The rapidly growing competition in e-commerce means that simply having a well-designed online store has long since ceased to be sufficient. Consumers compare prices in real time, expect immediate availability and fast delivery, and their shopping journeys are multi-channel, stretched, and often interrupted. In this environment, paid visibility in search and the Google media ecosystem becomes a key factor in deciding whether a user will land on your store or a competitor's. Google Ads, thanks to its combination of search intent data, advanced targeting capabilities, and extensive advertising formats, remains one of the most scalable and measurable tools for generating online sales.

Competition and the cost of customer acquisition

The cost-per-click (CPC) in commercial segments is rising, and margins in e-commerce are often tight. Therefore, campaign effectiveness cannot be measured solely by traffic; profitability is key. Advertisers must closely align their media strategy with business goals: increasing revenue, maintaining a target return on ad spend (ROAS), reducing cost per order acquisition (CPA), or scaling volume while maintaining a minimal margin. This shifts the focus from "buying clicks" to "investing in transactions and customer lifetime value.".

Google Ads as a Flexible Growth Engine

One of the biggest advantages of Google Ads over many other paid channels is its ability to reach users at various stages of the purchase journey – from initial contact with an offer to finalizing the transaction and repeat purchases. Shopping campaigns present real offers along with pricing and availability, making them the foundation of sales in most stores. Search campaigns capture users with high purchase intent directly in Google results. Remarketing – standard, dynamic, and based on search user lists (RLSA) – helps recover abandoned carts and remind users of previously viewed products. Performance Max combines automation with broad reach, leveraging conversion signals to optimize across multiple resources simultaneously. Display and YouTube campaigns support brand recognition, build demand, and expand audiences, which can then be converted into conversions in higher-intent channels.

The importance of data, feed, and attribution

The effectiveness of e-commerce campaigns in Google Ads depends largely on the quality of the input data. A properly configured and constantly updated product feed in Google Merchant Center determines whether your products appear in shopping results at all and how they are ranked. Titles, descriptions, categories, availability attributes, and prices must be consistent and aligned with user intent. Conversion tracking is equally important – including e-commerce transactions, cart values, returns, and supporting events (e.g., adding to cart, account registration). Data integration between Google Ads and GA4 allows for better understanding of multi-channel funnels, analyzing assisted conversions, and adapting attribution models to specific industry needs. Without reliable measurement, it's difficult to assess ROAS, scale automated campaigns, or test new bidding strategies.

Matching the campaign type to the store's development stage

We recommend a different set of activities for a young store just building its database and recognition, compared to a mature e-commerce business with thousands of products, seasonality, and automation budgets. Initially, the priority is often to quickly appear in shopping results and generate initial sales from product campaigns and precisely tailored search campaigns. In subsequent stages, the role of audience segmentation, remarketing, creative testing, and scaling using solutions like Performance Max increases. Strong brands additionally invest in top-of-funnel campaigns: display, video, awareness campaigns, and personalized communication for returning customers.

What you will find in this article

In the following sections, I'll walk you through the key types of Google Ads e-commerce campaigns, show you how to prepare and optimize your product feed, create effective text ads and remarketing lists, work with Performance Max and support campaigns, and measure results using the right metrics. We'll also discuss the most common mistakes that burn through budgets and present case studies demonstrating how a well-designed media strategy can significantly increase sales and profitability for your online store. This will allow you to not only launch campaigns but also manage them consciously—scaling what works and eliminating what doesn't.

Types of Google Ads e-commerce campaigns

Choosing the right Google Ads campaign type is fundamental to the effectiveness of your online store's advertising efforts. Each campaign format addresses different user needs and works well at different stages of the purchasing journey. Understanding the capabilities and limitations of individual campaigns allows you to precisely tailor your media strategy to your store's sales and marketing goals. Below, we discuss the main Google Ads campaign types used in e-commerce, along with their key features.

Shopping campaigns (Google Shopping)

Shopping campaigns, also known as Google Shopping Ads, are the basic and most effective type of campaign for online stores. Ads appear as cards with the product name, image, price, and retailer name, either directly above the search results or in the Shopping tab.

Google Shopping relies on data from the product feed uploaded to Google Merchant Center, not keywords. The system automatically matches products to user queries by analyzing titles, descriptions, categories, and other attributes.

