How to Set Up a Standard Shopping Campaign in Google Ads

If your product feed is already uploaded to Merchant Center, you’re just one step away from showing your products in Google Shopping results.

This is where many beginners get stuck – not because it’s complicated, but because a few important details are easy to miss.

When it comes to running Google Shopping ads, there are actually two main approaches:

• Standard Shopping campaigns
• Feed-only Performance Max campaigns

Both rely on your product feed, but they work quite differently.

In this guide, we’ll focus on Standard Shopping campaigns, since they’re the best starting point if you want to understand how everything works and build a strong foundation.

What You Need Before You Start

Before creating your campaign, make sure everything is ready.

Quick checklist

• Google Ads account (active, no issues)
• Merchant Center account approved
• Product feed uploaded
• Products approved
• Shipping & return info added
• Website verified

If something is missing here, your campaign may not run correctly.

Step 1 – Link Merchant Center to Google Ads

This connection allows Google Ads to use your product data.

In Merchant Center:

1. Go to Settings → Access and services → Apps and services
2. Select Google Ads
3. Enter your Google Ads ID
4. Send request

In Google Ads:

1. Go to Tools → Data manager
2. Approve the request

Once connected, your product feed becomes available in Google Ads.

Step 2 – Create a New Campaign

Inside Google Ads:

1. Click New Campaign
2. Choose goal:
   • Sales
   • Leads
   • Website traffic

   👉 Only these goals support Shopping campaigns

3. Select Shopping

Then choose:

• Your Merchant Center account
• Add campaign name

Step 3 – Budget and Bidding Setup

This is one of the most important parts.

Budget

Start with a realistic daily budget:

• $10-$30/day for testing

Too low → not enough data

Too high → risk of wasted spend early

Bidding

Available options depend on your account.

You may see:

• Maximize Clicks
• Manual CPC
• Target ROAS

In that case: Start with Maximize Clicks

You can switch to smarter strategies later once you have data.

Customer Acquisition (Optional)

You may see an option to focus on new customers.

For now: You can skip this

Campaign Priority

Options:

• Low
• Medium
• High

If you have only one campaign – ignore this.

It’s mainly used in advanced setups with multiple campaigns.

Step 4 – Campaign Settings

Network

In most cases, you’ll only see:

• Search Network

For new campaigns: Turn these OFF

Why?

You want clean data from Shopping first – not mixed traffic.

Location Targeting (Important)

Choose where you want to show ads.

Example:

• Include: United States
• Exclude: regions you don’t ship to

This prevents wasted clicks.

When selecting locations, make sure you choose:

People in or regularly in your targeted locations

Avoid:

• “Presence or interest”

This prevents showing ads to users who are not actually in your target area.

Start / End Dates

• Start immediately
• No end date (unless seasonal campaign)

Step 5 – Ad Group Setup

Create your first ad group.

Example:

All Products

Set your starting CPC bid:

• Around $0.3 – $1 depending on your niche

You can adjust later based on performance.

Step 6 – Product Group Structure

After campaign creation, go to:

Product groups

By default, everything is under:

All products

Better approach

Split your products into groups:

Running Shoes
Casual Shoes
Accessories

You can segment by:

• Category
• Brand
• Product type
• Custom labels

This helps you:

• Control bids
• Analyze performance
• Optimize faster

Step 7 – Add Negative Keywords

This step is often skipped – but it’s very important.

Example:

If you sell premium shoes, exclude:

• cheap
• free
• discount

Negative keywords prevent irrelevant clicks.

Best Practices (Real Experience)

Keep Your Feed Updated

Your feed should always reflect:

• Correct prices
• Stock availability

Best option:

👉 automatic updates (Content API or scheduled fetch)

Use Location Targeting Properly

Don’t show ads in places where:

• You don’t deliver
• You can’t sell

Segment by Product Value

Not all products should have the same bids.

Example:

• Low price → lower bids
• High price → higher bids

Focus on profitability, not just clicks.

Don’t Rush Into Automation

Start simple:

• Launch campaign
• Collect data
• Then optimize

What Happens After Launch?

Once your campaign is live:

• Products start appearing in Shopping results
• Google begins collecting data
• You can start optimizing

Give it 5-10 days before making major changes

Final Thoughts

Setting up a Shopping campaign is straightforward once you understand the flow.

The most important part is not just launching – but setting things up correctly from the beginning:

• Proper connection
• Smart bidding choice
• Clean structure
• Accurate targeting

FAQ

If you get these right, your campaigns will be much easier to scale later.

How do Google Shopping Product Listing Ads work?

Google Shopping ads work by using your product feed from Merchant Center. Google reads your product data (title, price, attributes) and matches it to user searches. When someone clicks your product, they are taken to your website to complete the purchase.

Are Google Shopping ads worth it?

For most eCommerce businesses, yes. They attract users who are already searching for specific products, which often results in higher intent traffic and better conversion rates.

Where do Google Shopping ads appear?

They typically appear at the top of Google search results and within the Shopping tab. Depending on campaign type, they can also show across other Google platforms like YouTube or Gmail.

Are Google Shopping ads free?

Google offers both free and paid options. - Free listings allow your products to appear in the Shopping tab at no cost - Paid Shopping ads use a cost-per-click (CPC) model, where you pay when someone clicks your product