Setting up a Google Ads Shopping campaign in 2025 is a crucial step for any e-commerce business looking to increase visibility and drive sales. Unlike traditional search ads that rely on keywords, Shopping ads use your product data to match your products to relevant search queries. This tutorial will guide you through the process, from initial setup to campaign launch.

Step 1: Set Up Your Google Merchant Center
Before you can create a Shopping campaign, you need to provide Google with all of your product information. This is done through Google Merchant Center.

Create a Google Merchant Center account: Go to the Google Merchant Center website and sign in with your Google account. You'll need to enter your business information and verify your website.

Optimize your product data feed: Your product data feed is a file that contains all the details about your products. This is the most critical part of the process. Your feed must include all mandatory attributes, such as:

id (Unique product identifier)

title (Clear, descriptive, and keyword-rich)

description

link (to the product page on your website)

image_link (high-quality image on a white background)

price

availability

brand

gtin (Global Trade Item Number) or mpn (Manufacturer Part Number)

Link your Google Ads account: In your Merchant Center account, navigate to "Settings" and then "Linked accounts." Follow the instructions to link your Google Ads account.

Step 2: Create a New Shopping Campaign in Google Ads
Once your product feed is approved and your accounts are linked, you're ready to create your campaign.

Start a new campaign: In your Google Ads account, click the "+" button and select "New campaign."

Choose your objective: Select an objective that aligns with your goal, such as "Sales" or "Website traffic."

Select the campaign type: Choose "Shopping" as your campaign type. Google may prompt you to use a Performance Max campaign, but for beginners who want more control, you can choose to create a "Standard Shopping" campaign.

Select your Merchant Center account and country: Choose the Merchant Center account that you want to use and the country where you're selling your products.

Step 3: Configure Campaign Settings
Now you'll set the core parameters for your campaign.

Campaign Name: Use a clear and descriptive name for your campaign so you can easily identify it later.

Bidding Strategy and Budget: For beginners, an automated bidding strategy like "Maximize clicks" is a good place to start. You can also use "Target ROAS" (Return on Ad Spend) once you have enough conversion data. Set a daily budget that you are comfortable with.

Campaign Priority: This is only relevant if you are advertising the same product in multiple campaigns. If so, a higher priority will take precedence over a lower one.

Locations and Networks: Choose the geographical areas you want to target and select the ad networks where you want your ads to appear (e.g., Google Search Network and Google Search Partners).

Additional Settings: You can also set a start and end date, adjust for local products, or add URL tracking options.

Step 4: Create Your Ad Groups
Ad groups help you organize your campaigns and manage your bids more effectively.

Name your ad group: Give your ad group a descriptive name.

Set a bid: Enter a bid amount. This is the maximum you're willing to pay per click.

Organize your products: You can subdivide your products into groups based on categories, brands, or product IDs. This allows you to set different bids for different product groups, which is a key to optimization. For example, you can bid higher on your top-selling, high-margin products and lower on less popular items.

Step 5: Monitor and Optimize
After your campaign is live, your work isn't done. Ongoing monitoring and optimization are essential for success.

Review the Search Terms Report: Regularly check which search queries are triggering your ads. Add irrelevant terms as negative keywords to reduce wasted spending. You can also discover new, relevant keywords to incorporate into your product titles.

Adjust Bids: Based on performance, increase bids for your most profitable products and decrease them for underperforming ones.

Optimize Your Product Feed: Your product feed is the foundation of your campaign. Continue to refine your product titles, descriptions, and images to improve your click-through rate (CTR) and ad relevance.

Analyze Performance by Location: Use geographical data to see which regions are performing best. You can adjust your bids or exclude underperforming locations to optimize your ad spend.