AI SEO & Advertising

Google Shopping Ads & Product Feed Optimisation

Google Shopping ads are the most direct path from search intent to product purchase for UK ecommerce businesses. EXPRE manages Google Shopping campaigns and Performance Max, optimising product feeds, AI bidding strategies, and attribution tracking to show exactly what your spend produces.

Get Your Free Shopping Audit

How Google Shopping Works

Google Shopping pulls product listings from your Google Merchant Centre feed and displays them in response to relevant searches. Unlike text search ads, you do not bid on individual keywords. Google determines relevance based on your product data, and you bid on how much you are willing to pay when someone clicks through to your site.

This makes the product feed the central lever. A well-optimised feed with accurate titles, complete attributes, correct GTINs, and detailed descriptions gets served for more relevant searches at better positions than a minimal feed with basic product data. Feed quality is where most Shopping campaigns underperform.

Performance Max campaigns extend Shopping ads across Google’s full inventory: Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, and Discovery. Google’s AI allocates budget across channels and audiences automatically. When properly set up with quality assets and clean conversion data, PMax performs well. Without those foundations, it distributes budget inefficiently.

Our Google Shopping Services

Product Feed Optimisation

Feed optimisation is the highest-leverage activity in Shopping campaign management. We audit feeds for title structure, completeness of required and optional attributes, GTIN accuracy, category mapping quality, image compliance, and description optimisation. Supplemental feed strategies allow improvement of product data without modifying your primary ecommerce platform data.

AI-Powered Bidding Strategies

Google’s Smart Bidding strategies — Target ROAS and Target CPA — use machine learning to set bids based on user behaviour, device, location, time of day, and conversion probability. These strategies outperform manual bidding when configured correctly. We provide the conversion volume, clean tracking, and appropriate targets that make Smart Bidding work effectively.

Performance Max Campaigns

Performance Max has become Google’s preferred campaign type for ecommerce, combining Shopping inventory with Google’s full advertising network. We structure PMax campaigns with clear asset groups aligned to product categories or audience segments, provide high-quality creative assets, and implement audience signals that help Google’s AI find the right users faster.

Tracking and Attribution

Google Shopping attribution requires proper enhanced conversion tracking that connects ad clicks to actual purchases, including cross-device attribution. We implement this using Google Tag Manager and, where appropriate, server-side tagging that improves tracking accuracy in the context of ad blockers and ITP restrictions.

Merchant Centre Account Health

Merchant Centre account health monitoring is part of ongoing management. Product disapprovals, policy violations, and feed errors can silently reduce campaign reach. We monitor and resolve these issues before they affect campaign performance, keeping your feed healthy and your products eligible to serve.

Our Approach to Feed Management

1

Feed Audit

We audit your current product feed against Google's requirements and best practices. Title structures, GTIN coverage, attribute completeness, image quality, and category mapping are all assessed. The findings are almost always consistent: opportunities to improve relevance and serve for more queries.

2

Feed Optimisation

We implement improvements through supplemental feeds or direct feed management. Title restructuring to lead with primary attributes, GTIN enrichment, description optimisation for Shopping relevance, and category refinement. For large catalogues, automated feed management ensures quality is maintained as the catalogue changes.

3

Campaign Structure and Bidding

Campaigns are structured to match your product categories with appropriate bid strategies. Standard Shopping for visibility and control, Performance Max for additional reach. Smart Bidding targets are set realistically with a managed learning phase to avoid budget waste during optimisation.

4

Ongoing Monitoring and Optimisation

Regular monitoring of feed health, product eligibility, conversion tracking accuracy, and campaign performance. Monthly reports connect Shopping spend to revenue. Adjustments are made based on data, with clear rationale communicated at every change.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the minimum budget for Google Shopping campaigns?
For meaningful data and optimisation, we recommend at least £2,000-£3,000 per month in Shopping spend. Below this, the campaign does not generate enough data for Smart Bidding to learn effectively, and the results are harder to interpret and act on reliably.
Is Performance Max better than Standard Shopping?
For most ecommerce accounts, a combination of both is optimal. Standard Shopping provides more control and visibility into what is performing. Performance Max extends reach and typically delivers additional conversion volume. We assess the right mix for each account based on your goals and data volume.
How do we know if our product feed is well-optimised?
We audit feeds regularly and the findings are almost always consistent: title structures that bury the primary product attribute, missing GTINs, incomplete attribute sets, and descriptions copied from on-site listings rather than optimised for Shopping relevance. Addressing these consistently improves campaign performance.
Can you manage Shopping alongside our existing agency's other campaigns?
Yes. We can manage Shopping and PMax specifically while another agency manages Search or other channels. This is a common arrangement. Clear communication about campaign interaction effects is important when multiple agencies are involved, and we manage that proactively.
Do you work with both Shopify and Magento stores?
Yes. Feed management approaches differ between platforms. Shopify has a native Google channel app. Magento requires a feed extension or custom feed generation. We work with both and advise on the right feed management approach for each setup.

Improve Your Shopping Campaign Performance

Contact EXPRE for a free consultation. We will audit your current Shopping campaigns and identify the highest-impact improvement opportunities for your ecommerce business.

Related Services

Shopping Ads work best alongside strong AI SEO, accurate analytics, and conversion-optimised product pages.

See All Services