Setting up Google Shopping Ads

Google Merchant Center Service has opened a completely new sales channel for Ukrainian advertisers. The idea is simple: a user enters a search query — and immediately sees a photo and price right on the search results page, alongside regular websites. For the seller, this means hot traffic from people who are already looking for a specific product. And it is, by the way, cheaper than classic contextual advertising.

And the numbers speak for themselves. About 70% of online sales for Ukrainian businesses are generated through Google Ads. And 40% to 60% of that volume comes specifically from Google product ads.

The return on investment from Google product campaigns is on average 200% higher than that of standard text campaigns, and the cost is 23% lower. Suppose you spend UAH 10,000 per month on text ads and get a certain number of clicks. By switching to Google Shopping, for the same amount you will attract significantly more buyers who are also already ready to purchase.

What is product advertising?

Google Shopping product ads launched in Ukraine in 2018 — and quickly became the main promotion tool for online stores. Google pulls all the necessary information from a feed — a special file with data about your assortment. Based on the feed, the system itself determines which queries to show specific items for.

Where exactly do product listings appear? Most often — above organic results or in the top right block of search results. There is also a separate “Shopping” tab that users can intentionally go to. But it’s not limited to search: ads are displayed in Google Images, the Display Network, and on partner sites. So the reach is quite wide even without additional settings.

The very idea of Shopping campaigns is borrowed from classic offline stores. A shopper looks at a storefront, chooses what they like, and goes inside. Online, the principle is the same, but with one significant bonus — the storefront adapts to each visitor. For example, one person searches for “Nike Air Max 90 sneakers,” and another searches for “winter leather boots.” Each of them will see on the “storefront” the products that match their query.

How do Google Shopping campaigns work?

In logic, Google Shopping campaigns resemble regular contextual ads, but there are several fundamental differences. The main thing is that you don’t select keywords manually. Instead, it’s enough to register in GMC, upload your feed there, and the system will start showing ads on its own.

What exactly does the user see in each ad:

• product photo;
• price;
• brand or store name;
• direct link to the product page.

In essence, the buyer gets all the key information in a couple of seconds — without needing to click, open web pages, or figure out the catalog. If the product interests them, one click and they are already placing an order.

Here’s a simple example. You sell winter footwear through an online store. Someone enters a search for “buy winter boots” or looks for a specific model — say, “Timberland 6-Inch Premium.” The algorithm analyzes your feed, finds matching items, and creates ads. The user gets a photo of the desired boots with the price in hryvnias, goes to the site, and places an order. You don’t waste time collecting keywords — the system does all the audience targeting work itself.

Advantages of Google Shopping campaigns

1. High conversion. People who click on product cards are already ready to buy. Statistics confirm: the conversion rate of traffic from the “Shopping” tab is 2–3 times higher than from regular contextual advertising. Simply put, each click here is much more likely to result in an actual order.
2. Precise targeting. Google Ads Shopping campaigns work exclusively with a “warm” audience — those already looking for offers similar to yours. The algorithms themselves analyze search queries and select the most relevant items from your assortment. You don’t waste your budget on random visitors.
3. Time savings. No need to manually create thousands of ad messages for each model. Set up automatic feed upload of your assortment — and that’s it. The system generates ads itself. You just need to ensure the feed contains the correct data.
4. Easy scaling. Added 50 new items to your catalog? No additional actions needed in your ad account. Google will automatically pick up the changes from the feed and start showing new items. The only thing to monitor is the accuracy and quality of the information.
5. Favorable cost per click. The cost per click here is 20–50% lower than for similar queries in text contextual advertising. For example, if you paid UAH 8 per click in regular search, the same click in a Shopping campaign might cost UAH 4–6. That’s significant savings, especially with a large assortment.
6. Multichannel sales. If you also do SEO, you get an interesting effect: a buyer sees your product in organic results and then encounters it again in the “Shopping” block. Repeated exposure increases brand trust and encourages a purchase.
7. Wide reach. Ads are shown not only in search. YouTube, Gmail, the Display Network, partner sites — all these are additional touchpoints with potential buyers.
8. Traffic from low-frequency queries. This is perhaps one of the most underestimated advantages. The algorithm finds matches between long-tail queries and your feed. Competition for such phrases is minimal, and so is the cost per click. However, conversion is usually high because the person is looking for something very specific.
9. Detailed analytics. In your ad account, you can see performance for each product, keyword, and placement. Conversions, ROI, cost per acquisition — everything is under control. This allows you to quickly disable what isn’t working and reallocate budget to profitable items.

When are product ads most effective?

