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Google ShoppingPerformance MaxMerchant CenterFeed Optimisation

Ecommerce Google Ads

The Google Ads agency for ecommerce and D2C brands that bid on margin

Google Shopping, Performance Max and Search managed by ecommerce Google Ads specialists. We rebuild the feed, fix the tracking, and set every target from your gross margin.

  • Google Shopping, Performance Max and Search run against your gross margin
  • Product feed, Merchant Center and conversion tracking fixed before bids
  • Flat monthly fee, and every account stays in your business's name
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Trusted by 50+ D2C brands · Google, Meta & Shopify partners

Google Partner — Premier 2024Meta Marketing PartnerShopify PartnerDash & DotReplenhairAllterOkhaiBanarsaiNOCDASMOKEDropshipwearwell
Why ecommerce accounts stall

Ecommerce Google Ads runs on product data

Google Ads for an ecommerce or D2C brand is mostly a product-data problem. Shopping and Performance Max decide which queries you show for from the feed, and Smart Bidding decides what to pay from your conversion data. If titles are vague, GTINs are missing or the purchase tag double-counts, a target ROAS (tROAS) strategy will bid confidently on the wrong things. A Google Ads agency for ecommerce should work on the feed, Merchant Center, tracking and the account together. If you sell on Shopify, our Shopify PPC agency page covers the platform-specific setup.

We plan everything from contribution margin, not a blended ROAS target. Your break-even ROAS sets the floor for each margin band, and custom labels in the feed let Shopping and PMax bid differently on high-margin hero products and low-margin traffic drivers. Paid search then runs alongside Meta ads for demand creation and landing page testing for what happens after the click.

What we usually find

Why Google Ads stops scaling for online stores

These come up in almost every ecommerce account we audit. Most cost less to fix than the budget increase usually proposed instead.

  • Performance Max reporting revenue you already had

    Without brand exclusions and a separate brand campaign, PMax spends heavily on branded queries and remarketing. Blended ROAS looks excellent while new-customer revenue stays flat.

  • A feed that was never written for search

    Titles copied from the product page, no product type taxonomy, missing GTIN and MPN, and no custom labels. Google matches Shopping ads on feed content, so this caps every campaign that uses it.

  • Smart Bidding fed the wrong signal

    Purchases counted twice across GA4 imports and the Google Ads tag, enhanced conversions off, and Consent Mode misconfigured for EU and UK traffic. Automated bidding optimises toward whatever you report.

  • One ROAS target across every product

    A 30%-margin accessory and a 70%-margin hero product held to the same tROAS. One is unprofitable at that target, and the other is starved of budget it could use.

  • Merchant Center warnings left until suspension

    Price and availability mismatches, missing return policies and misrepresentation flags pile up until products are disapproved or the account is suspended in peak season.

  • Nobody watching search terms

    Broad match and PMax search themes with no negative keyword list or brand exclusions keep paying for informational, competitor and job-seeker queries that will never buy.

Scope

Google Ads management for ecommerce: what we run

Shopping, PMax, Search and the inputs they depend on, managed as one system.

  • Google Shopping management

    Standard Shopping campaigns segmented by margin, category and best-sellers, with query-level control PMax doesn't give you. Priority settings and negatives route high-intent queries to the right products.

  • Performance Max for ecommerce

    Asset groups split by category and margin, audience signals from first-party customer lists, brand exclusions, listing-group control, and the new customer acquisition goal where lifetime value supports it.

  • Google Search campaigns

    Non-brand category and product searches, competitor terms where they pay, and a separate brand campaign so branded demand is measured on its own.

  • Product feed optimisation

    Titles rebuilt around searched attributes, Google product category and product type, GTIN and MPN coverage, supplemental feeds and feed rules, custom labels for margin, and per-country feeds.

  • Merchant Center management

    Setup and diagnostics, shipping and returns, free listings, price-competitiveness reports, and suspension and misrepresentation appeals with the evidence Google asks for.

  • Conversion tracking and Smart Bidding

    One purchase definition, enhanced conversions, server-side tagging through GTM where it helps, Consent Mode v2, and value-based bidding (tROAS and Maximise Conversion Value) on clean data.

  • YouTube, Demand Gen and remarketing

    Video and Demand Gen to create demand, plus dynamic remarketing built from the feed. Measured separately so prospecting isn't judged on last-click ROAS.

  • Microsoft Advertising

    Shopping and Search imported from Google and then managed in their own right, with separate negatives and bids. Often cheaper clicks for older and desktop-heavy audiences.

