Shopping Feeds: Titles, Images & Rules

Feed foundations

• Stable IDs: use a unique, permanent id per SKU (don’t recycle).
• Completeness: fill all required + recommended attributes; missing fields limit reach.
• Freshness: update price, availability, and sale_price as they change.
• Clean text: no ALL CAPS, emojis, or promo text in title/description.
• Category mapping: map to a stable taxonomy and be consistent across the catalog.

Key attributes that move performance

• title — front-load brand/model/critical attribute + intent term.
• description — 3–6 concise benefit bullets; avoid fluff.
• image_link + additional_image_link — crisp, high-res, no watermark.
• price, sale_price, availability — keep in sync with site; mismatches drive disapprovals.
• brand, gtin, mpn — improve match to high-intent queries.
• google_product_category (or MS equivalent) — helps relevance.
• shipping / tax — if required by your markets.

Title frameworks (by category)

Use a repeatable format; keep the most searched terms early in the title.

Test title variants using custom labels and split them into different ad groups/campaigns for clean readouts.

Image best practices

• High resolution (≥1200px), well lit, white/neutral background.
• Product centered and dominant; avoid props that confuse the model.
• Use lifestyle as additional images to boost CTR where allowed.

Brand, GTIN & identifiers

Provide brand and gtin wherever possible; add mpn for long-tail discoverability. Missing identifiers = lower impression share and fewer exact matches.

Feed rules & transformations

Use Merchant Center (or your feed tool) to transform/augment fields without editing your source data.

• Derive color/size/material from options or titles.
• Normalize casing, strip promo text (“Free Shipping”, “% Off”).
• Append key attributes to title for high-intent matches (e.g., size, capacity, compatibility).
• Create sale_price rules tied to your promo calendar and ensure start/end dates are correct.

Custom labels for structure

Use custom_label_0–4 to group SKUs for bidding and reporting:

• custom_label_0 = margin band (high/med/low)
• custom_label_1 = price tier
• custom_label_2 = lifecycle (new/bestseller/clearance)
• custom_label_3 = seasonality
• custom_label_4 = title variant (A/B)

Campaign structure (query sculpting)

Keep it manageable; align structure with your labels and profit model.

• Base split: brand vs. non-brand, or by category (depending on catalog size).
• Ad groups: break by key attributes (e.g., product type) for cleaner budgets and reporting.
• Priority levels: use campaign priorities (High/Med/Low) to funnel queries—generic to High, specific to Low.
• Inventory filters: apply filters via custom labels to isolate high-margin or promo SKUs.

Performance levers

• ROAS targets & budgets: set at campaign level; group by similar margin bands.
• Query negatives: add negatives at the campaign capturing generic traffic; let specific SKUs pick up exact intent.
• Geo & device: use modifiers sparingly when on Target ROAS; prefer structural splits if behavior differs a lot.
• Promotions/price competitiveness: maintain sale_price and promo annotations—visible discounts lift CTR.

Diagnostics & QA

• Check Merchant Center diagnostics weekly; fix disapprovals immediately.
• Audit coverage: % of SKUs active, impression share by category/label.
• Spot-check title/image renderings for top sellers.
• Compare revenue and order counts against your ecommerce backend for sanity.

Implementation checklist

• ✅ Stable product IDs and complete attributes
• ✅ High-quality titles & images; no promo text in fields
• ✅ Brand/GTIN/MPN populated where applicable
• ✅ Feed rules to enrich titles and normalize attributes
• ✅ Custom labels set for margin, lifecycle, tests
• ✅ Campaign priorities and inventory filters configured
• ✅ Diagnostics reviewed; disapprovals cleared

Next steps

Pair strong feeds with the right bid strategy in Bidding Strategies & Automation, and tighten intent control via Keyword Strategy & Negatives (with N-grams).