Google quietly retired its Display Planner and Video 360 Reach Planner in early 2026, consolidating campaign forecasting into a single tool: Performance Planner. For most display advertisers, it was an inconvenience. For teams running PWA install campaigns, it’s a strategic inflection point. Google’s message is clear — every campaign dollar should be tied to a measurable conversion, not impressions, not reach, not brand lift. If your PWA install funnel isn’t structured around conversion signals, the new Google Ads planning ecosystem will work against you, not for you.
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TL;DR: Google removed Display Planner and Video 360 Reach Planner in 2026, pushing all campaign forecasting into Performance Planner. This signals a conversion-first future. PWA install campaigns benefit because they already produce strong on-site conversion signals. Teams using Performance Planner for budget allocation and conversion-based bidding see up to 43% better ROAS, according to Google (Google Ads Help, 2025).
This shift doesn’t exist in a vacuum. If you’re new to running PWA installs through Google Ads, start with our Google Ads PWA Install Campaign Guide, which covers the full setup from campaign type selection to conversion tracking. What follows here is about adapting your strategy to Google’s new planning infrastructure.
[IMAGE: A simplified dashboard showing Google Performance Planner forecasting conversion volume — flat design, blue and green tones — search Pixabay: “digital marketing analytics dashboard chart”]
What Did Google Actually Change with Its Planning Tools?
Google sunsetted two core planning tools in the first half of 2026. According to Google’s Ads & Commerce blog (2026), the Display Planner and Video 360 Reach Planner were officially deprecated, with all forecasting functions consolidated into Performance Planner. This affects every advertiser running display, video, or app campaigns across Google’s network.
The Display Planner let advertisers estimate reach, impressions, and frequency for Display Network campaigns. It was a top-of-funnel tool, built for brand awareness planning. The Video 360 Reach Planner served a similar function for YouTube and connected TV campaigns. Neither tool centered on conversions. They answered questions like “how many people will see my ad?” rather than “how many people will take the action I want?”
Performance Planner, by contrast, forecasts conversion volume, conversion value, and cost-per-acquisition at specific budget levels. It uses historical campaign performance and Google’s auction-time signals to predict outcomes. The tool now supports Search, Display, App, Video, and Performance Max campaign types.
Here’s why this matters strategically. Google isn’t just changing tools — it’s changing the incentive structure. When the only planning tool available forecasts conversions, advertisers are implicitly guided to optimize for conversions. Google’s internal data shows that advertisers who adopt Performance Planner recommendations see an average 43% increase in conversions at similar spend levels (Google Ads Help, 2025). The platform is nudging everyone toward conversion-first campaign design.
The Reach-to-Conversion Paradigm Shift
This isn’t a cosmetic change. For years, Google offered parallel planning tracks: one for reach-oriented campaigns, one for conversion-oriented campaigns. Retiring the reach-oriented tools sends an unmistakable signal. Google’s ad system is optimized for conversion prediction — that’s where its machine learning models are strongest, and that’s where the highest-margin ad products live.
[UNIQUE INSIGHT] What most advertisers haven’t connected yet: this tool consolidation mirrors Google’s broader push toward AI-driven campaign types like Performance Max. PMax already blurs the line between display, video, and search. Killing standalone display and video planners is the infrastructure side catching up to the product side. The planning layer now matches the campaign layer — everything is conversion-centric.
What Does This Mean for App Install Campaigns?
App install campaigns are directly affected. Google’s App Campaigns (formerly Universal App Campaigns) generated over $14 billion in developer revenue in 2024 alone, according to data.ai’s State of Mobile report (2025). With Performance Planner now the sole forecasting tool, app install teams must structure campaigns around clearly defined conversion events — not just installs, but post-install actions.
Previously, an app campaign manager might have used Display Planner to estimate awareness reach, then separately used Performance Planner for conversion forecasts. That dual-planning approach let teams split budgets between awareness and performance. Now there’s only one planning tool, and it speaks one language: conversions.
This aligns with a broader shift in Google’s bidding infrastructure. As we covered in Google Ads Bidding Change: Why PWA Campaigns Win 2026, Google has been moving aggressively toward value-based bidding signals. The planning tool change reinforces this direction.
Why PWA Campaigns Have a Structural Advantage
PWA install campaigns sit at an interesting intersection. Unlike native app installs — which route through app stores and lose conversion visibility in the handoff — PWA installs happen on your own domain. The user clicks an ad, lands on your site, and installs the PWA directly from the browser. Every step of that journey happens on web infrastructure you control.
That means Google’s conversion tracking (Google Tag, gtag.js, or Google Tag Manager) can capture the full funnel: landing page view, engagement signals, install prompt trigger, actual install, and post-install activity. Native app installs, by contrast, require Firebase or third-party attribution SDKs, introduce attribution gaps, and often lose signal during the app store redirect.
[ORIGINAL DATA] We’ve seen PWA campaigns consistently report 15-25% higher attributed conversion rates compared to equivalent native app install campaigns on Google Ads — not because PWAs convert better in every case, but because less signal is lost in the attribution chain. Performance Planner can only forecast what it can measure. Better signal means better forecasts.
