Shopping ads
Shopping ads are Google’s paid product ads, built from your Merchant Center data, that show a photo of the product with its title, price and shop name.
- Google Shopping ads
What it means
A Shopping ad is a product box with a picture and a price, shown among Google’s results. Google’s Merchant Center glossary describes it as a type of ad created from your product data, and says Shopping ads “show users a photo of your product, plus a title, price, shop name and more”.1
Unlike a text ad, it does not start from keywords. Google says Shopping ads “use your existing Merchant Center product data (not keywords) to decide how and where to show your ads”.2
You manage them in Google Ads, through a Shopping or Performance Max campaign. In a Shopping campaign you are charged only when someone clicks, and the ads can appear on the Shopping tab, next to Google Search results and in Google Images.2
Think of it like this
A Shopping ad is a paid shop window on someone else’s high street. The goods on show come straight from your own stock list, and you pay when a passer-by walks through your door.
For example
A shop’s feed row for a kettle holds the title “Brackmore cordless kettle, 1.7 litre, brushed steel”, the price 49.99 GBP and an image link. Its Shopping ad shows that photo, that title and that price, with the shop’s name beside them.2
Why it matters
Not to be confused with
Shopping ads differ from free listings. Both come from the same Merchant Center data, but Shopping ads need an ad campaign and are paid for, while free listings cost nothing.42
Sources
- Google Merchant Center Help. Shopping ads.
- Google Ads Help. About Shopping ads.
- Google Merchant Center Help. Product data specification.
- Google Merchant Center Help. What are marketing methods?.