Is Google Performance Max Just a Giant Money Laundering Scheme?

Welcome to the Google PMAX Conspiracy Theory

Performance Max was supposed to be Google’s greatest ad innovation—an AI-powered, fully automated system designed to find high-intent customers across search, YouTube, and the display network.

Instead, for many advertisers, PMAX feels like a black hole for ad budgets. You put money in, Google’s AI works its magic, and suddenly your CRM is flooded with garbage leads that never convert.

Here’s the kicker: Google won’t even tell you where these leads are coming from.

The system is completely opaque. Advertisers don’t know which sites are driving conversions, but Google keeps cashing in. And if you ask them about it?

"Sorry, that data isn’t available."

Sounds a little sketchy, right?

Well, grab your tin foil hat, because we’re about to break down how Google has built the perfect lead generation money loop—where they win every time, and you’re left with a pile of fake leads.

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How the PMAX Money Machine Works

Let’s say you’re a business owner. You set up a PMAX campaign, trusting Google’s AI to find your best customers.

Your ads are now running everywhere—on YouTube, Gmail, random blogs, and who knows where else. You start seeing leads come in, so you think it’s working. But when you check?

• Half the phone numbers don’t work.

• The email addresses look suspiciously spammy.

• The people who do pick up have never heard of your company.

Congratulations! You’ve just paid Google for a pile of useless data.

And because PMAX doesn’t tell you where these leads came from, there’s no way to block bad sources.

Now, let’s talk about where your ad dollars actually went.

Our Theory: The PMAX ‘Lead Laundering’ Loop

We have a theory—and once you hear it, you might not look at your PMAX dashboard the same way again.

Let’s say there’s a shady publisher out there running a sketchy little website with AdSense enabled. Now imagine they start seeing PMAX ads appear on their own site. What if they realized they could game the system… and get paid doing it?

Here’s how we think it goes down:

They click on their own PMAX ads and fill out the lead forms—using burner emails, fake names, maybe even scraped LinkedIn titles to make it look legit.

Google sees these form fills as “conversions.” PMAX, in its blind devotion to machine learning, assumes the site is a top performer.

And here’s the wild part:Because that site is “driving conversions,” PMAX starts sending even more ad traffic to it.

So not only does the publisher get paid via AdSense for the clicks, they get rewarded with more of your budget—because Google thinks it’s working.

It’s a perfectly shady little flywheel:

1. Fake leads = fake conversions

2. Fake conversions = more traffic

3. More traffic = more ad revenue

4. Rinse and repeat

All while the advertiser sees “leads” pouring in and assumes things are going great.

But in reality? You’re just paying for bots, bad data, and burner inboxes—while someone else pockets the profit.

And since PMAX doesn’t show you where the leads came from, you’ll never know.

It’s just a theory, of course. But if you’ve ever looked at your PMAX leads and thought, “Who are these people?” —you might already be a believer.

Why Google Will Never Fix It

Google could make PMAX more transparent. They could let advertisers block low-quality placements or at least show where leads are coming from. But that would mean less ad revenue.

Instead, they keep advertisers in the dark while telling them to increase their budget if the leads aren’t converting.

Advertisers: "We’re getting a ton of leads, but none of them convert. What should we do?"Google Rep: "You should definitely raise your budget."

And the cycle continues.

How to Protect Yourself

If you’re running PMAX for lead gen, you need to take matters into your own hands.

Compare PMAX results against a search-only campaign to see if the lead quality holds up. Use UTM tracking and CRM filters to flag suspicious leads. Ask your Google rep for placement data (even if they won’t give it to you). If you start seeing junk, consider switching to more controllable ad formats like Search or YouTube.

Because right now, trusting PMAX with your lead gen is like handing your wallet to a magician and hoping they give it back.

Final Thought: Is PMAX a Scam?

Maybe it’s not technically money laundering...

…but when you build a system where:

• Advertisers pay upfront

• Google keeps the money no matter what

• The sources of “leads” are hidden

…it definitely doesn’t feel like performance. It feels like a trap.

If you’re tired of pouring ad spend into a black box and getting fake form fills in return, maybe it’s time to ask: how much more are you willing to burn before demanding to know where your money’s actually going?

What’s the Alternative?

At Demand Mojo, we manage Google Ads the way it should be done:

• Full transparency

• Clear attribution

• Actual strategy—not AI guesswork

Instead of wasting your budget on PMAX, we focus on high-intent, high-converting campaigns using:

• Search-only ads with real keyword intent

• YouTube and Display campaigns that you control. - including retargeting options

• Conversion tracking that connects directly to your CRM

• Landing page optimization to turn real clicks into real customers

No fluff. No mystery dashboards. Just profitable, data-driven growth.

Let’s Make Your Ad Spend Work Again

If you’re a SaaS founder, small business owner, or growth marketer who's been burned by PMAX, let's talk.

We’ll audit your account, show you exactly what’s broken, and lay out a better plan. No long-term contracts. No generic reports. Just performance that makes sense.

👉 Ready to take back control of your ad spend? Schedule a consultation using the button below:

Office Contact Info:

Email: info@demandmojo.com

Phone: (949) 838 -7076

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