  • Incrementality and reporting

    Brand and non-brand reported separately, contribution margin alongside ROAS, and geo holdout tests once spend justifies them. You see what Google Ads added, not just what it claimed.

Example accounts

What a margin-led Google Ads account looks like

Illustrative example scenarios showing how we structure Shopping, PMax and Search accounts. The dashboards are mock-ups, not client data.

  • Illustrative ads dashboard showing 3.90 conversion value per cost over 90 days for an apparel store
    Fashion & apparelShopping + PMax

    3.9x

    ROAS over 90 days

    Margin-split Shopping for a high-SKU apparel catalog

    Feed titles rebuilt around size, colour and fabric, custom labels by margin, and brand split out of PMax. Hero SKUs got their own Shopping campaign at a lower tROAS so they could win more auctions.

  • Illustrative ads dashboard showing 3.56 conversion value per cost over 90 days for a skincare brand
    Beauty & skincarePMax

    3.6x

    ROAS over 90 days

    Fixing double-counted purchases before scaling PMax

    Three purchase actions were all set as primary. We consolidated them, added enhanced conversions, and moved PMax to a new-customer goal. Ingredient-led search campaigns ran alongside it.

  • Illustrative ads dashboard showing 3.38 conversion value per cost over 90 days for a furniture store
    Home & furnitureShopping

    3.4x

    ROAS over 90 days

    High-AOV furniture bid on margin after delivery

    Custom labels reflected margin after shipping, not list price. Demand Gen remarketing covered the long research window, and non-brand category search was rebuilt around room and style terms.

Google Ads and search ads

How we run Search, Shopping and Performance Max

Search campaigns, feed-led Shopping and PMax, Smart Bidding set from margin, and pixel tracking you can trust.

  • Illustration of a search bar, a sponsored result and keyword chips with one negative keyword excluded

    Search ads

    Non-brand category and product searches, kept on buying intent with match types and negative keyword lists.

    RSAsExact & phraseBroad matchNegative keywordsBrand vs non-brandCompetitor termsSitelinks & assets
  • Illustration of a product feed flowing through optimisation into Shopping, Search and video ads

    Shopping & Performance Max

    The product feed decides which queries Shopping and PMax can show for, so we optimise it before touching bids.

    Merchant CenterFeed titlesCustom labelsListing groupsAsset groupsBrand exclusionsSearch themes
  • Illustration of campaign bars above and below a dashed break-even line, with a target ROAS gauge

    Smart Bidding & margin

    Every campaign is judged against break-even ROAS from your gross margin, not one blended target.

    Target ROASMax conv. valueBreak-even ROASPOASSeasonalityNew-customer goal
  • Illustration of an order confirmation firing a pixel, two data streams merging, and a ledger reconciled with an equals sign

    Pixel tracking & data accuracy

    One purchase conversion, firing once per order, reconciled weekly against the orders your store actually took.

    Google Ads tagEnhanced conversionsServer-side GTMConsent Mode v2GA4 purchase dedupOffline conversions
Pixel tracking and data accuracy

Smart Bidding is only as good as your conversion data

Most ecommerce Google Ads accounts we audit over-report revenue. We fix the pixel and the data before we touch a bid.

  • Google Ads tag and purchase event audit

    We check that the Google Ads conversion tag fires once per order, on the confirmation page or Shopify's checkout pixel. It should pass the real order value, currency and transaction ID. A missing transaction ID is the most common reason Google Ads reports more purchases than the store took.

  • One primary conversion, not three

    Accounts often count the Google Ads tag, an imported GA4 purchase and a platform app purchase as primary conversions at once. Smart Bidding then optimises toward double or triple the real revenue. We keep one primary purchase action and set the others to secondary.

  • Enhanced conversions

    Hashed first-party data (email and phone at checkout) recovers conversions that cookie loss and Safari ITP would otherwise drop. That gives target ROAS a larger, more accurate signal to learn from.

  • Server-side tagging

    A server-side Google Tag Manager container moves tags off the browser, so ad blockers and short cookie lifetimes lose less data. It also lets you enrich conversions with margin or new-customer flags before they reach Google Ads.

  • Consent Mode v2

    For EU and UK traffic, Consent Mode v2 has to be wired into your cookie banner correctly. Without it, Google can't model the conversions of users who decline cookies, and remarketing audiences stop building.

  • Weekly reconciliation against real orders

    We compare Google Ads conversion value, GA4 revenue and orders in your store backend every week, and document any gap. If the platform reports far more revenue than the store recorded, we fix the data before touching bids.

Process

How we take over an ecommerce account

  1. Step 01

    Audit and margin model

    Account, feed, Merchant Center and tracking audit, plus gross margin by category to set break-even ROAS for each margin band.

