Integrating Google Merchant Centre into your Pay Per Click campaign

1. @annstanley
Product ad extensions
and product listing ads
Ann Stanley
MD
Anicca Digital

2. @annstanley
Ad extensions, local listings (map)
and new product listing ads
Map (local
Sitelinks
listings)
Product listing
ads
Product ad
extensions

3. Integration with
@annstanley
Google Merchant Centre
Product listing
ads
Product
extensions
with + sign
Shopping results from Merchant Centre

4. @annstanley
Summary of different
shopping results in Google
Keywords =
Samsonite luggage
Organic
shopping results AdWords Map
Product listing
products ad and Places
(Merchant ads
extension listings
Centre)

5. @annstanley
Getting started
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MRGr
GvUD7cU

6. @annstanley
Getting started checklist
 You need an active Google Merchant Centre account, with a
product feed or uploaded file containing your product details
 Link AdWords account in “settings” of your Google Merchant
Centre account
 Link Merchant Centre to each AdWords campaign:
– New campaigns - as you create the campaign (select product
extensions)
– Existing campaigns - in the Ad extension tab (select product
extensions sub-menu)
 Create product extensions or product listing ads for new or
existing campaigns
 Create filters (product extensions) or create targets (product
listing ads), to have specific campaigns for specific product
groupings, types, brands or other attributes

7. @annstanley
Example product feed

8. @annstanley
Product ad extensions

9. @annstanley
Creating a new campaign
with product extensions

10. @annstanley
Adding a product extension campaign
to existing campaigns (with filters)

11. @annstanley
Why use product filters?
 You can use product filters to give you further control over which
products are displayed for each campaign
 Select the campaign where you want to add product filters. Select
the Ad extensions tab
 Select Product extensions from the "View" drop-down menu above
statistics table
 The default is “all products” or you can create a filter
 Select multiple "OR" statements as requirements to determine which
products from your feed are eligible to appear in ads in this
campaign.

12. @annstanley
Product extension results
(results from Ad extension tab vs. Campaign tab)
Average Conversions Conversion
Impressions Clicks CTR position (1 per click) rate
Men's underwear All search 915462 33792 3.69% 2.7 956 2.83%
Product
extensions 101746 5639 5.54% 3.8 161 2.86%
Relative results 11.1% 16.7% 150% 17% 101%
Office equipment All search 624373 21183 3.39% 5 393 1.83%
Product
extensions 137043 3733 2.72% 5.8 110 2.95%
Relative results 21.9% 17.6% 80% 28% 161%
Chiminea Shop All search 412738 7421 1.80% 3.6 87 1.17%
Product
extensions 38961 699 1.79% 6.4 3 0.43%
Relative results 9.4% 9.4% 99% 3% 37%
Online food All search 340897 14588 4.28% 2.4 157 1.08%
Product
extensions 8924 308 3.45% 3.4 7 2.27%
Relative results 2.6% 2.1% 81% 4% 210%

13. @annstanley
What link was clicked on?
(results from Segments on Campaign tab)
Average Conversions Conversion
Impressions Clicks CTR position (1 per click) rate
Men's underwear Headline 915462 33490 3.66% 2.2 947 2.83%
Product plus box 101746 132 0.13% 3.14 2 1.52%
Sitelinks 188315 166 0.09% 1.83 7 4.22%
Mobile click to call 10800 4 0.04% 2.25 0 0.00%
Office equipment Headline 582202 19956 3.43% 4.16 362 1.81%
Product plus box 134335 19 0.01% 4.78
Sitelinks 71130 174 0.24% 2.04 6 3.45%
Mobile click to call 34333 4 0.01% 3.14
Chiminea shop Headline 412738 6846 1.66% 2.83 79 1.15%
Product plus box 38961 44 0.11% 4.34
Sitelinks 22196 98 0.44% 1.99 2 2.04%
Online food Headline 340815 14290 4.19% 2.6 155 1.08%
Product plus box 8924 2 0.02% 3.6 0 0.00%
Sitelinks 131848 289 0.22% 1.8 0 0.00%

14. @annstanley
Product extension –
advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
 2 formats, with a + box or linear (similar to Sitelinks but top 3 positions only)
 + box can appear on side bar as well as top bar
 Links in top bar seem to be the most successful as price and product
details are already displayed without having to click on the + button
 Most companies still don’t use this extension - so it can make you stand out
Disadvantages
x Unpredictable – when and where you will appear (generally <10% of
impressions)
x Most users don’t click on the + button and still click on the headline
x Often get a miss-match of search and product image – unless you use
product filters
x It is not possible to apply separate filters to each campaign if you share a
product extension; this means you need to set product extensions
separately for each campaign