Google product ads work in almost any niche, but there are scenarios where they truly shine:

1. Highly competitive niches with expensive clicks. When bids in text ads are skyrocketing, product ads can really save your budget. Users only click on them if the price is right for them. You don’t pay for clicks from those looking for something cheaper or just “browsing.” Every click is already a warm, almost-ready buyer.
2. Online stores with a large assortment. Imagine you have a catalog of 15,000 items — spare parts, electronics, components. Creating text ads for each one manually? Impossible. Meanwhile, automatic algorithms find the product in the feed for a specific query. Moreover, several of your cards might appear in one search result — which significantly increases the chances of a sale.
3. Stores with competitive prices. If your prices are below market average, product ads literally shout that out. A user scrolls through the results, sees three or four offers from different sellers, and of course clicks on the most advantageous one. Add a good rating and quality photo to a low price — and competitors will find it hard to win that customer.
4. Niches where price is the main selection criterion. Home appliances, smartphones, TVs from well-known brands — buyers in these categories usually already know which model they want. They just need to find where it’s cheaper. For example, someone searches for “buy Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.” They aren’t choosing between models — they’re comparing prices across different online stores. A card with an attractive price immediately catches their attention.
5. Stores with dynamic pricing. Frequent sales, currency rate adjustments, seasonal discounts — all this requires quick price updates. In Shopping campaigns, the price is pulled from the feed. Change something in the catalog — it’s immediately updated in the ad. No need to manually correct anything, and buyers always get up-to-date information.

How to set up Google product ads?

The result — the number of impressions, clicks, and ultimately sales — directly depends on how well the Google product ads are set up. To launch a campaign, follow the instructions we have prepared.

Register with Google Merchant Center

This is the service through which you upload information about your store to later use it in Google Shopping. To register, go to https://merchants.google.com/ — you can also access it from the menu of your Google Ads account.

When creating an account, the system will ask you to provide the company name (the user will see exactly this), the online store’s address, and contact information. By the way, if you sell adult products, don’t forget to check the appropriate box — otherwise, you may run into moderation issues.

When all fields are filled, you will receive a confirmation email. Click the link in the email — and your account is activated.

Link your account with Google Ads

Now you need to connect GMC with your ad account. Without this, the data from the feed won’t reach your campaign. Open the “Settings” section, select “Linked accounts,” and find your Google Ads account ID in the list:

Click “Link.” After that, a confirmation notification will appear in your ad account.

Then go to “Business information” and fill in all required fields. At this stage, Google will also want to verify that the site really belongs to you. The fastest way to confirm ownership is through Google Tag Manager. Provide admin-level access to your GTM account, then verify the resource.

If everything goes smoothly, you will get two green checkmarks — site confirmed and accounts linked.

Create a product feed

A feed is essentially a file containing the complete list of products you want to advertise. From it, titles, prices, photos, and other information for generating ads are taken.

The platform supports two formats:

1. Text file. Created in any spreadsheet editor — Excel, Google Sheets. For the latter, there are even ready-made templates, which simplifies things. If you have a small store and are not comfortable with XML, this is the optimal choice.
2. XML file. Requires certain technical skills but is better structured. Editing it later is easier, and the chance of making a mistake is lower.

But there is a third path — automatic feed generation based on the site’s content. For this, you will need to add semantic markup in Schema.org format. The search bot will scan the pages, recognize the attributes, and transfer them to GMC. In your account, when creating a new feed, simply select “Website scan” as the upload method.

Regardless of format, each item in the feed must include the following attributes:

• ID (unique identifier);
• product title;
• description;
• page URL;
• price;
• brand;
• photo;
• availability.

Important: try to fill in additional attributes as well — category, color, size, age group, type. The more detailed the information, the more accurately the algorithm will match relevant queries and the higher its effectiveness will be.

Upload the data feed to Merchant Center

When the file is ready, go to the “Products” page and find the “Feeds” section. Then click the blue plus circle to add a new data feed.

The platform will offer several upload methods:

• Upload a CSV file from your computer. The simplest option — if you already have a ready-made file with all attributes, just upload it manually.
• Upload via URL with auto-update. Provide the link to the file hosted on your server and set the update frequency — for example, once a day or once a week. The data will be pulled automatically.
• Content API. Allows you to send changes in real time. Change a price or stock status — the information updates instantly in Merchant Center. However, setting up such integration will likely require developer assistance.
• Google Sheets. A convenient option if you already maintain a database in a spreadsheet. Connect it — and data syncs with every update.

By the way, for popular CMS platforms — WordPress (WooCommerce), OpenCart, Shopify, and others — there are special plugins that create and update the feed automatically. This eliminates manual work and reduces the risk of errors.

Launch the Shopping campaign

Go to your ad account, open the “Campaigns” section, and click “Create.” Select “Sales” as the goal, and “Shopping” as the campaign type.

The system will prompt you to connect your Merchant Center account. Check that the ID is correct — the quality of product data upload to your ads depends on it.

Next, you need to decide on the campaign type. There are two options:

1. Standard Google Shopping campaign. You manage bids, set budgets, choose strategies. More control, but also more manual work.
2. Smart Shopping campaign. The system automatically sets bids, placements, and formats to achieve your goals. Saves time, but may require a slightly higher budget initially — the algorithm needs a learning period.

After launch, all statistics are available directly in the Google Ads interface: clicks, conversions, CPC, ROI — broken down by each individual product.

Activate filters

Filters are useful when you need to show different products to different audience segments. For example, you have warehouses in Kyiv and Odesa, but their assortments differ. In Kyiv — Adidas sneakers, in Odesa — Nike. It makes sense to show Kyiv residents only what is available in the Kyiv warehouse. Another example: younger audiences prefer bright budget models, while high-income audiences prefer premium ones. Filters allow you to segment impressions accordingly.

