ADVERTISING
Google Merchant Center: a guide to the product feed and the most common errors
Google Merchant Center is the account where you upload the catalogue that powers Shopping ads, Performance Max and free listings. It works if three…
- WHAT GOOGLE DECIDES
- Where to show the ads, across Search, Shopping, YouTube and Display
- WHAT YOU DECIDE
- Assets, catalogue, audiences, exclusions and goals
- THE TRAP
- Switching it on and letting it run without watching it
IN SHORT
Performance Max shows ads on Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover and Maps with a single campaign, driven by Google's AI. It performs when it gets quality assets, good audience signals and clean conversion goals. Otherwise it spends wherever it's easiest, which is rarely where it pays for you. We set it up so it works towards your goals.
Inside the box
THE LEVERS THAT STAY IN YOUR HANDS
ONE SEARCH, ONE AUCTION
Every time someone searches, Google lines up the bid and the quality of the ad. The first you can raise with more budget. The second you work on, and that is where you win space while paying less.
ACompetitor A
BCompetitor B
YouYou
CCompetitor C
DCompetitor D
ECompetitor E
01
Quality Score
Ad, keyword and landing page all saying the same thing.
02
Match types
Which searches you let in and which you exclude, every week.
03
Real conversions
Tracked calls and quote requests, not clicks.
What’s included
WHAT WE DO,
IN PRACTICE
01
Assets split by product line
Asset groups (copy, images and video) for each product or service line, designed for every channel the campaign can use.
02
Clear signals for the algorithm
Customer lists, website visitors, custom audiences: these are the signals that tell the algorithm who matters to you.
03
A product catalogue in good order
For e-commerce, a clean and complete product catalogue (the feed): it's the part of the campaign that sells the most.
04
Exclusions so you don't pay for the unnecessary
Brand, placements and terms to exclude, so the budget doesn't go on searches you would have won anyway.
05
Measuring what it really adds
Conversions with their value, traffic on your brand kept separate, comparison with standard campaigns. So you know what it brings on top of everything else.
Google Ads’ most powerful format is also its least transparent
Performance Max is the platform’s most advanced format and the one with the fewest visible levers. Google’s AI decides where to show the ads, and you decide what to feed it. The difference between a campaign that performs and one that burns budget lies entirely there: assets, signals, catalogue, goals, exclusions.
We work on each of these elements and measure honestly. We keep traffic on your brand separate, compare with standard campaigns and look at the value of conversions as well as their number. If it brings extra results, we expand it. If it just steals them from the other campaigns, we scale it back.
How we work
HOW TO KEEP HOLD OF THE WHEEL ON AN AUTOMATED CAMPAIGN
STEP 01 OF 04
01
Conversions first
Performance Max optimises for whatever you tell it to optimise for. If the signal is wrong, it heads in the wrong direction with great efficiency.
02
Carefully prepared assets and catalogue
Headlines, descriptions, images and videos are the part that stays in your hands. A tidy product catalogue is worth more than any setting.
03
Splits and exclusions
Asset groups by product line, exclusions on brand and placements. They stop the whole budget ending up wherever it costs least.
04
A weekly review
Search terms, the performance of each group, comparison with Search campaigns. We correct course before the budget notices.
WHAT WE WORK WITH
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Better said up front
WHEN WE ADVISE AGAINST PERFORMANCE MAX
NO
The account is new and has no data
Without a conversion history, the automation has nothing to learn from. Better to start with Search and move to Performance Max later.
NO
The catalogue is small or messy
With few products, or a catalogue full of gaps, standard campaigns give more control and often cost less.
NO
You want to know where every euro goes
You see less here than in Search campaigns. If precise control is essential for you, we'll tell you straight away.
The questions we get asked
THE QUESTIONS WE GET ASKED MOST
What is Performance Max?
It's a type of Google Ads campaign that, with a single budget, shows ads on Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Gmail and Maps. The algorithm decides where and to whom to show them based on the conversion goal you set and the assets you provide.
Does Performance Max replace Search campaigns?
No. It performs better alongside well-built Search campaigns, which cover people searching with clear intent in a controlled way, while Performance Max explores the rest. An account running Performance Max alone usually hides more than it shows.
When is it worth using?
When there's an e-commerce shop with a solid product catalogue, enough conversions for the algorithm to learn from and quality creative assets. For business services with only a few leads a month, it's often better to start with Search and add it later.
We’ve written about it
WHAT WE’VE WRITTEN ABOUT IT
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LET'S LOOK AT
YOUR PERFORMANCE MAX TOGETHER
Half an hour on asset groups, catalogue and exclusions. In most accounts there are two or three things to fix.