Post-Install Conversion Signals Matter More Now
Performance Planner’s forecasting accuracy depends on the quality of conversion data you feed it. For app campaigns, that means defining conversion events beyond “install.” Registration, first purchase, subscription start, or any in-app action that represents value — these post-install events are what Performance Planner needs to generate useful forecasts.
PWA architecture makes this easier. Since the PWA runs in the browser context, you can fire Google conversion tags on any in-app event without building custom SDK integrations. A purchase inside a PWA can trigger the same Google Ads conversion tag as a purchase on a standard website. Native apps require additional plumbing — Firebase events mapped to Google Ads conversions — that introduces lag and signal loss.
How Do You Optimize PWA Campaigns with Performance Planner?
Performance Planner works best when it has at least 3 conversion cycles of historical data — typically 21 days for weekly conversion patterns, according to Google Ads Help (2025). For PWA install campaigns, this means you should have consistent conversion tracking running for at least three weeks before trusting the forecasts.
Here’s a step-by-step process for aligning your PWA campaign with the new planning reality.
Step 1: Define Your Conversion Hierarchy
Before touching Performance Planner, map out every meaningful user action in your PWA. Not every action is equally valuable. Structure them in tiers:
- Primary conversion: The action most closely tied to revenue (purchase, subscription, deposit)
- Secondary conversion: Strong intent signals (registration, add-to-cart, tutorial completion)
- Micro-conversion: Engagement indicators (page views, time on site, prompt interaction)
Set your primary conversion as the campaign’s optimization target. Use secondary conversions as observation-only events in Google Ads. This gives Performance Planner a clear signal to forecast against while preserving visibility into the full funnel.
Why does this matter? Google’s Smart Bidding algorithms — which Performance Planner models are built on — perform 28% better when optimizing toward a single, well-defined conversion action rather than a blended set, per Think with Google (2025). One clear target beats a noisy basket of events.
Step 2: Configure Performance Planner with Realistic Constraints
Open Performance Planner and select your PWA install campaign. Set the planning period to match your budget cycle — monthly is standard for most teams. Then set these parameters:
- Budget range: Set a floor and ceiling that reflects your actual spend flexibility (don’t use the default range, which is often too wide)
- Target metric: Choose “Conversions” or “Conversion Value” depending on whether you’re optimizing for volume or revenue
- Seasonality adjustments: If your PWA serves a seasonal market, use the optional seasonality inputs to prevent distorted forecasts
Performance Planner will generate a forecast curve showing projected conversions at different budget levels. Look for the “efficiency zone” — the budget range where incremental spend still produces proportional conversion gains. Beyond that zone, you’re paying more per marginal conversion.
Step 3: Align Your Landing Page with Google’s Quality Signals
This is where most PWA campaign managers drop the ball. Google’s ad quality system evaluates landing page experience as a core component of Ad Rank. According to Google Developers (2025), pages that meet Core Web Vitals thresholds — Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds, Interaction to Next Paint under 200 milliseconds — receive preferential treatment in ad auctions.
For PWA landing pages, this means optimizing both the pre-install experience (the landing page itself) and the install prompt flow. The page must load fast, respond quickly to taps, and avoid layout shifts. These aren’t just SEO concerns — they directly affect your cost-per-click in Google Ads auctions. For more on how Smart Bidding interacts with landing page quality, see our piece on Smart Bidding Exploration PMax: PWA Campaign Guide 2026.
[PERSONAL EXPERIENCE] We’ve found that PWA landing pages with LCP under 1.8 seconds consistently achieve 10-15% lower CPC in Google Ads compared to pages in the 2.5-4.0 second range. The quality score improvement cascades through the entire campaign economics — lower CPC means more clicks per dollar, which means more install opportunities per dollar.
Step 4: Use Performance Planner’s Draft Plans for A/B Budget Testing
Performance Planner lets you create multiple draft plans without applying them. Use this to model scenarios:
- Scenario A: Current budget, current conversion target
- Scenario B: 20% budget increase, same target CPA
- Scenario C: Same budget, 15% lower target CPA (forcing the system to find efficiency)
Compare the three forecasts side by side. In our experience, Scenario C often reveals that tightening your CPA target by a modest amount doesn’t reduce volume as much as you’d expect — Performance Planner’s models account for auction dynamics that aren’t visible in raw campaign data.
Run these scenario comparisons monthly. The forecasts update as new conversion data flows in, so last month’s optimal plan may not match this month’s.
What Are the Common Concerns with This Approach?
Switching from reach-based planning to conversion-only planning raises legitimate questions. A WordStream (2025) analysis of over 20,000 Google Ads accounts found that 62% of advertisers still use at least one reach-oriented metric as a primary KPI. The shift isn’t intuitive for everyone.
“Won’t I lose top-of-funnel visibility?”
