Google Shopping and Performance Max for Shopify: a setup checklist

To run Google Shopping ads for a Shopify store, you need three things in place: a clean product feed in Google Merchant Center, accurate purchase tracking in Google Ads, and a campaign structure that lets you see which products make money. Performance Max is the main campaign type for Shopping now, but it only performs well when those foundations are right.

Use this checklist before you launch, or to audit a campaign that isn't paying its way.

1. Connect Shopify to Google Merchant Center

Shopify's Google and YouTube app syncs your products to Merchant Center. Once connected, check the diagnostics in Merchant Center for disapproved or limited products. Common problems include missing GTINs or brand names, mismatched prices between the feed and the site, and missing shipping or returns information.

Every disapproved product is a product that can't appear in Shopping results.

2. Improve the product feed

Your feed is your ad copy. Google uses product titles and descriptions to decide which searches to show you for.

• Titles: put the words people search for first. Brand, product type, key attribute such as size, colour or model.
• Descriptions: clear and specific, not just marketing copy.
• Images: clean, accurate and high quality.
• Product categories and types: fill them in, as they help with matching and with structuring campaigns.

A small improvement to titles on your best sellers can make a real difference to which searches you appear for.

3. Get purchase tracking right

Performance Max optimises towards whatever you tell it is a conversion. If purchase tracking is missing, duplicated or doesn't pass the order value, it optimises badly.

Check that:

• Purchases are recorded once per order.
• The order value is passed through so you can bid for return on ad spend.
• Enhanced conversions are switched on.
• Your consent banner works with Google's consent mode, so measurement and remarketing aren't lost.

4. Structure campaigns by margin and performance

Putting every product into one Performance Max campaign is the most common mistake. Your best sellers soak up the budget and everything else gets ignored, or low-margin products get the same treatment as high-margin ones.

A better approach is to group products by how much they can afford to spend on advertising, for example:

• High-margin best sellers with a higher return target.
• Products with steady sales and average margin.
• New or low-volume products that need visibility.

Custom labels in your feed make this easier to manage.

5. Set a realistic return on ad spend target

Set your return target from your margins, not from a round number. If your target is too high, the campaign will barely spend. If it is too low, it will spend on sales that don't make you money. Our guide to measuring marketing ROI explains how to calculate it.

6. Protect your brand searches

Performance Max can pick up searches for your own brand name, which would probably have bought from you anyway. That can make the campaign look better than it really is. Keep an eye on how much of the spend and revenue comes from brand searches and consider separate brand campaigns.

7. Give it time and data

Performance Max needs conversions to learn. Avoid changing targets and budgets every few days. Review weekly, make decisions over longer periods, and judge it on total revenue and profit, not only the figures inside Google Ads.

8. Report on products, not just campaigns

Check which products produce sales and which only use budget. Products that keep spending without selling should be moved, fixed or excluded.

If your Shopping campaigns are spending but you can't tell whether they make money, ask us for a free account review. We'll look at your feed, tracking and campaign structure and show you what we would change.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need Google Merchant Center for Shopping ads?

Yes. Your products are sent to Google through Merchant Center. Shopify stores can connect it using the Google and YouTube app.

Should every product go into one Performance Max campaign?

Usually not. Grouping products by margin and performance gives you more control and stops best sellers taking all the budget.

Why are my products disapproved in Merchant Center?

Common causes are missing product identifiers, prices that do not match the website, and missing shipping or returns information. The diagnostics section in Merchant Center lists each issue.