Optimization: Product Listing Ads (PLAs)

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AdWords: Optimize how you target products with PLAs

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PLA Campaign Optimization Dive deeper for better segmentation ●

Moving beyond a basic PLA campaign requires identifying your "bests" - best margin, best selling, best selling seasonally, best return on ad spend products

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Then, breaking out and bidding higher on these items

Check the basics

Break out more specific targets

Boost bids on your "bests"

Find optimal budget to maximize profit

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PLA Campaigns - Basics What to do before beginning to optimize Check settings ● ● ●

PLAs are running in their own campaign, not mixed in with other ad formats Campaign targets mobile devices with bid adjustment greater than -50% Targeting all products - i.e. no filters used under "product extensions"

Check structure ● ● ● ●

Only 1 product target per ad group for optimal reporting insight Only 1 All products target per linked Merchant Center account All products target is enabled and has lowest bid of all targets Every product target receives >1 impression every 14 days (otherwise troubleshoot!)

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PLA Campaigns - Basics Ensure campaign reflects major product segments

Segment

Example Products

ROI

Ad Group

Product Target

Bid

Professional bikes

Tour de France Pro BMC Road Racer Cannondale CV

$500

Pro Bikes

product_type= Bicycles > Professional

$4.00

Cruiser bikes

Schwinn Acme Fuji

$125

Cruiser Bikes

product_type= Bicycles > Cruisers

$3.00

product_type=Clothing

Wholesale clothing

bike shorts bike jerseys bike shoes

$50

Everything else

(everything else Acme Bike sells)

$15

Wholesale Clothing

and

$2.00

adwords_labels= wholesale All Products

For campaigns that do not already have product targets for major product segments, refer to slides 5-12 in the implementation guide.

All products

$1.00

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PLA Optimization - Structure Analyze the Search Query Report ● ●

Run SQR for high traffic and/or high cost ad groups Identify patterns in similar search queries: ○ Good CTRs ○ Strong conversion rates ○ High total cost

Example: Acme Bikes All products $0.50

Past month top queries:

Use findings to break out new, specific targets ● ● ●

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Create new targets to reflect segments identified Leverage what's working in your account that you may not have previously thought to target Or, if similar queries are driving high cost, consider moving the product(s) they representing into separate campaign so other products aren't budget limited Note: can also add irrelevant queries as negative keywords to prevent unnecessary cost

shimano 105s 105 gear system mountain bike parts shimano gears womens bike shorts

product_type=Gears and brand=Shimano $2.50

Learn more about the Search Terms Report. Google Confidential and Proprietary

PLA Optimization - Structure Segment the products that are most important to the business Top performers ● ● ●

Best sellers Highest margins / return on investment (ROI) Top return on ad spend (ROAS)

Bigger picture ● ● ● ● ●

Brands Seasonality Retail promotions Product launches Awareness

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PLA Optimization - Structure Bid higher on your best selling items to drive ROI ●

When deciding which product to show for a given query, Google considers products' relevance and their bids

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For specific queries, it's easy to determine which product should show

bmc womens road bike $4.00

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However, with more general queries where many products are eligible, the bid you set helps Google determine which product to show

womens bike $3.50

$4.00

$4.50

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PLA Optimization - Bids Move beyond major product categories to create sub-categories Segment

Major Product Segment ABC

Major Product Segment XYZ

Avg. ROI

# of products

Ad Group

Product Target

Bid

$100

100

ABC

product_type=ABC

$3.00

$150

50

ABC - high value sub-segment #1

product_type=ABC and adwords_labels= sub-segment #1

$3.50

$160

1

ABC - sub-segment #1 bestseller

ID=12345

$4.00

$50

75

XYZ

product_type=XYZ

$2.00

$60

35

XYZ - high value sub-segment #1

product_type=XYZ and brand=sub-segment #1

$2.50

$53*

3

XYZ - sub-segment #1 bestsellers

adwords_labels= XYZ bestsellers

$3.00

*Note: There may be cases where products with a lower absolute ROI are worth targeting more aggressively because they have higher sale volumes.

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PLA Optimization - Bids Use the triangle model to create a bidding hierarchy with your targets ●

Think of your All products target as foundational, a "catch all" for low ROAS products

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Prioritize your product inventory through bids - i.e. the higher the average value of the product target, the higher your bid should be

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Get granular in your targeting and more aggressive in your bidding for your "best" products (e.g. best margins, best selling, best return on ad spend)

ID bidding Bids

Top performers

# of products

High value segments Category level bidding All products - low ROAS catch all

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PLA Optimization - Budget Ensure PLA campaign budget cap isn’t limiting total profit ●

Capture total profit potential by uncapping budgets

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Should also find maximum bid that maintains ROI goals

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PLA Optimization - Budget When budget is limited... ● ● ●

