Google Ads Shopping ads explained

As an e-commerce retailer, you’re likely always looking for ways to get your products in front of potential customers. Google Shopping ads can help you do just that. In this article, you’ll learn what Google Ads Shopping ads are, how they work, and the benefits of using them in your advertising strategy.

You’ll also see the requirements for setting up a Shopping campaign and creating Shopping ads. So, let’s dive in and learn more about this powerful advertising tool.

Performance Max and Standard Shopping

As a retailer, you have the option to use Performance Max campaigns in conjunction with a Google Merchant Center feed or Standard Shopping campaigns to enhance your online and local inventory marketing efforts.

This can result in increased traffic to your website or physical store and improved lead quality. To begin, simply submit your product data through Merchant Center and create a campaign within Google Ads.

Google will then leverage your campaign and product data to generate ads on Google and other platforms, depending on the campaign type. Shopping ads are among the ad types that can be generated automatically from your product data.

What are the components of a Shopping ad?

Unlike text ads that feature only text, Shopping ads showcase a photo of your product, its title, price, store name, and other pertinent details, which are generated by Merchant Center using information provided in the product feed. These ads provide users with a comprehensive understanding of the product before they even click on the ad, resulting in more qualified leads for you.

Retailers do not need to create these ads themselves manually. The appearance of Shopping ads may differ across devices, and Google may experiment with different display options to improve the format. This may involve automatically cropping product images to emphasize the product. If retailers do not wish to participate in these experiments, they can contact Google to opt out.

It is important to note that in countries where the Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) program is available, you can participate in Shopping ads via one or more CSSs of your choosing. Certain CSSs will handle your product data and campaigns on your behalf, while others will provide you with tools to manage your setup independently.

How do Google Shopping ads work?

The functioning of Shopping ads is based on your existing product data in Merchant Center, rather than keywords. This product data includes information about the products you offer. Google uses this information to match a user’s search with your ads and display the most relevant products.

You can manage your Shopping ads with Standard Shopping or Performance Max campaigns in Google Ads, providing a simple and flexible method to organize and promote your Merchant Center product inventory.

Performance Max is a campaign type that is goal-oriented and helps you discover more customers while achieving your goals. It does so by analyzing campaign inputs such as your budget and product feed and then enhancing performance based on those inputs.

To optimize your Shopping Ads with local inventory, you can establish Local Inventory Ads.

Advantages of Shopping Ads over other ad formats

Improved lead quality

By showcasing product information directly in the ads, users can make informed purchase decisions, which increases the likelihood of a purchase. For instance, if Maria searches for “hiking boots” she can view Shopping ads that show pictures and prices of different hiking boots. This enables her to make an informed decision before clicking on the ad, which moves her closer to making a purchase.

Simple retail-focused campaign management

Shopping ads use product attributes from your Merchant Center data feed instead of keywords, making it easy to create product groups for the items you want to bid on. You can manage your product inventory directly in Google Ads.

Wider reach

For a single search, more than one of your Shopping ads can appear, and both a Shopping ad and a text ad can appear simultaneously, increasing your chances of reaching potential customers.

Robust reporting and competitive data

You can access detailed reporting on your products’ performance and benchmarking data that provides insights into your competition. You can also use the Bid Simulator tool and impression share data to identify growth opportunities.

Access to new inventory

With Performance Max, you can leverage new inventory and automation insights, expanding your reach across all Google channels and networks, including YouTube, Display, Search, Discovery, Gmail, and Maps.

Performance Max campaigns vs. Standard Shopping campaigns

Where your ads will show

Performance Max campaigns:

You can access a range of Google Ads channels with Google Shopping ads, including:

• The Shopping tab
• Google Search (in a separate section from text ads)
• Google Search text ads
• Google Images
• Google Display Network
• YouTube
• Gmail
• Discovery
• Maps (through Local Inventory Ads)

Moreover, you can automatically access new inventory and formats as they become available, without having to create new campaigns.

Standard Shopping campaigns:

You can access the following Google Ads channels with Google Shopping ads:

• The Shopping tab
• Google Search (in a separate section from text ads)
• Google Images
• Google Search Partner websites (if your campaign is set to include search partners)
• Maps (through Local Inventory Ads)

Ad format

Performance Max campaigns:

Wider range of formats:

• Shopping Ads
• Shopping Ads for local products (Local Inventory Ads)
• Display Ads
• Text Ads
• YouTube Ads

Standard Shopping campaigns:

Fewer formats:

• Shopping Ads
• Shopping Ads for local products (Local Inventory Ads)

Billing

Performance Max campaigns:

You’ll only be charged based on the performance of your campaigns, such as clicks or CPM (cost per thousand impressions).

Standard Shopping campaigns:

You’ll be charged on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, meaning you’ll only be charged when someone clicks on your ad and is directed to the landing page on your website or the Google-hosted landing page for your local inventory.

Bidding

Performance Max campaigns:

Automated strategies:

• Maximize Conversion Value (with an optional ROAS target)
• Maximize Conversions (with an optional CPA target)

Standard Shopping campaigns:

Automated and manual strategies:

• Target ROAS
• Maximize Clicks
• Enhanced Cost Per Click (ECPC)
• Manual CPC.

Ad creatives

Performance Max campaigns:

Automated ads are generated using assets from the advertiser’s asset groups (such as text, image, or video) and the Merchant Center feed.

Standard Shopping campaigns:

Ads are generated based solely on the assets provided in the Merchant Center feed. No additional creative assets such as text, image, or video are available for use in creating the ads.

Local Inventory Ads

Performance Max campaigns:

When a local product inventory feed is linked to the campaign, you will be automatically opted in.

Standard Shopping campaigns:

To enable local inventory ads, you need to check the “Enable ads for products sold in local stores” box in the campaign settings, as Shopping campaigns usually display ads for products sold from your online website by default.

Other features

Performance Max campaigns:

You can benefit from additional automation features, such as audience signals that help direct your campaign towards your target audience, final URL expansion, and a new customer acquisition goal.

Standard Shopping campaigns:

Additional options for customization are available, such as audience targeting to display ads to specific groups of users.

Campaign priority

Performance Max campaigns take precedence over Standard Shopping and display remarketing campaigns for the same product in the same account. To maintain your total spending, Google suggests setting a budget equivalent to the combined budgets of those other campaigns.

Requirements for creating Google Shopping ads campaigns

To set up a Performance Max campaign with a Merchant Center feed or a Shopping campaign with Shopping ads, you must fulfill certain requirements.

Link Google accounts

Firstly, you need to create accounts with Google Merchant Center and Google Ads and link them together.

Google’s policies

Secondly, your content for Shopping ads must comply with the Shopping ads policies, which are distinct from the Google Ads policies. Before you start advertising, you must ensure that your type of business, products, promotions, and website meet the requirements for Shopping ads.

Product data

Thirdly, you should be able to send up-to-date product data to Google at least every 30 days. This data must meet Google’s standards for data quality, which are designed to provide users with the best shopping experience and to help your ads perform better. You will use Merchant Center to submit your product data regularly.

The product data specification defines the standards for submitting your product data.