  2. Step 02

    Fix the inputs

    Conversion tracking, enhanced conversions and Consent Mode first, then feed titles, product types, GTINs and custom labels. This often moves results more than any bid change.

  3. Step 03

    Restructure

    Brand separated, Shopping and PMax split by margin, Search built around non-brand intent. We then leave structure alone while Smart Bidding finishes its learning period.

  4. Step 04

    Scale what clears margin

    Weekly search term and placement reviews, budget moved toward campaigns above break-even, creative and landing page tests, and holdout tests to check what is incremental.

Verticals

Ecommerce categories we run Google Ads for

Each category has different margin, repeat-purchase and policy constraints, and they change how Shopping and PMax should be set up.

  • Fashion and apparel

    Large variant catalogs where size, colour and material in feed titles decide which queries you show for. Returns rates belong in the margin maths.

  • Beauty and skincare

    Repeat purchase means first-order ROAS understates value. Ingredient and concern terms in titles, and care with health claims that trigger disapprovals.

  • Supplements and wellness

    Tight Merchant Center policy on health claims, so feed and landing page wording matter. Subscriptions change what a customer is worth.

  • Home and furniture

    High AOV, long consideration and heavy shipping costs. Custom labels for margin after delivery, plus YouTube and Demand Gen for the research phase.

  • Jewellery and accessories

    Price-competitive Shopping auctions where image quality and the price-competitiveness report decide the click.

  • Food, drink and D2C subscription

    Low AOV and high repeat. Bidding on first-order ROAS alone underinvests, so we work from contribution and LTV.

Pricing

What an ecommerce Google Ads agency costs

The three fee models you'll be quoted, with market ranges. We default to a flat fee.

  • Most popular

    Flat monthly fee

    From $4,500/mo

    Our default

    A fixed fee set by account complexity (catalog size, markets and channels), not by how much you spend.

    • No incentive to push spend up
    • Feed, tracking and account management included
    • Monthly review call and written report
    Book a call

  • Percentage of ad spend

    10–20% of spend

    Market norm

    Common across the market, with the percentage usually falling as spend rises. Simple, but it rewards higher spend rather than profit.

    • Typical minimum of $1,500–$3,000/mo
    • Fee rises automatically with budget
    • We don't use this model
    Book a Call

  • Hybrid / performance-linked

    Base + bonus

    For scaling accounts

    A lower flat base plus a bonus tied to contribution margin or new-customer revenue, where tracking is clean enough to make that fair.

    • Aligned with profit, not reported ROAS
    • Needs reconciled conversion data first
    • Usually after the first 90 days
    Book a Call
Agency, in-house or freelancer

Who should run your Google Ads?

Rough market ranges. The right answer depends mostly on ad spend and how much feed and tracking work you need.

  • Typical monthly cost

    Freelancer
    $500–$2,500
    In-house hire
    $90k–$130k+ salary plus tools
    Specialist agency
    $4,500–$10,000 management fee

  • Feed and Merchant Center

    Freelancer
    Often out of scope
    In-house hire
    Depends on hire
    Specialist agency
    In scope

  • Tracking and server-side tagging

    Freelancer
    Rarely
    In-house hire
    Usually needs a developer
    Specialist agency
    In scope

  • Breadth of account patterns seen

    Freelancer
    Varies
    In-house hire
    One account
    Specialist agency
    Many ecommerce accounts

  • Best fit

    Freelancer
    Under $3k/mo spend, testing
    In-house hire
    $300k+/mo spend, mature team
    Specialist agency
    $15k–$250k/mo spend, growth stage
Questions