Thanks to high user purchase intent and attractive visuals, Shopping campaigns typically achieve the highest conversion rate (CVR) of all Google Ads campaign types. However, they require a carefully crafted product feed and regular optimization.

Search Network Campaigns (Search Ads)

Text ads in search engines (Search Ads) allow you to reach users who enter specific search queries related to a store's offerings. These campaigns are based on keywords that the advertiser selects, matching them to user intent.

Search Ads are ideal for situations where users are searching for a specific product, brand, or solution. A well-optimized campaign can effectively compete with the biggest players in the industry, especially in niche market segments. The quality of the ad content, account structure, and ad alignment with landing pages are key here.

Remarketing campaigns (including RLSA)

Remarketing is a strategy that allows you to reach users who have already visited a store but haven't made a purchase. It can take various forms, from standard banner campaigns on the Display Network (Display) to more advanced dynamic remarketing, which displays the exact products users have previously viewed.

A special type are remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA), which allow you to modify bids, ad content or exclusions for people who have previously visited the site.

Remarketing is not only a way to recover abandoned shopping carts, but also an effective tool for increasing the frequency of contact with the brand and closing the sale for customers who are hesitant about their purchasing decision.

Performance Max Campaigns

Performance Max is a relatively new, automated campaign type that leverages Google's artificial intelligence to maximize conversions based on pre-defined goals. The campaign runs across all Google properties simultaneously: Search, Display Network, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and Shopping.

The advertiser provides a set of resources (headlines, descriptions, graphics, videos, product feed) and the algorithms independently test combinations and targeting to find the most effective combinations.

Performance Max can be extremely effective, especially with large product catalogs and well-configured conversion tracking. However, it requires trust in automation and is more difficult to analyze than traditional campaigns.

Display Ads Campaigns

Display campaigns are image ads displayed on websites within the Google Partner Network. While they typically don't convert as well as search campaigns, they play an important role in building brand awareness, expanding reach, and supporting the sales funnel.

Display Ads can be targeted to specific interests, purchasing behaviors, demographics, and even remarketing lists. Well-designed graphics and animations can effectively attract attention and enhance brand recall.

YouTube Campaigns (Video Ads)

YouTube is the world's second-largest search engine and a powerful advertising medium. Video campaigns allow you to build awareness, educate customers, and introduce new products to the market. Well-planned video content can influence purchasing decisions, especially in industries where emotions, lifestyle, and opinions play a significant role (e.g., fashion, cosmetics, electronics).

YouTube campaigns can be targeted to specific audiences, purchase intent, interests, and remarketing data. Integration with Performance Max also allows you to leverage video content as a conversion-boosting resource across the entire Google Ads ecosystem.

Product campaigns (Google Shopping) – the foundation of sales

For most online stores, Shopping campaigns, known as Google Shopping Ads , are the primary and most effective sales channel in Google Ads. Their uniqueness lies in the fact that they present a store's offerings visually—including a product image, name, price, store name, and availability information. These ads appear in both Google Search and the "Shopping" tab, as well as within Performance Max campaigns. Proper configuration and optimization of Shopping campaigns directly translates into sales results.

How Shopping Campaigns Work

Unlike traditional text search ads, Google Shopping doesn't rely on manually added keywords. Instead, the system automatically matches products to user queries based on information contained in the product feed submitted to Google Merchant Center.

Google analyzes data such as the product title, description, category, brand, GTIN and MPN, as well as price and availability. This data is then used to match products to search queries and determine the order in which they appear. This means that the quality and structure of the product feed directly impacts campaign performance.

The role of the product feed (Google Merchant Center)

A product feed is the central element of shopping campaigns. It's a file (e.g., XML or CSV) containing detailed information about all products available in an online store. This file is sent to Google Merchant Center , which acts as an intermediary between the online store and the Google Ads platform.

For a shopping campaign to work properly, it is necessary to:

• Complete all required product attributes (e.g. ID, title, description, link, price, availability, Google category).

• Keeping data current – ​​discontinued or unavailable products should be excluded immediately.

• Complying with Google's policies regarding Shopping ads (e.g., no promotion of counterfeits, unclear pricing, mismatches between feed and landing page).

Failure to take care of these issues will result in rejection of your products or even suspension of your Merchant Center account.

Optimization Best Practices: Titles, Images, Prices, Attributes

For a product campaign to be effective, it is crucial not only to provide data, but also to optimize for users and the Google algorithm.

