Search ads run on keywords. Google Shopping and Performance Max do not. Google reads your product feed and decides which searches each product is relevant for, which is why two stores selling the same item can pay very different prices for the same click.
For most Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento stores, the feed is created automatically by an app, plugin or extension, then left alone. That is usually where the easiest wins are.
Start with titles
The title is the strongest signal in the feed. Most store titles are written for a product page, where the customer already knows what they are looking at, not for a search results page.
A good Shopping title puts the words people search for first:
- Brand, if people search for it.
- Product type, in the words customers use, not your internal name.
- Key attributes, such as colour, size, material, pack size or model.
"Aurora" tells a shopper nothing. "Aurora Soy Wax Candle, Fig and Cedar, 300g" matches the searches you want.
Fill in the attributes
Google's product data specification lists the attributes it expects, and some are required for certain products. Missing ones cost you in two ways: products get disapproved or limited, and Google has less to match against.
Check these first:
- GTIN (barcode) for branded products that have one.
- Brand, colour, size, gender and age group for clothing and footwear.
- Item group ID so variants are grouped properly.
- Product type and Google product category so products are classified correctly.
Clear disapprovals and warnings
Open Merchant Center and look at product status. Common causes are missing identifiers, price or availability that does not match the landing page, image problems and policy issues. Every disapproved product is a product that cannot sell through Shopping at all.
Use custom labels
Custom labels are five spare fields in your feed that only you see. They let you organise campaigns by anything that matters to your business, for example:
- Margin band, so high-margin products get more budget.
- Best sellers, new lines and clearance.
- Season or price band.
Without them, a campaign treats a £4 accessory and a £400 hero product the same.
Make the fixes stick
If you change titles in Merchant Center but your store sync overwrites them each night, the work disappears. Fix data at the source where you can, or use a supplemental feed or attribute rules in Merchant Center to apply changes on top of the main feed.
What to do this week
- Export your feed and sort by revenue. Rewrite the titles of your top 50 products.
- Fix every disapproved product, starting with the best sellers.
- Add a margin band as a custom label.
- Split Shopping or Performance Max by that label and watch cost per sale for a month.
Ask us for a free Shopping feed audit. We will show you which fixes would make the biggest difference to your store.