keywords / segments of shopping ads

Ask Me Anything Q&A Googleshoppingamarepo

Topic summary

A user seeks guidance on optimizing Google Shopping ads, specifically regarding targeting segments and campaign best practices.

Main Questions:

  • How to balance targeting precision versus cost, as narrowing segments increases expenses but broad targeting wastes budget on irrelevant audiences
  • Whether adding many keywords/segments is beneficial
  • What rules define a successful Shopping campaign

Key Response Points:

  • For Performance Max campaigns, search themes expand reach but also increase costs—beneficial for brand owners seeking broader exposure
  • No universal campaign rules exist; strategy depends on business type and goals
  • Brand owners should use standard Shopping campaigns for branded terms while excluding brands in Performance Max (prevents over-focus on existing brand searches), plus display/text ads for audience engagement
  • Resellers should avoid generic keywords and focus exclusively on branded search terms to maximize profit margins

Status: Advice provided but discussion remains open for further clarification on specific campaign scenarios.

Summarized with AI on October 31. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

We have below enquiries towards shopping ads.

  1. target segments/topic/keywords setting
    As advised by the google ads specialist, the cost of placing shopping ads will be much higher when we tried narrow down the right segment. However, it is also quite non-efficient to push the shopping ads to irrelevant segment. Would you please advise how to balance the segments?
    Is it good to enter as many as we can for the keywords/target segments.

2)are there any rules must need to follow for a good shopping ads campaign?

2

Hello Healthdynamic, thank you for your question in the FeedArmy AMA Event.

Are you talking about search themes in Performance Max? If yes, search themes are for text advertising. And adding many search themes opens up more targeting. Yes, this can be good, but it can also increase your costs. It’s good if you are a brand owner, and you are using Performance max, and add search themes to expand your reach, as well as targeting interest (audience signals).

A good shopping campaign depends on who you are and what your goals are. There is no 1 rule that fits all.

For example, if you are a brand owner, you will want to use a standard shopping campaign for brand targeting and exclude the brands in performance max.

This is because Google will be too focused on your branded terms instead of finding new sales.

Then setup display ads and text ads for relevant audiences and keywords so that you can keep engaging with new potential clients.

If for example you are a reseller of someone elses brand, then avoid targeting generic search terms, and even relevant search terms. If you setup your campaigns just to focus on branded terms, will allow you to have high profits.