Product titles should be precise, containing important keywords and key product features. Example:

• Instead of “Sports shoes” – “Nike Air Zoom Pegasus 40 women’s running shoes gray 38”.

Product photos must be high-quality, well-lit, uncluttered, and have a neutral background. Google requires that the photo show the product itself, without overlays of text, logos, or promotions.

Prices should be competitive and consistent with what appears on the landing page. Price fluctuations without feed updates will result in product rejection.

Additional attributes , such as GTIN (EAN code), brand, or variant identifiers (e.g. size, color), help Google better understand the product and match it to relevant queries.

Regular analysis of the effectiveness of individual products (e.g. according to ROAS, CTR, conversion rate) allows the creation of segments: profitable, low-margin, seasonal products, which can be treated differently in the bidding strategy.

Bidding Strategies and ROAS

Shopping campaigns can use a variety of bidding strategies, from manual cost-per-click (CPC) bidding, to automatic bidding that maximizes conversion value, to advanced strategies like Target ROAS .

Target ROAS allows Google's algorithm to optimize your campaign to achieve a targeted return on your advertising investment. For example, if you want to generate 5 PLN in revenue for every 1 PLN invested in advertising, you'd set a target ROAS of 500%. The more data you provide the system with on conversions and transaction values, the better this model will perform.

In practice, it is worth testing different strategies:

• For new products or seasonal bestsellers: rates that maximize conversions.

• For high-margin products: target ROAS.

• For less profitable products or large catalogs: split into low-budget campaigns with automatic bidding.

Search Ads – Catching the Customer at the End of the Funnel

Text ads in search engines, or Search Ads , are one of the most precise and direct types of Google Ads campaigns. Their main advantage is the ability to reach users precisely when they're searching for a specific product, service, or solution. In e-commerce, Search Network campaigns are ideal at the end of the shopping funnel , when customers are close to making a purchase decision. Properly configured Search Ads campaigns can effectively complement Shopping campaigns and increase overall store conversions.

Selecting keywords with purchasing intent

The foundation of an effective search campaign is the right keyword selection . In the context of e-commerce, keywords with clear purchasing intent are crucial, such as:

• "buy women's running shoes 38"

• "Lenovo Legion laptop promotion"

• "iPhone 13 Pro Max online store"

These types of queries indicate that the user is ready to make a purchase or is about to. It's worth using exact and phrase matches to limit impressions to generic phrases that incur costs but don't result in sales.

In practice, it is worth building a campaign based on:

• name of the product brand and model,

• phrases with attributes (color, size, capacity),

• transactional inquiries (“free delivery”, “installments”, “best price”).

Regular analysis of search terms allows you to identify new, valuable phrases and eliminate those that do not convert.

Structure of campaigns and ad groups

The right structure for your Google Ads account allows you to better manage your campaign, control your budget, and more precisely match your ad content to user queries.

Best practices for building Search campaigns for e-commerce include:

• Grouping products by category, type, or intent – ​​e.g., separate ad groups for “Lenovo laptops” and “Asus laptops.”

• Creating a uniform campaign structure – allows for easier data analysis and optimization.

• Separating campaigns for your own brands vs. competitor brands – this allows you to tailor your bids and messages to different goals (e.g. defensive or market capture).

A well-organized campaign makes it easier to test various elements (e.g. ad content) and control results and costs.

Creating effective headlines and descriptions

Ad content is the first (and often only) contact a user has with your brand on Google. Therefore, Search Ads copywriting must be specific, compelling, and relevant to the query.

An effective e-commerce text ad should include:

• Headlines with product name, brand, attribute and USP (e.g. "Adidas Ultraboost Shoes – Free Shipping"),

• descriptions highlighting benefits, promotions, availability, payment methods (“Buy today, pick up tomorrow | 30 days to return”),

• calls to action (CTA) – “Check the offer”, “Buy now”, “Order online”.

It is worth creating at least 3-4 versions of ads in one group so that the system can test and automatically select the best-performing combinations.

Using ad extensions

Extensions are elements that increase the visibility and attractiveness of ads, and allow you to provide more information without increasing the cost per click.

In e-commerce campaigns, it is worth using:

• extensions of links to subpages (sitelinks) – e.g. "News", "Promotions", "Contact", "About us",

• callout extensions – highlight the advantages of the store (“Free delivery”, “Polish warehouse”, “100% original products”),

• Price extensions – present product category prices directly in the ad,

• promotion extensions – they provide information about current discounts, discount codes or seasonal promotions.