15. @annstanley
Product listing ads

16. @annstanley
What are product listing ads?
 A product listing ad lets you promote specific products alongside
Google search results (so you can have 2 ads displayed)
 You can include a product image, title, price, and your store or brand
name and an offer
 With this format, you can manage your ads and campaign in
AdWords, while you manage your product information through your
Google Merchant Centre account
 Product listing ads are only available on some Google domains (e.g.
.com, .co.uk, .de) and some Search Network sites (Google Image
Search), so the campaign must be opted into the Search network in
order for these ads to run
 You don’t have to select keyphrases, as product listing ads are
presented when a user enters a search query relevant to a product
contained within your Google Merchant Centre account
 The negative keyword feature for product listing ads works in the same
way that it does for typical paid search ads

17. @annstanley
Dominating the results (2 ads displayed
at the same time and different formats)

18. @annstanley
Creating product listing ads
 Link each campaign to your Google Merchant Centre account in the
Ad extensions tab
 The campaign must be opted into Google and the Search Networks in
order for these ads to run
 You can add your product listing ad in various ways:
 To an existing ad group (with keyphrases)
 You can create a new ad group within an existing campaign (with or
without keyphrases)
 You can create a new campaign and ad group just for your product listing
ads (with no keyphrases or normal text ad)
 Go to the Ad tab and select new text ad and “product listing ad”
 You can enter a promotional offer for the ad. This promotional text
could appear with any product, so ensure that it is relevant, e.g.. free
shipping on orders over £50

19. @annstanley
Create a new product listing ad
with offer

20. @annstanley
Understanding product targets
 Wherever you have a product listing ad you will need a
product target
 Targets are set at the campaign level and are defined using
conditions set within your AdWords (Auto target tab) and
attributes in the Google Merchant Centre feed
 You can modify the product target in the Auto target tab
(Note: the default is for “all products”)
 Once you've defined a target group of products, your product
listing ads will be eligible to show for any customer searches
that are related to the products you've specified.
 Note: The product targets feature is similar to the “filters”
functionality used previously for product extensions

21. @annstanley
Creating Product Targets
 Select the campaign where you want to create your target
 Select the Auto targets tab
 Select the ad group where you'd like to create the ad
 Add product target above the statistics table
 Select up to three product attributes and enter their corresponding values
 These values must match the values in your Google Merchant Centre feed
exactly, or your ads won't be served for these targets

22. @annstanley
Modifying your data in Merchant
Centre to improve targeting
adwords_label for targeting specific products
adwords_grouping for targeting groups of products
adwords_publish – use false for low value or poor performing products
you don’t want to display
adwords_redirect – to take user to specific product page

23. @annstanley
Tracking results in Analytics –
use adwords_queryparam in your feed
Title adwords_queryparam adwords_queryparam adwords_queryparam
Fire Logs (Pack of 50) adtype=[adtype] aid=101 kw=[keyword]
Tia Steel Chiminea Gift Set adtype=[adtype] aid=102 kw=[keyword]
 adtype=[adtype] – Analytics data will show either
– pe for product extension
– pla for product listing ad
 You can also append an ad identifier (aid) in a separate
column
 kw=[keyword] – Analytics data will show which keyword
triggered the ad

24. @annstanley
Results for product listing ads
Average Conversions Conversion
Impressions Clicks CTR position (1 per click) rate
Chiminea shop All search results 412738 7421 1.80% 3.6 87 1.17%
Product Listing ads 24919 397 1.59% 2.5 6 1.51%
Product extensions 38961 699 1.79% 6.4 3 0.43%
Sitelinks 22196 2207 9.94% 2.5 39 1.77%
What was clicked
on? Headline 412738 6846 1.66% 2.83 79 1.15%
Product Listing offer 24919 397 1.59% 2.5 6 1.51%
Product plus box 38961 44 0.11% 4.34
Sitelinks 22196 98 0.44% 1.99 2 2.04%
 Only one simple campaign set-up for product listing ads with all
products (no targets), but this has had an above average conversion rate
and average click through rate
 Not many users have clicked on the product extensions so this has not
resulted in many conversions (they tend to click on the headline)
 Sitelinks have converted well (due to top 3 positions and offering a
choice of different products descriptions in the links), however they still
tend to click on the headline

25. @annstanley
Advantages and disadvantages of
product listing ads
Advantages
 The use of an image, brand and an offer will drive a high click through rate and
conversion rate
 Product listing ads are often displayed at the same time as either a normal text ad or
product extension ad, increasing brand awareness and traffic
 You can use separate campaigns and targets to ensure a product listing ad is for a
specific group of products e.g. by type or brand
Disadvantages
x Unpredictable – they may not show very often (less than 10% in example shown)
x You may have to make significant changes to your product database or product feed
to maximise your targeting or Analytics results:
– Set up new AdWords attributes for example adwords_labels, adwords_grouping
– Set up adwords_publish (= false), to stop a low value product being shown in the
AdWords product listings
– Set up adwords_redirect to ensure you go to the correct product page
– Use adwords_queryparam to understand which keyword, ad type or actual ad
generated your traffic in your Analytics data

26. @annstanley
Thank you
Ann Stanley
ann@anicca.co.uk
@annstanley

27. @annstanley