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the pause doesn’t preserve old pmax behavior. when it comes back, it’s basically operating under whatever today’s pmax system is, and it has to re find its pockets again. a month off is long enough that auctions, inventory mix, and feed signals can shift too, so that cheap cpa pocket might just be gone.
the move into search is also common when it’s trying to regain conversions fast. it leans on higher intent inventory even if it costs more.
i usually don’t try to recreate old display performance with a separate display campaign, it rarely works. i either rebuild a fresh pmax with clean conversion goals and updated assets, or i split out proper search so pmax stops eating everything and the account has more control.
for a quick diagnosis, check if conversion actions changed, attribution windows changed, or brand started getting counted differently. those 3 explain a lot of the cpa jump after a pause.