Well-configured extensions can increase the CTR of an ad by up to several percent, improving its effectiveness and visibility compared to the competition.

Remarketing – recover abandoned carts

In e-commerce, conversion often doesn't occur on a user's first visit. Customers compare prices, read reviews, analyze technical details, and sometimes simply abandon the purchasing process. Remarketing is one of the most effective tools for re-engaging these users and convincing them to complete a transaction. Using data on previous interactions, we can precisely target ads to people who have already shown interest in our offerings—viewed products, added them to the cart, and even proceeded to checkout, but didn't purchase. A properly planned remarketing campaign is not only a chance to recoup lost sales but also a way to increase customer lifetime value (LTV).

Types of remarketing: standard vs dynamic

Google Ads offers several types of remarketing. The most popular are:

Standard remarketing involves displaying general display ads to users who have previously visited your store. Ads can target the home page, promotions section, or a specific product category. This is a good solution for smaller stores or awareness campaigns.

Dynamic remarketing is a much more advanced and effective form of remarketing. Users are shown specific products they have previously viewed or added to their cart. Ads are automatically generated based on data from the product feed in Merchant Center. Dynamic remarketing allows for personalized messaging and significantly higher conversion rates.

Additionally, remarketing can be carried out in various channels:

• in the Google Display Network (Display) – as banners and graphics,

• on YouTube – as video or display ads,

• in the search network – using remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA).

Creating effective remarketing lists

The key to effective remarketing is audience segmentation . Google Ads and Google Analytics 4 allow you to create remarketing lists based on specific user behavior.

The most commonly used segments are:

• users who visited the product page but did not proceed further,

• people who added products to the cart but did not place an order,

• customers who have made a purchase – they can be encouraged to make a complementary or repeat purchase,

• users who spent a certain amount of time on the website or performed a certain number of interactions (so-called engaged segment).

The more precise the list, the more effective the advertising messages can be. For example, we might send a different message to someone who has only viewed the product, and a different message to someone who was about to pay.

Creations that attract you back

A remarketing campaign requires carefully designed advertising creatives. In standard remarketing, these are most often graphic banners or responsive display ads. In dynamic remarketing, the system automatically generates ads from linked product resources, but it's still important to pay attention to context and communication.

Effective remarketing ads include:

• call to action (CTA) – “Finish your shopping”, “Your basket is waiting”, “Buy now with a discount”,

• element of urgency – “Last pieces”, “Offer valid only today”,

• price motivation – discount, free delivery, free gift with order,

• personalization – reference to specific categories or products.

It is also worth testing different formats (graphics, animation, video) and display locations (e.g. thematic websites, YouTube, mobile applications).

Duration and frequency of views

One of the key remarketing parameters is the duration of list membership and the frequency of ad displays .

The optimal membership length depends on the purchasing cycle of the product:

• for quick purchasing decisions (e.g. clothing, cosmetics): 3–7 days,

• for more expensive products (e.g. electronics, furniture): 14–30 days or more.

Too long a period can lead to "advertising fatigue", while too short a period can result in a missed opportunity to close the sale.

In Google Ads, you can set frequency caps (frequency capping), which prevent the same ads from being shown repeatedly to the same users. This is especially important for maintaining a positive brand image and avoiding audience annoyance.

Performance Max – automation in the service of sales

Performance Max (PMax) is one of the newest and most comprehensive campaign types in Google Ads, designed to maximize sales results based on artificial intelligence. This campaign combines all available Google advertising channels—search, YouTube, the Display Network (Display), Gmail, Google Maps, and Shopping—and leverages conversion and user intent data for dynamic optimization. In e-commerce, Performance Max is ideal for scaling sales , especially when the store has a large product range and well-configured conversion tracking.

How Performance Max works

Unlike traditional campaigns, with Performance Max, advertisers don't manually set keywords or placements . Instead, they provide a set of advertising assets (text, images, videos, product feed), and the Google system decides where, when, and to whom to show the appropriate ad.

The algorithm uses machine learning to test various combinations of assets and signals to achieve the highest possible conversion rate or ROAS. Optimization occurs in real time and spans all available advertising spaces in the Google ecosystem.

Thanks to this, the Performance Max campaign allows you to reach both new users and those who have already had contact with the store (e.g. visited the website, watched a YouTube video or went to the cart).