Reallocate budget from lower to higher priority (or traffic) campaigns Breakout high traffic products into multiple campaigns Target high performing or competitive products in separate campaigns

When inventory is large... ● ●

Create a campaign for long-tail or lower priority products with lower bids Analyze high spend products to determine if further segmentation or a separate budget is needed

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PLA Optimization - Budget Example: Acme Bikes Shop - Budget optimization $350

product_type= Bicycles > Professional

All products

product_type= Bicycles > Cruisers

Original single PLA campaign

Bikes

Optimized for budget

ACME

$200

$100

$50

product_type= Bicycles > Professional

All Products

product_ type= Bicycles > Cruisers

$350/day total PLA budget split into 3 campaigns Google Confidential and Proprietary

Merchant Center: Optimize the information you submit about products

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Submit High Quality Data Feeds Pay attention to and actively manage your data feed ● ● ●

Data feeds provide the product information Google uses to serve PLAs The more information you provide, the better PLAs generally perform Information in feed should be as up-to-date, accurate, and comprehensive as possible

Keep data feed fresh

Provide clean product info

Optimize feed attributes

Make images glamour shots

Check Feed Summary & Data Quality

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Submit High Quality Data Feeds Keep your data feed fresh ● ● ●

Re-upload your feed minimum every 30 days, recommended at least every 2 weeks Ensure your data feed matches info on your website (e.g. prices, availability) Schedule refreshes with automatic uploads, FTP, or API

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Submit High Quality Data Feeds Provide clean product data in your feed ●

Submit all required attributes

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Use as many recommended attributes as make sense for your products

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Pay attention to and optimize attributes that pack a punch in query matching: ○ Unique product identifiers (UPIs) ○ Google product categories ○ Titles and descriptions

Required & recommended attributes

Accuracy of data

Data quality

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Submit High Quality Data Feeds - UPIs Unique Product Identifiers (UPIs) universally identify products ●

UPIs are codes associated with an individual product

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Required attribute for all items*

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See complete UPI definitions and requirements

Attribute

Values

gtin

Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) include: ● UPC, EAN (in Europe) ● JAN (in Japan) ● ISBN

mpn

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN)

brand

The manufacturer's brand name

Product Category

UPI Requirements

Media & software

gtin - UPC, EAN, or JAN

Books

gtin - ISBN (either ISBN-10 or ISBN-13)

Apparel E.g. shoes, sunglasses, handbags, and watches

brand + [gtin or mpn]

Apparel Others

brand

All others

At least 2 of gtin, mpn and brand

Exceptions

For products where no UPI exists (e.g. custom goods), submit identifier exists attribute with a value of “false”

Note: Requirements are true for feeds targeting most countries. Refer to feed requirements for most up-to-date list of requirements.

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Submit High Quality Data Feeds - GPCs Google Product Categories (GPCs) help segmentation ●

Attribute requires standardized values ○ Download the complete taxonomy (English) ○ Can change language settings at bottom of page to download in other languages

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Required for certain item categories*: Apparel & Accessories, Media, Software

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Best practice to submit Google product category for all items in your data feed

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Strongly recommended to use the most specific category available for your items

Note: Requirements are true for feeds targeting most countries. Refer to feed requirements for most up-to-date list of requirements.

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Submit High Quality Data Feeds - Titles Optimize titles and descriptions for better query matching ● ● ● ● ● ●

Titles are important to query matching and placement Use keyword-rich titles and descriptions Use Search Query Report to identify how converters search Mirror product information on your website Be wary of truncation - front-load important info Be accurate, user-friendly, and informative

Example

Avoid BLOCK CAPITALS

Keyword-stuffing

Promotional text

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Submit High Quality Data Feeds - Images Make product images glamour shots ● ● ● ● ●

With limited title characters, good images can boost customer response Use full 800x800 pixel dimensions Consider different product angles and bundles Focus on backgrounds, context, image quality Be accurate, user-friendly, and informative

Example

Avoid Promotions

Watermarks

Text in images

Sale!

Bike Outlet

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Submit High Quality Data Feeds Use Feed Status Summary to check for processing errors

Common Errors: ● URL not verified ● Missing required attributes (e.g. unique product identifiers) ● Unknown “Google product category” values ● Too many/too few column delimiters (text feeds only)

Learn: Find information about these and other errors in the Merchant Center Help Center. Google Confidential and Proprietary

Submit High Quality Data Feeds Use Data Quality tab to find errors

Common Errors: ● Missing/invalid unique product identifiers ● Product crawl issues ● Data mismatch between feed and website (e.g. availability, price)

Learn: Find information about these and other errors in the Merchant Center Help Center. Google Confidential and Proprietary

Resources: Get more information about PLAs

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Resources Bookmark these for easy reference ● Merchant Center Help Center ● AdWords Help Center ● Google Commerce blog

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Thanks!

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