Google Shopping
Google Shopping and Performance Max for shops that want profit, not just sales
Google Shopping management is mostly feed management. The product titles, images, prices and attributes in your Merchant Center feed decide which searches your products can appear for, and the campaign decides how much you pay when they do. We fix the feed first, then build Shopping and Performance Max campaigns grouped by margin, so the account bids hardest on the products that make you the most money.
In short
- Merchant Center and feed fixes first
- Campaigns grouped by margin, not category
- Reporting on profit after ad spend
Not sure where to start? We review your account, tracking and landing pages first, in writing.
The feed is the targeting
Shopping ads have no keywords. Google matches a search to a product using the information in your feed, so a product titled "Classic Tee - Navy" competes for far fewer searches than one titled "Men's organic cotton crew neck t-shirt, navy, regular fit". Feed work is unglamorous and it is usually where the biggest gain is.
- Titles rewritten in the order people search: product type, key attribute, brand where it matters, size or colour.
- Product categories, GTINs and brand fields completed so products are eligible for every placement.
- Disapprovals and warnings in Merchant Center cleared, including price and availability mismatches.
- Custom labels added for margin band, best sellers and seasonality, so campaigns can be split by what matters to you.
- Promotions and free listings checked, because unpaid product listings come from the same feed.
Performance Max, used carefully
Performance Max replaced Smart Shopping as Google's main campaign type for retailers. It runs across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Gmail and Maps from one campaign, and it is powerful when it is fed good data and clear targets. Left to itself it tends to spend on brand searches and remarketing that would have converted anyway, and report them as new sales.
We split Performance Max by margin band using custom labels, exclude brand terms where the account allows it, add real conversion values (including refunds where you can share them), and run a standard Shopping campaign alongside for products that need tighter control.
Measuring the right thing
Revenue is not profit. A product with a 20% margin needs a return on ad spend of at least 5x just to break even on the ad; one with a 60% margin breaks even under 2x. We set target ROAS per margin band rather than one figure for the whole shop, and report profit after ad spend alongside revenue. The ROAS calculator shows the break-even figure for any margin.
Related
Where this connects
E-commerce PPC
Paid search and social for online shops, measured on return on ad spend.
Google Ads management
Search, Performance Max, Display and YouTube, built around the searches that buy.
ROAS calculator
Return on ad spend, break-even ROAS and target ROAS for your margin.
Analytics and tracking
GA4, Tag Manager, server-side tagging and enhanced conversions, set up so the numbers are true.
Questions people ask us
Do I need Merchant Center for Shopping ads?
Yes. Shopping and the product side of Performance Max both run from a Google Merchant Center account holding your product feed, linked to Google Ads.
Can you work with Shopify?
Yes. Shopify's Google channel creates a feed automatically. It is a reasonable start, but the titles and attributes usually need improving, either in Shopify or through a supplemental feed.
Should I run Performance Max or standard Shopping?
Often both: Performance Max for reach across Google's channels, and a standard Shopping campaign for products where you want exact control over bids and search terms. The right split depends on how many conversions the account gets each month.
What return on ad spend should I aim for?
One based on your margin. Break-even ROAS is 1 divided by your gross margin; add the profit you want to keep on top of that. A single shop-wide target usually overspends on low-margin products and underspends on high-margin ones.
Stop guessing. Start scaling.
Find out where your paid advertising is losing money and where the next profitable campaign is hiding. The audit is free and you keep it whatever you decide.