What to prepare before launching

For a Performance Max campaign to run effectively, proper resource and data preparation is crucial . Without this, the system will not be able to fully utilize its potential.

Essential elements:

• Well-configured conversion tracking – preferably with dynamic transaction value (e.g. from GA4 or Enhanced Conversions).

• Ad inventory sets – including headlines, descriptions, images, logos, videos (or none, but then Google will generate them automatically).

• Google Merchant Center account – with an active and up-to-date product feed.

• Signaling campaign goals – e.g. increasing the number of purchases, achieving a specific ROAS, increasing the basket value.

It's also worth defining audience signals —data about user groups that are more likely to convert. These could include a remarketing list, a Google Analytics segment, or audiences with specific interests.

Advantages and limitations of automation

Performance Max advantages:

• Full automation and time savings – the system automatically selects rates, locations, creatives and target groups.

• Multichannel – one campaign covers the entire Google ecosystem, allowing you to reach users at different points in their shopping journey.

• Conversion Optimization or ROAS – The algorithm learns which combinations deliver the best results and automatically scales the budget.

• Product Feed Collaboration – Performance Max can work like an enhanced product campaign with additional ad formats.

Performance Max Limitations:

• Limited control – no insight into details such as keywords, broadcast locations or precise statistics per channel.

• High data requirements – the campaign needs time and enough conversions to learn and operate effectively.

• Risk of traffic cannibalization – PMax may “take over” some traffic from other campaigns (e.g. Search or Shopping) if it is not properly separated.

How to Get the Most Out of Performance Max in E-Commerce

To ensure the PMax campaign brings the best possible results in your online store, it is worth:

• Separate campaigns by product groups (e.g. by margin, seasonality or category), instead of creating one general campaign for the entire product range.

• Monitor your results through Google Ads and GA4 , looking at metrics like ROAS, assisted conversions, and multi-channel funnels.

• Regularly update your ad inventory – test new headlines, images, videos, and offers to avoid “ad fatigue.”

• Use a budget that is tailored to the basket value and number of products – too low a budget will limit the algorithm’s learning capabilities.

Supporting Campaigns – Display and YouTube

While Google Ads sales campaigns typically focus on conversions, a complete e-commerce strategy cannot ignore supporting campaigns , such as Display Network ads and YouTube ads. Their primary goal is to build brand awareness , expand reach, and reach new audiences earlier in the purchasing funnel. These campaigns are responsible for initial brand contact, inspiration, and creating a purchase need, which can later be followed up with Search, Shopping, or Performance Max campaigns.

Building brand awareness and sales-supporting traffic

Display and YouTube campaigns are ideal tools for top-of-funnel activities , meaning they're at the beginning of the customer journey. Their broad reach and attractive graphic or video formats allow them to increase store recognition, spark interest in your offerings, and generate traffic that can later be remarketed.

For online stores, this means the ability to:

• reaching potential customers before they start actively looking for a product,

• building an expert position in a given category (e.g. guide and educational campaigns),

• increasing the number of users in the remarketing database,

• strengthening the image and trust in the brand (the so-called halo effect).

Targeting audiences based on intent and interests

Both Display and YouTube campaigns offer extensive targeting options that allow you to precisely reach potential customers based on their online behavior, interests, and purchasing intent .

Available targeting methods include:

• Custom segments based on purchase intent (Custom Intent) – allow you to target ads to users who entered specific phrases in a search engine or visited competitor websites.

• Interests and demographics – e.g., people interested in technology, fashion, travel, a certain age or location.

• First-party data – e.g. email lists, CRM data, Google account users logged in to the store website.

• Lookalike audiences – people similar to current customers.

The right combination of targeting methods increases the relevance of your ads and helps minimize wasted budget on accidental clicks.

Ad formats: banners, videos, animations

Google Ads support campaigns rely on attractive and engaging advertising formats. It's important to tailor the ad type to the channel and campaign objective.

Display Ads:

• Responsive Display Ads (RDAs) automatically adjust to the available ad space. Requires a set of headlines, descriptions, graphics, and logos.

• Static and animated banners (HTML5) – allow for greater control over appearance and animation. Often used in branding campaigns.

• CTA ads directing to selected categories or landing pages – make it easier for users to quickly navigate to the appropriate section of the store.

YouTube Ads (Video Ads):

• In-stream (skippable and non-skippable) – displayed before, during, or after videos. Perfect for building awareness or showcasing a product.

