From 1st September 2014 any Google Products Ads will be migrated automatically to Google Shopping ads.
Many agencies have been trialling the shopping ads in beta form for many months, gaining experience in how best used the new features of Google shopping. ExtraDigital have been gradually moving some campaigns for many months, gradually updating feeds and AdGroups to utilise the new features.
Similarities between Google Shopping and Product Listing Ads.
Both of these display products from a data feed containing a detailed inventory of products with prices and other information. The ads displayed depend on product ad groups within AdWords, and these select products from the data feed based on data attributes.
Both Google Shopping and Product Listing ads make use of features such as device targeting (mobile can be separate), geo-targeting and day parting.
Differences between Google Shopping and Product Listing Ads.
There are two very important differences between Google Shopping and Product Listing Ads. Firstly Google Shopping has a different method of creating AdGroups to Product Listing Ads. Secondly there is a different method of identifying product attributes from the product data feed.
The multiple AdGroups within Google Shopping enables advertisers to group products in multiple ways to suit the market, and data attributes can overlap. A key aspect of this advertising is planning the product group structure. Hierarchical structures can be used with Google Shopping. Businesses with existing PLA campaigns can use this data along with analytics data to ensure the best product grouping is obtained.
Once the structure of the Google shopping campaign is established it is best practise to include custom labels within the data feed. Care is needed here as there are limits to how many – and these have a significant impact on the future advertising options.
ExtraDigital think that Google Shopping offers a huge benefit for many online shops who are willing to invest the time in careful PPC management. The businesses who may see a worse performance are those who fail to put in the effort to segment the campaigns and setup custom labels with the data feeds.
ExtraDigital provide professional PPC management services.
