Ecommerce ad accounts live and die in places the ad interface barely shows: the product feed, the margin sheet, and the split between brand and non-brand traffic. Reports that talk only about ROAS are skipping the parts that decide it.
Whether you run ads in-house or hire an ecommerce PPC agency, these are the mechanics that determine whether Shopping ads pay their way.
The feed is the campaign
Shopping ads have no keywords. Google matches searches against product titles, descriptions, and attributes in your feed, so the feed is the targeting.
- Titles lead with what people search: brand, product type, and the attribute that matters (size, material, model). Internal SKU names waste the most valuable characters.
- Correct identifiers and categories. Missing GTINs and lazy categorization cost impressions silently.
- Price and availability sync tightly. Mismatches between feed and site cause disapprovals and erode account trust.
- Margin data attached to products, so campaigns can be grouped and bid by profitability rather than alphabetically.
Set ROAS targets from margin, not habit
A 400 percent ROAS target is meaningless without margin context. A store at 70 percent gross margin can profit where a discounter bleeds. Work backward per category: gross margin minus fulfillment and payment costs gives the break-even ROAS. Set targets by category above that line, not one blanket number copied from a blog post.
Split brand from non-brand
Searches for your own brand convert at multiples of generic searches. Mixed together, brand traffic flatters the account: blended ROAS looks great while generic campaigns quietly lose money. Separate them and judge each on its own job. Brand campaigns defend and convert demand you already earned. Non-brand campaigns buy new customers and should be judged closer to break-even with lifetime value in mind.
Performance Max, with guardrails
Performance Max automates targeting and placement, and it can work well. It is also a black box that will happily spend on remarketing and brand searches and call the result success. Guardrails: exclude brand terms where the setup allows, watch the share of genuinely new customers, feed it accurate conversion values, and keep a standard Shopping campaign running as a control when you test it.
What to expect from an agency
- The ad account belongs to you, with the agency added as a manager. Walking away must always be possible.
- Reporting in revenue and margin terms, not clicks and impressions.
- Feed work included as part of the job, not sold back to you as an add-on.
- A testing plan that changes one variable at a time and says in advance how success will be measured.
We run Shopping and Performance Max campaigns for stores on Shopify, WooCommerce, and OpenCart, with feed work treated as part of the job. Get a Custom Quote and include your store link.