Ecommerce Google Ads, answered

What does an ecommerce Google Ads agency do?
An ecommerce Google Ads agency manages Google Shopping, Performance Max, Search, YouTube and remarketing for online stores. For ecommerce, much of the work happens outside the ad account: product feed optimisation in Merchant Center, conversion tracking that Smart Bidding can trust, and bidding targets set from gross margin. Agencies that only change bids and budgets usually plateau once the easy waste is gone.
How is a Google Ads agency for D2C brands different from a general PPC agency?
D2C brands depend on contribution margin, repeat purchase and new-customer growth rather than lead volume. A D2C Google Ads agency should split branded and non-brand reporting, bid by margin band using feed custom labels, value new customers over returning ones, and work alongside Meta, which usually creates the demand that search then captures.
What does a Google Shopping management agency actually change?
Mostly the feed and the campaign structure. That means titles rewritten around the attributes people search, correct Google product categories and product types, GTIN coverage, custom labels for margin and best-sellers, and supplemental feeds for fixes the store platform can't make. On the account side, it means Shopping campaigns segmented so high-margin products get more budget, and search-term negatives so spend stays on buying queries.
What's the difference between Google Shopping and Performance Max?
Standard Shopping shows ads only in Shopping placements and gives you search-term data and negative keyword control. Performance Max uses the same feed across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Display, Discover and Gmail from one automated campaign, with less visibility and a tendency to favour branded and remarketing traffic. Most ecommerce accounts do best running both: PMax with brand exclusions for reach, and standard Shopping for control and as a benchmark.
Do we need a Performance Max agency for ecommerce, or can we run PMax ourselves?
You can launch PMax yourself in an afternoon. The hard part is keeping it honest. That takes brand exclusions, asset groups split by margin, listing-group control, audience signals from customer lists, and new-customer goals. You also need a way to tell how much of its reported revenue is incremental. Get those wrong and PMax looks profitable while growth stalls.
How much does Google Ads management for ecommerce cost?
Market ranges run roughly $1,500 to $10,000 a month, or 10% to 20% of ad spend, often with a minimum fee. We charge a flat monthly fee, usually from $4,500, set by catalog size, markets and channels. Hybrid terms with a performance bonus are available once conversion tracking is reconciled. Percentage-of-spend pricing pays an agency more when you spend more, which isn't the same as earning more.
What ROAS should an ecommerce store expect from Google Ads?
Your break-even ROAS matters more than any industry average. It is 1 divided by gross margin, so a 50% margin store breaks even at 2.0 and a 25% margin store at 4.0. Branded campaigns always report a much higher ROAS than non-brand Shopping or PMax, so blended figures mislead. We set targets per margin band and report contribution profit next to ROAS. Some teams also track POAS (profit on ad spend) by passing margin into conversion values.
What minimum ad budget makes hiring a Google Ads expert worthwhile?
Below about $3,000 a month in spend, a freelancer or a well-configured self-run Shopping campaign is usually better value. From around $5,000 a month, Smart Bidding gets enough conversions to optimise properly. A specialist agency on a flat fee usually pays for itself from roughly $15,000 a month in spend, where feed, tracking and structure gains outweigh the fee. Very large accounts, typically $300,000+ a month, can justify an in-house team supported by an agency.
How long until we see results?
Obvious waste, broken tracking and disapproved products should be fixed in the first two weeks. A restructured account needs about 4 to 8 weeks for Smart Bidding to finish learning and for enough search-term data to judge the changes. Feed improvements tend to show up in Shopping impression share and click-through rate within a few weeks of approval.
Should a Google Ads specialist for ecommerce also handle Merchant Center and the feed?
Yes. Splitting them is a common reason accounts stall. Shopping and PMax relevance is decided by feed content, and Merchant Center problems such as price mismatches, missing return policies or misrepresentation flags can switch off products overnight. Whoever runs the ads needs authority over the feed, or at least a direct line to whoever owns it.
Which ecommerce platforms do you work with?
Shopify and Shopify Plus most often, plus WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento / Adobe Commerce and headless storefronts. The feed source and tracking setup differ by platform. Shopify uses the Google & YouTube app or a feed tool, while others use plugins or direct feeds. The Google Ads method is the same on all of them.
Do we keep ownership of our Google Ads and Merchant Center accounts?
Always. Google Ads, Merchant Center, GA4 and Tag Manager sit under your business, and we are added as users. If an agency builds inside its own manager account and you leave, you can lose conversion history and have to sit through Smart Bidding's learning period again.
How should we choose an ecommerce Google Ads agency?
Ask who manages the account day to day, how they would set your break-even ROAS, and how they report brand and non-brand separately. Ask how they structure PMax asset groups and listing groups, what they would change in the feed in the first 30 days, and how offboarding works. Red flags include a ROAS promise before anyone asks about margin, an audit that never mentions the feed or tracking, accounts held in the agency's name, and fees that rise automatically with spend.
Related services

Where Google Ads gets help

Google Ads works best when it isn't carrying the whole funnel.

Book a call

Book your free ecommerce Google Ads audit

30 minutes with a Google Ads specialist who runs ecommerce accounts. You get a straight read on whether the constraint is the feed, the tracking, the account or the page.

What happens next

  1. 1Pick a time for a 30-minute call with a Google Ads specialist who runs ecommerce accounts.
  2. 2If you're comfortable, share read access to Google Ads, Merchant Center and GA4, and bring your gross margin, so we can check break-even ROAS together.
  3. 3Get the prioritised findings in writing. They're yours whether or not we work together.

Prefer email? tarun@conversion.is