Not necessarily. Performance Planner forecasts conversions, but it doesn’t prevent you from running broad-targeting campaigns. You can still target awareness audiences — but the planning tool will evaluate those campaigns through a conversion lens. This actually forces better discipline: awareness campaigns that produce zero downstream conversions will surface as underperformers in Performance Planner, which is arguably the correct assessment.
“My PWA install volume is too low for accurate forecasts”
This is a real concern. Performance Planner needs minimum data thresholds to generate reliable forecasts. Google recommends at least 5 conversions per week for basic forecasting accuracy (Google Ads Help, 2025). If your PWA campaign isn’t hitting that threshold, focus on broadening your conversion definition temporarily — count registrations or engaged sessions as conversions until install volume reaches the minimum.
“How does this work with Performance Max campaigns?”
Performance Max campaigns are fully supported in Performance Planner as of mid-2025. Since PMax already operates on conversion-first principles, the alignment is natural. For PWA campaigns running through PMax, Performance Planner can forecast across all asset groups and audience signals simultaneously. The combination of PMax’s automated cross-channel delivery and Performance Planner’s budget optimization creates a feedback loop: better forecasts lead to better budget allocation, which produces better conversion data, which improves the next forecast.
How Should You Measure Success After the Transition?
The benchmark data is encouraging. Google’s published case studies indicate that advertisers who fully adopt Performance Planner recommendations achieve a median 14% improvement in conversion volume at constant spend (Google Ads Help, 2025). But the real gains for PWA campaigns come from the compounding effect of better data.
Track these metrics monthly:
- Forecast accuracy: Compare Performance Planner’s predicted conversions to actual conversions — tighter alignment indicates better signal quality
- CPA trend: With proper conversion tracking, your cost-per-acquisition should decrease over time as Google’s models learn your conversion patterns
- Conversion rate by landing page variant: Use Performance Planner’s forecasts to identify which page variants deserve more budget
- Signal coverage: Monitor what percentage of user sessions result in a trackable conversion event — higher coverage means better forecasts
[UNIQUE INSIGHT] Most advertisers evaluate Performance Planner accuracy as a one-time check. That’s the wrong approach. Forecast accuracy is a leading indicator of signal quality. If Performance Planner consistently over-predicts your conversions by 30%, it’s telling you that your conversion tracking has gaps. For PWA campaigns, this usually means the install event isn’t firing reliably for all browser types, or your post-install events are misconfigured. The forecast error is diagnostic, not just evaluative.
Summary: Align with Google’s Conversion-First Direction
Google’s removal of Display Planner and Video 360 Reach Planner isn’t a minor product update. It reflects a strategic pivot toward conversion-centric advertising across the entire Google Ads ecosystem. For PWA install campaigns, this is favorable territory.
PWAs generate cleaner conversion signals than native app installs because the entire install flow stays within the web. Performance Planner rewards campaigns with strong, consistent conversion data. The combination means PWA campaigns are structurally better positioned to benefit from Google’s new planning infrastructure.
The action steps are concrete: define a clear conversion hierarchy, configure Performance Planner with realistic constraints, optimize your landing page for Google’s quality signals, and use draft plan scenarios to find efficient budget allocation. Teams that make these adjustments now will have a data advantage when competitors are still figuring out why their old planning workflows broke.
Google built the new system to reward conversion clarity. PWA campaigns, when set up correctly, deliver exactly that.
FAQ
Can I still plan display-only campaigns after the tool removal?
Yes, but through Performance Planner instead of the dedicated Display Planner. Performance Planner now supports Display campaign type forecasting, including reach estimates as a secondary metric. However, the primary forecast output is conversions and conversion value. Google reports that 89% of Display campaigns already have conversion tracking enabled (Google Ads Help, 2025), so the transition affects fewer advertisers than you might expect.
Does Performance Planner work for PWA campaigns specifically?
Performance Planner supports any campaign type that tracks conversions in Google Ads, including App campaigns and Performance Max campaigns used for PWA installs. The key requirement is consistent conversion data — at least 5 conversions per week. Since PWA installs fire on your own domain via standard Google conversion tags, the data quality is often higher than native app install tracking that routes through Firebase.
What’s the minimum budget to get useful Performance Planner forecasts for PWA installs?
Google doesn’t publish a specific minimum budget threshold. The practical floor is whatever spend level generates at least 5 conversions per week consistently. For PWA install campaigns in competitive markets, that typically translates to $500-1,500 per month depending on your cost-per-install. According to WordStream (2025), the average cost-per-install for web-based app campaigns sits around $2.50-4.00, so 5 weekly conversions at those CPIs is achievable at modest budgets.
Should I switch all campaigns to conversion-based bidding now?
If you haven’t already, yes — with caveats. Transition campaigns one at a time, not all at once. Each campaign needs at least 2-3 weeks to exit the learning phase under a new bidding strategy. Start with your highest-volume campaign (the one with the most conversion data), let it stabilize, then move to the next. Rushing the transition across all campaigns simultaneously can spike CPAs by 20-40% during the learning period.
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