In 2018, Google announced the launch of Google Shopping in Ukraine. This visual product advertising format is also known as a Shopping campaign.
Its main purpose is to help online stores make their Google Ads campaigns more effective.
A standard search ad relies mainly on well written copy. A Shopping ad includes a product image and price. Customers can see whether they like the item and whether the price suits them before they click. That can attract more relevant interest and reduce accidental visits.
Shopping ads use Google Merchant Center. This is where a store uploads product information and manages the data used by its campaigns.
This is what the format looks like in search:
A little context
Shopping and text ads can support customers at several points on the path to purchase:
- the customer visits the site;
- opens a product page;
- adds the product to the basket;
- completes the purchase;
- some people return later through a branded search, so the ads also support brand awareness.
What you need to advertise with Google Shopping
To get started, you need:
- a Merchant Center account;
- Google and Google Ads accounts;
- a data feed that automatically sends product details, prices, and availability from the online store to the advertising campaign.
With those three pieces in place, the store is ready to move from preparation to a Shopping campaign.
What Shopping ads cost
Shopping ads enter an auction like standard search ads and use cost per click pricing. This means you are charged only when a customer takes one of these actions:
- clicks an ad that leads to a landing page on your website;
- clicks an ad that leads to a Google-hosted local inventory page, used for Local Inventory Ads or local listings.
Your bid helps the ad compete for a higher position than offers from other advertisers.
How Google Shopping works step by step
To set up Shopping ads, you need a Google Ads account and a prepared product feed.
After you create the campaign in Google Ads and give it the feed link, the system selects products that match a customer’s search. Ranking follows an auction model and depends on bids, offer relevance, and the ads’ performance history.
Unlike standard search advertising, Google Shopping can show several product ads from the same advertiser in the search results at once.
In practice, Shopping ads are usually at least twice as effective as text based search ads, although exceptions occur.
When the feed is ready, setting up Shopping ads can be easier than building text ads. You can find other ways to promote an online store in this article.