2023 Holiday �Playbook for Performance Max
with GMC feed
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
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Meet the Holiday Mindset by Moment
INTERNAL IMPORTANT GUIDANCE:
What you see here are holiday MINDSETS.
These are not separate segments of shoppers.
One shopper can go through all 4 mindsets.
Therefore, you will see the speaker notes are carefully crafted so as to not suggest that these are different shoppers, just that what becomes important to the average shopper changes as the season moves forward.
Internal Note:
Refer to this go/Holiday2023 for a complete narrative on Retail Holiday B-level narrative. For C-level narrative, click here
Deliberate
Oct - Nov
December
Cyber
Post-Season
Deal-seeking
Determined
Devoted
These mindsets clearly align to reported shopping progression
By mid October, �~40% of shoppers already had at least 31% of their shopping complete
Cyber drove first meaningful lift
Average % completed went from 49% to 77% in December
Oct 13
Jan
Dec
Nov
average % holiday shopping complete
Deliberate
Deal-seeking
Determined
Devoted
Source: Google/Ipsos, Holiday Shopping Study, Oct 2022 – Jan 2023, Online survey, Base: Holiday Shoppers - Varies by week (n=624-1499)
Intentional holiday shopping starts right away
Deliberate
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Researched specific products/gifts
Got gift ideas
Looked for ratings �& reviews
1
2
3
Got gift ideas
Looked for ratings �& reviews
Discovered new products
1
2
3
SHOPPERS ARE
more likely to use YouTube than TikTok when holiday shopping
2x
Looking for more
competitive positioning?
Check out these slides or this US data sheet for additional comparisons for voice over or stat replacement.
Only
28%
of shoppers are
buying on impulse, with
+70%
planning ahead
Looking for more
competitive positioning?
Check out these slides or this US data sheet for additional comparisons for voice over or stat replacement.
Sources: Google/Ipsos, Holiday Shopping Study, Oct 2022 – Jan 2023, Online survey, Base: Holiday Shoppers - Used Source in the P2D -
Google (n=6702); YouTube (n=3740); Tik Tok (n=1861) Google Internal Data, Oct 2022 - Dec 2022
The Cyber shopper is ready to buy, on their terms.
Deal-seeking
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Source: (1) Google/Ipsos Essentials Study, Oct 6-10, 2022, US General Population, n=1003; (2) Google Ipsos Essentials Study, Nov 11-15, 2022, n=710
(3) Google/Ipsos Holiday Study, Holiday Shoppers during Black Friday - Cyber Monday, n=1475
Show up
In 2022, shoppers were
+24%
more likely to wait to buy gifts until they went on sale
Be frictionless
46%
found deal-hunting �to be time-consuming
Deliver excitement
83%
of Cyber shoppers �are in a positive mindset�(e.g. report feeling excited, enthusiastic, and generous)
The December shopper has so much to do, so little time
Determined
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Source: (1) Google/Ipsos Holiday Study, Base: Holiday Shoppers - Varies by week (n=624-1499)
(2) Google Internal Data, Dec 3-24 2022 vs Dec 3-24 2021
11%
17%
-6%
8%
9%
14%
5%
Searches�on Maps
-3%
-10%
-10%
-6%
-0%
-5%
BRAND
GENERIC
The average holiday�shopper says
half
of their shopping is�done after Cyber 5
Apparel
Beauty
Consumer Electronics
Footwear
Home + Garden
Jewelry
Occasions + Gifts
-3%
Self-Gifting behavior can create momentum into 2024
Devoted
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Source: Google/Ipsos Holiday Study, Oct - Dec 2022; (1) Base: Holiday Shopping Occasions, n=1829-4810, (2) Base: Planning to shop this year, n=710; (3) Base: Post-Holiday Shoppers, n=972
deliberate
deal-seeking
determined
devoted
Consumers are most likely to self-gift after Dec 25
share of shoppers buying for themselves
of post-Christmas shoppers
consider loyalty programs
in their decision
65%
of shoppers think the deals are better after the holidays than leading up to them
46%
most important to this mindset
most important to this mindset
Consumers will engage throughout the holiday season
Always on shopping and cross-channel browsing have become the norm
Source: Google/Ipsos, "Holiday Shopping Study" Oct 13 - Jan 4, Online survey, (1) Holiday Shoppers, n=7202; (2) Holiday Shopping Occasions - Purchases, n=10,507 (3) Google/Ipsos Essentials Survey, Sept 8-12, Started Early shoppers, n=287
of holiday season consumers are
“always on” shoppers
(largest segment of shoppers)
40%
of holiday shoppers shopped in �store this past holiday season. �Brick + mortar has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels
68%
of early holiday shoppers say they started their shopping earlier to spread out their spending
50%
Performance Max campaigns, your 2023 holiday solution
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Performance Max uses Google’s AI to drive results in 3 ways
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
1
Multiply your customer connections by finding new customers across all of Google channels & inventory��Access the full breadth of Google Ads inventory from a single campaign to engage customers for your specific goals - and use Google’s real-time understanding of consumers to show up in the right moments.