To make this work, you need to prepare the feed in advance. Each product is assigned special labels using custom_label attributes. For example:

• custom_label_0 — region or city;
• custom_label_1 — price category (budget, mid-range, premium);
• custom_label_2 — participation in a promotion or sale.

You can use up to five labels — usually more than enough for segmentation. When creating a campaign, select the “with filter” option and set conditions: for example, show products with the “Kyiv” label in custom_label_0 only to users in Kyiv and Kyiv region.

Important: when using filters during Google Ads product ad setup, check the feed especially carefully. If labels are assigned incorrectly, ads may be shown to the wrong audience — which directly wastes your budget. Therefore, before launching your ads, be sure to double-check the data in Google Shopping and ensure that Tag Manager is sending events correctly on your site.

What to consider before ordering Shopping ad setup?

Before ordering Shopping ad setup, check whether your website meets Google’s requirements. Otherwise, your product ads simply won’t pass moderation — no matter how well they are configured.

Here’s what you need to check:

1. SSL certificate. The site must open over HTTPS. This is not just a formality — the certificate encrypts the data that buyers enter when placing an order. Without it, Google will not allow the store to show ads, and buyers are unlikely to trust a resource marked “Not secure” in the address bar.
2. Online payment availability. For Ukrainian online stores, this is mandatory. Integrate one of the popular payment gateways — LiqPay, FONDY, WayForPay, or Portmone. If customers can only submit a request but cannot pay, you will not pass moderation.
3. Delivery across Ukraine. The buyer must be able to specify a precise delivery address — down to house and apartment number. Simply “Nova Poshta, branch #…” may not be sufficient.
4. Contact information. Physical address, phone number, email — all must be present. It is advisable to provide at least two ways to contact you. By the way, many store owners hide contacts somewhere in the footer in small print — it’s better not to do that. Google requires sellers to be open to communication with customers.
5. Service pages. Separate pages with delivery terms, return and exchange policies, and a privacy policy — all are mandatory. Moreover, the information should be easily accessible, not buried deep within the online store.
6. Accuracy of product cards. Title, detailed description, specifications, quality photos — everything must be filled out. Crucial point: information on the site and in the feed must match. If the price in the feed is UAH 1,200, but on the site it’s UAH 1,350, the ad will not be approved. Moderators quickly catch such discrepancies.
7. No prohibited products. Weapons, counterfeit brands, narcotic and psychotropic substances, tickets, e-books, currency — these cannot be advertised. The official list of restrictions can be found here: https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/6150006?hl=en.
8. Working links. Each link from an ad must lead directly to the product page, enabling immediate checkout. No intermediate redirects or placeholder pages.
9. Language of pages. For Ukraine, ads in Ukrainian and Russian are allowed. However, all pages that the links point to must also be in the corresponding language. If the ad is in Ukrainian but the product page is in English, that’s a problem.

Important: don’t rush to launch your ads until you’ve gone through every point. Fixing errors after moderation rejection takes longer and is more difficult than doing everything correctly the first time.

Cost of setting up Shopping campaigns in Ukraine

In addition to the ad budget for clicks, launching a Google Shopping campaign requires paying for the work of a PPC specialist or agency. The exact amount depends on the campaign type:

• By category (from $50). The entire assortment within one category is promoted — for example, “laptops” or “winter jackets.” This is simpler but offers less flexibility: you cannot limit impressions for individual items. Suitable for starting out when you need to launch ads quickly to see how they perform.
• For specific products (from $100). Here the workload is significantly larger. The specialist excludes irrelevant keywords, sets bids based on each product’s margin, details the feed, and designs the structure. Costs more, but the result is typically noticeably better.

The final cost is also influenced by the breadth of the assortment, the need to adjust anything to meet Google’s requirements, the level of competition in the niche, and average auction bids. Plus, don’t forget about the click budget itself — depending on the niche, one click can cost from $0.2 to $1.

• ‍✅ Where are product ads displayed?
  Ads appear at the top of search results in a storefront format. Additionally, ads can be seen in the “Shopping” tab. If you enable the corresponding option in campaign settings, impressions will also run on the Display Network.
• ‍✅ Which businesses are Shopping campaigns suitable for?
  First and foremost — for online stores, especially where a large share of traffic comes from brand and model queries. For example, if you sell Nike sneakers or Samsung smartphones — people search for specific models, and product cards perfectly match their queries. However, this format is not suitable for promoting services, real estate, or wholesale sales.
• ‍✅ Do I need to create a separate ad for each product in Google Shopping?
  No, and this is one of the main conveniences of the format. The system itself creates ads based on the feed — pulling in photos, prices, descriptions. No manual setup for each item is required.
• ✅ Are clicks on product ads more expensive than on text ads?
  Quite the opposite. The cost per click here is typically noticeably lower. At the same time, the traffic is more targeted — the user has already seen the photo and price, so they click consciously. This leads to better conversion rates compared to regular promotion methods.