search and Video campaigns together. With a Campaign Mix Experiment, you can create arms for each combination and find out, without guesswork.

How it works – At a glance

Here’s a simple breakdown:

1. Select your campaigns
   Choose existing campaigns that you want to include in your experiment. You can have up to five different “arms” or groupings.
2. Allocate traffic and budget
   Assign specific budget splits for each arm. Google normalises results to account for different splits, so comparisons are fair.
3. Run the experiment
   Aim to run it for at least 6 to 8 weeks so you collect enough data for meaningful insights.
4. Review the experiment summary
   The experiment dashboard displays comparative performance across your variants, helping you decide what strategy delivers the best outcomes.

Best practices for better results

To get the most out of Campaign Mix Experiments, follow these guidelines:

• Run experiments long enough: Shorter tests may not capture true performance, especially for low‑traffic campaigns.
• Compare apples with apples: Normalise data by traffic share and campaign goals so results are statistically meaningful.
• Use meaningful groupings: Don’t mix campaigns with wildly different objectives unless you’re intentionally testing strategy holistically.
• Combine with other experiments: Google still supports feature‑specific experiments (e.g. Broad Match tests) for single campaign changes. Use both types strategically.

Things to watch for

While Google’s existing Experiments framework is powerful, PPC professionals have flagged occasional issues (unrelated directly to this beta feature) such as:

• Campaigns sometimes don’t begin serving immediately in experiments
• Budget and impression splits may not always align with expectations
• Certain campaign types might be excluded due to shared budgets or ineligible settings

These are worth keeping in mind when planning your testing cadence.

In summary

Campaign Mix Experiments represent a meaningful expansion of Google Ads’ experimentation capabilities. They empower advertisers to test cross‑campaign strategies, optimise budget allocations and make evidence‑based decisions to drive better performance.

If you’re running multiple campaign types or trying to unify your cross‑channel approach, this beta is worth exploring. At Weblinx, we’re already pioneering its use for our PPC marketing campaigns to give our clients a competitive edge, and we recommend doing the same for your future PPC testing.