Google Shopping Ads

Score more sales with Google Shopping Ads.

Put your products front of mind.

Google Shopping Ads.

When people search for a physical product through Google, Google will show them links and images to various online stores with those products. Some of those listings are organic (anyone can list products here for free), and some are ads from businesses that pay for their products to show at the top of a Google search.

How does it work?

Google Shopping Ads sell products to the shoppers who matter most — the ones actively looking for what you offer. Google Shopping Ads appear in the “all” search tab of Google, but more so in the dedicated “shopping” Google tab. This shopping tab is an eCommerce giant and beginning to dominate online marketplaces because it shows specific products from a range of brands, at a range of price points.

Google Shopping Campaigns can be linked to any eCommerce store. It might be your Etsy shop, eBay listings, or products housed on your own dedicated eCommerce website.

With the right techniques, Google Shopping Ads are definitely worthwhile. They provide a new opportunity to help brands gain product visibility as well as being able to sell products directly in search results. Plus, the shopping tab lets shoppers filter products by price, availability, size, brand, seller, condition, rating, and more.

On a practical level, businesses need to import product data into a free Merchant Center account in order for products and ads to appear in Google Shopping. Shopping Ads utilise Merchant Center product data (not keywords!) to decide how and to rank your ads. This means ads are run using pay-per-click style advertising (PPC) — you’ll only pay when they click through to your website.

What are the benefits of Google Shopping Ads.

Google Shopping offers a whole new channel for retailers to sell products.

It’s great for brand awareness and presents an opportunity for eCommerce growth. Buyer behaviour is constantly evolving, and online shopping is becoming the primary way of purchasing items. Google Shopping Ads keep your online products front of mind by showing them to shoppers who are actively looking for what you’re selling.

Since 2019, Google Shopping ad spend has increased by 38%. Product Listing Ads in Google Shopping now account for 65% of all Google Ads clicks, and for as much as 85% of all retail ad clicks. This tells us that, for eCom businesses, Google Shopping Ads are way more effective than text ads.

More benefits

Greater brand visibility & product visibility

With greater impressions comes greater brand visibility. Having your products listed directly in search results (with photos, product ratings, and branding) means more people are able to see your products.

You can have more than one product listing appear for a single search, which means you benefit from broader product visibility. And, your ads can appear in the shopping tab, as well as next to regular text search ads — your product/s will be hard to miss!
Total cost control

Just like with other search PPC platforms, you determine your budget and have 100% of control over your spend. You can stop and start campaigns at any time and adjust budgets however you like (as well as every other aspect of your campaigns!). There’s no minimum budget — although we strongly suggest a minimum ad spend of $500 a month — and there’s no cost to creating a Merchant Center account.
Fast results

Google Shopping Ads can start selling practically immediately — as soon as they go live. And, they’re normally live in under 24 hours (they just need to be approved by Google first). This means businesses can start generating income in just a few days.
Powerful insights

Google’s campaign management tool provides powerful reporting and insightful data. This information lets you measure your ROI, fine-tune campaigns, cancel low-quality audiences, and more. If that all sounds a little intimidating, don’t worry — we do all this for you.

Are Google Shopping Ads right for me?

If you’ve got a product to sell, Google Shopping Ads are for you. Unlike text-based ads, Google Shopping Ads is a dedicated eCommerce-centric campaign management system. In other words, it’s built specifically for retailers — if that’s you, you really can’t afford not to use Google Shopping Ads…

Specifically, Google Shopping Ads are super effective for:

Launching new products or a new range.
Selling limited-time holiday products — e.g. for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, New Year's, and so on.
Sales and promotions, or when you need to clear old product inventory
Driving brand recognition when competing with other businesses.

Any downsides?

All PPC strategies have downsides (don’t let anyone tell you different!), but the downsides of Google Shopping Ads are actually pretty scarce. One of the downsides is that it can’t be used for service-based businesses; you need a physical product. For example, don’t try to sell your consulting services with a Google Shopping Ad, stick to Google Search Ads.

Another disadvantage is that Google Shopping Ads will show your product, but they’ll also show hundreds of the same or similar products from your competitors. As a result, your brand could be overlooked or pushed aside for a cheaper version. The good news is, you’ll still only pay when someone clicks on your ad and not for impression alone.

Got a product to sell? Let’s explore what a Google Shopping campaign could look like for you. Contact us for a free 30-day trial.

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