• Bumper Ads (6-second) – short, unskippable ads designed to enhance brand recall.

• Discovery Ads (suggested videos tab) – appear in YouTube search results and the “Watch more” tab.

Short product videos , unboxing or product test ads, and seasonal and promotional messages work particularly well in e-commerce

Conversion tracking and performance analysis

For Google Ads e-commerce campaigns to deliver real results, precise conversion tracking and regular performance analysis are essential . Without hard data, it's difficult to assess which campaigns are generating sales and which are merely generating costly traffic. Effective advertising management requires understanding key metrics, the ability to work with analytical tools, and selecting the right attribution model. Only then can informed decisions be made about increasing budgets, modifying strategies, or discontinuing ineffective activities.

Conversion settings in Google Ads and GA4

The fundamental step in analyzing campaign effectiveness is properly configuring conversion tracking . In e-commerce, a conversion is most often a purchase or other key action (e.g., account registration, newsletter signup, contact).

Main ways to track conversions:

• Google Ads Conversion Tracking – allows you to record actions directly related to ad clicks. For e-commerce, the most common method is dynamic purchases (transferring the cart value to Google).

• Google Analytics 4 (GA4) – provides broader context by showing user journeys, traffic sources, and assisted conversions. GA4 allows you to export conversions to Google Ads and analyze them together.

• Enhanced Conversions – Enables more accurate conversion tracking using first-party data such as user email.

For the data to be reliable and consistent between systems, it is necessary to synchronize Google Ads with GA4 and correctly tag events on the website (e.g. using Google Tag Manager or store platform integration).

Key Metrics: ROAS, CPA, CTR, Assisted Conversions

Every Google Ads campaign should be evaluated not only by the number of clicks, but primarily by sales effectiveness metrics . The most important include:

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

Return on advertising spend. This shows how much revenue a campaign generated relative to advertising spend. For example, ROAS = 500% means that for every zloty spent on advertising, you generated 5 zloty in revenue.

CPA (Cost per Acquisition)

The cost of obtaining one conversion (e.g., a purchase). Useful when analyzing campaign profitability, especially in the context of margins and logistics costs.

CTR (Click Through Rate)

Ad click-through rate. A high CTR indicates that the ad is aligned with user intent. While not a direct indicator of sales success, it does impact Quality Score and cost-per-click.

Assisted Conversions

GA4 data shows which channels were part of the user's purchase journey but weren't the final source of conversions. This allows you to appreciate the role of supporting campaigns (e.g., Display, YouTube).

Also worth following:

• value of the average basket,

• time from click to purchase,

• number of transactions per user (LTV),

• campaign share in the multi-channel purchase path.

Attribution and customer journey analysis

, analyzing conversion paths and selecting the appropriate attribution model—that is, assigning conversion value to individual touchpoints— is crucial

The most commonly used attribution models:

• Last Click – All value assigned to the last source. Simple, but often distorts the image.

• First Click – all value assigned to the first contact with the ad.

• Linear – equal assignment of values ​​to all contact points.

• Time Decay – greater value given to newer interactions.

• Data-Driven Attribution (DDA) – an intelligent model available in Google Ads that assigns value based on the actual impact of channels on conversion.

Analyzing user journeys in Google Analytics 4 allows you to identify points where users abandon the purchasing process and assess which campaigns work best in synergy with others.

The most common mistakes and how to avoid them

Even the best advertising budget won't yield the expected results if Google Ads campaigns are run suboptimally. In e-commerce, where competition is fierce and margins are often tight, even minor errors can significantly reduce the profitability of advertising efforts . Below, we present the most common mistakes made by online stores and how to avoid or correct them.

Too broad targeting

One of the most common mistakes in Search and Display campaigns is overly broad targeting – both in terms of keywords and audiences. In e-commerce, effective campaigns are those aimed at users with clearly defined purchasing intent, rather than at the general internet population.

Examples:

• using phrases like "dresses" instead of "black M evening dresses",

• no exclusions in Display campaigns, which results in ads being displayed on low-quality pages,

• targeting too broad interest groups without taking into account purchasing intentions.

How to avoid:

• use exact or phrase match for keywords,

• regularly analyze the search term report and add exclusions,

• Use audience segments based on behavioral and intent data.

