Last year Google began testing new shopping campaigns within AdWords with a limited set of advertisers. The aim of this test was to try and streamline the sometimes difficult task of Product Listing Ad (PLA) management.
After the three-month trial period, Google is now rolling out the new shopping campaigns to all users globally.
The new Google Shopping campaigns now give users access to inventory and product feed information directly in AdWords. Google has added the ability to bulk edit product groups. New API support and a bid simulator will be coming soon too.
It’s important to note that with this change, advertisers will need to approach their PLA campaigns differently. This is an important change in how Product Listing Ads are now managed, however, guidance should be sought to avoid any mistakes.
MEC Thoughts
The new campaigns present a great opportunity to not only enhance PLA performance but to grow coverage. While we love PLA campaigns at MEC, optimisation proved frustrating, not only were you unable to see your ad rank, there was no way of determining your market share as impression share data was unavailable. The addition of these two metrics alone will have huge implications on performance and our bidding strategy.
Despite our giddiness at the prospect of shopping campaigns, as with any new release from Google, we will take a cautious approach to ensure we provide the best possible results for our clients.