Lack of product feed optimization

In Shopping and Performance Max campaigns, where the product feed plays a key role, an underdeveloped data file can lead to low product visibility or their rejection by the system.

Common problems:

• suboptimal product titles (e.g. "Model X123" instead of "Women's winter jacket X123, navy blue, M"),

• missing required attributes (GTIN, brand, Google category),

• inconsistency of data with reality (e.g. the price in the feed differs from that on the website).

How to avoid:

• regularly audit your feed in Google Merchant Center and use error reports,

• create titles and descriptions that match search phrases,

• Use Feed Rules to automatically correct data.

Incorrect auto campaign settings

Automation, like Performance Max, can be a huge help, but if set up incorrectly, it can generate losses instead of conversions. A common mistake is a lack of signals for the algorithm or incorrect campaign goals.

Examples:

• no conversion value tracking configured,

• launching one Performance Max campaign for the entire product range without segmentation,

• lack of videos or graphic materials, which causes Google to generate low-quality automatic creations.

How to avoid:

• Before starting the campaign, ensure complete configuration of conversions and advertising resources,

• test several PMax campaigns for different categories or margin levels,

• provide Google with complete resources (text, images, video, audience signals).

Poor selection of campaign objectives

A common mistake is setting a campaign to the wrong goal , such as clicks instead of conversions, which results in traffic without sales. Shops focus on metrics like CTR or pageviews instead of ROAS and CPA.

Examples:

• campaign set to "maximize clicks" instead of "maximize conversion value",

• video campaigns without an integrated goal (e.g. no linking to the product),

• lack of campaign prioritization in terms of profitability.

How to avoid:

• define a specific business goal (e.g. selling products above PLN 100 with ROAS > 500%),

• choose smart bidding strategies (e.g. Target ROAS, Maximize Conversion Value),

• Monitor the effects from GA4 and Google Ads and respond to changes in the data.

Summary and recommendations

Effective Google Ads e-commerce campaigns are no accident—they're the result of conscious planning, proper segmentation, data analysis, and continuous optimization. In an era of growing competition and rising customer acquisition costs, online stores must make advertising decisions based on data, not intuition. Completing campaigns with a good ROAS isn't enough—their scalability, profitability, and ability to adapt to a changing environment also matter. Below, we present key findings and practical recommendations to help e-commerce owners and marketers maximize the potential of Google Ads.

The most important conclusions for online stores

• There's no single perfect campaign. An effective strategy is a combination of different campaign types : Shopping, Search, Remarketing, Performance Max, Display, and YouTube. Each fulfills a different role in the sales funnel.

• Data is the currency of performance. Without well-configured conversion tracking, transaction value, and attribution, even the best campaigns can be unclear or misinterpreted.

• Personalization and segmentation are key. Campaigns based on user behavior, purchase intent, and remarketing segments achieve better results than mass campaigns.

• Automation requires control. Performance Max and smart bidding strategies are effective, but only when properly fed with data, goals, and resources.

• Testing and iteration are a continuous process. Successful campaigns don't happen by chance—they're the result of testing messaging, audiences, creative, and account structure.

How to choose the right type of campaign for the stage of store development

Online stores are at different stages of development—from startups to mature brands. Each stage requires a different approach to advertising:

New store (start):

• Focus on Shopping and Search Ads with clearly defined shopping phrases.

• Build your remarketing database with Display and YouTube Discovery .

• Avoid full automation – focus on control and testing.

Store in growth phase:

• Expand your activities with Performance Max , broken down by category or margin.

• Launch dynamic remarketing and test different audience segments.

• Introduce support campaigns (YouTube, Display) for top product categories.

Mature Store (Scaling):

• Scale campaigns with Target ROAS , leverage first-party data and lookalike audience lists .

• Automate, but with campaign division by product range, profitability and seasonality.

• Analyze your data across multiple channels (GA4) and leverage data-driven attribution models .

Tips for starting and further development

• Start with simple structures, but think long-term. Campaigns are easier to develop and optimize when they have a logical, orderly structure.

• Invest in data. A well-configured GA4, conversion tracking, transaction values, and remarketing lists are the foundation of sales campaigns.

• Create advertising assets with omnichannel in mind. Copy, graphics, and videos should be universal, flexible, and adaptable to various formats.

• Control automation. Don't leave algorithms to their own devices—monitor, provide signals, and analyze results.

• Don't stop at your first success. Campaigns require continuous testing, adjustments, and development as your store grows.