2
Multiply conversions� and conversion value by optimizing for the highest-ROI conversion opportunities��Your budget is optimized across channels in order to optimize for the highest value opportunities with the best of Google’s AI and attribution technology, customized to your business’s marketing objectives.
1
Multiply your expertise by sharing insights to help you answer strategic questions about your business��Understand how your AI is working and how you can improve your campaign. See which audiences, creatives, search trends, etc. are impacting performance. to show up in the right moments.
Serves across all surfaces while using your feed
*When bidding towards store visits, Beta only
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Wi-Fi the way it should be | Stream with speed | Google Nest Wifi for…
5 hr
30 min
.
Ad Made by Google
.
Gmail
Search
YouTube
Discover
Display
Shopping
Maps*
These mindsets clearly align to reported shopping progression
Cross-channel bidding�lets you optimize bids more effectively compared to single-channel bidding.
Your next highest-ROI conversion could come from a channel that you hadn’t considered. Put your goals and customers before channels to find more valuable conversions, no matter where they might be!
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Power More Conversions and Value through Cross-Channel Bid Optimization
Retailers that gradually tested and scaled Performance Max unlocked incremental revenue during the holiday season
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
“Performance Max helped us quickly react to changing shopping environments and maximize our sales during the days that we could deliver the strongest growth at our �ROAS goals."
Abe Hirsch, Sr. Performance Marketing Manager, Bombas AMER
“Testing Performance Max earlier in the year allowed us to confidently embrace AI-powered ads in time for the holiday season. We multiplied our sales revenue by 85% in spite of the uncertain economic scenario."
Eva Bossy, Head of Digital,�Chronopost EMEAbusiness’s �marketing objectives.
“We decided to approach it cautiously, starting with only a few SKUs. Eventually, we increased revenue by 32%, while freeing up time for our team to focus on other strategic priorities."
Philip Nguyen, VP of Growth,�Coco & Eve APAC
Holiday optimization with Performance �Max campaigns
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with.� The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Prepare and plan for the holiday season
Adjust Performance Max campaigns prior to peak holiday season to best reach customers and capture their demand throughout their holiday purchasing journey.
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Feature holiday products
Adjust bids & budgets
Holiday campaign �segmentation & creative optimization
Seasonality adjustments
Enable Final URL expansion
and more…
Bids and budgets
Frequent or large target changes should only be made due to business needs and won’t negatively impact the performance of your bid strategy.
However, it’s important to note that a major change in targets can have a similarly sized impact on spend or volume. Frequent changes, �not due to business needs, such as multiple times �a day attempting to overcorrect the algorithm are �not recommended.
Use Maximum Conversion Value bidding with a ROAS target for the bid strategy.
You don’t need to worry about a strategy resetting what it’s already learned about your account after changing your target.
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Conversion delay: Keep in mind that after a target change, it can take 1-2 conversion cycles to achieve the new target because of the delay in conversions.
Adjust bids and budgets for the holiday season
Adjust Performance Max campaign budgets and ROAS targets at least 4-6 weeks leading up to peak holiday periods in order to capture additional opportunities while maintaining efficiency goals.
CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Holiday campaign segmentation
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Avoid over segmenting campaigns as this could lead to reduced performance. (Only do so if your business goals require it).
Campaign structure
If you want to prioritize certain types of products during the holiday season, create a separate Performance Max campaign for those items.
Campaign #1
HOLIDAY MERCHANDISE
Campaign #2
HIGH MARGIN CATEGORIES
Campaign #3
EVERYTHING ELSE
For a new holiday campaign, start at least 2 weeks in advance to give it enough time to collect data and ramp up.
ACHIEVE HOLIDAY GOALS:
Setting a lower ROAS target can help maximize visibility for these products in the weeks leading up to peak periods when many people are browsing.
EXAMPLE
Performance Max trumps Shopping campaigns if targeted overlapping offers.
Optional Campaign #4
NCA ONLY
RETENTION
Optional Campaign #5
Optional Campaign #6
STORE GOALS
Adjust bids and budgets for the holiday season
Create a separate asset group for a special event or sale with products you would like to sell this holiday season.
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Upload creatives for holiday products in separate asset groups to avoid disrupting your evergreen products!
The more creative assets that you provide, the more improvement you will see in your performance.
On Sale
CREATIVE TIP:
Tip: If you have a promotional URL, use it as your "Destination URL" on your asset group.
Optimize creative assets
Highlight seasonal messaging and offerings (like promotions) within your headlines and descriptions.
Prioritize visual assets by using authentic, high-quality images that inspire people to engage with your brand and avoid overly staged �stock photography.
Check more detailed creative best practices here
PRO TIP
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Optimize creative assets - videos
Upload custom video assets that are aligned to your brand guidelines and messaging. Video builder tool can�also help you create video assets �under a few minutes. overly staged stock photography.
Source: Google data, Global, November 2022
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Note: Performance Max may auto-generate video assets based on uploaded text/image assets or GMC feed images if there is no uploaded video assets.
Set up Promotion Extensions
Schedule them: Set up promotion extensions ahead of time and use Extension scheduling (under Advanced Options) to control when the extensions will show
Use Occasion labels: When it makes sense, select an Occasion label to bring additional prominence to your promotion
Add at the account level: If possible, add promotion extensions to the account level to ensure coverage across all your campaigns
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Seasonality adjustments
If you have a promotion or sale, you might see drastic changes in conversion rates (CVR) or values and it may take up to one conversion cycle for Smart Bidding to adjust. Use seasonal adjustments only for short, infrequent events, where you expect a temporary (<7 days) but significant change (e.g. >30%) in conversion rates.
EXAMPLES
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Enable Final URL expansion and auto created assets expand your reach
URL expansion allows our machine learning to select the best landing page that will drive the best performance based on customer intent and increase the potential auctions your Performance Max campaign can participate in.
Automatically created assets further improves the relevance �of text assets through tailored headlines and descriptions, �which are extracted from landing pages or from existing ads within the account, and shows them when predicted to�improve performance.
Why Final URL expansion and Automatically created assets?
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Note: You cannot have final URL expansion setting on with automatically created text assets setting off. Final URL expansion is not available to campaigns that only optimize to store goals.
Feature holiday products with custom labels
Add custom labels in the feed to signal that a product is high priority - for example: “bestseller”, “high margin”, “trending”, “holiday product”.
Remember to set ROAS goals based on what will yield the highest profit. Consider cost of goods sold and customer lifetime value.
Use the labels to segment these products into a separate campaign with a separate budget.
Use a different ROAS target (or use Max conv. value) to hit your holiday goals for these products. A lower ROAS goal will allow for increased visibility.
1
2
3
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Proprietary + Confidential
Schedule your asset groups with Automated rules
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Additional Tips for the Holiday Season
Campaign level conversion goals
To optimize towards different business objectives, such as new customer acquisition and/or store visits, use
campaign level
conversion goals.
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Additional Tips for the Holiday Season
ONLINE SALES
NEW CUSTOMER ACQUISITION
OMNICHANNEL SALES
OFFLINE ONLY
Campaign level conversion goals
You can upload your data segments, such as an email list of last year’s holiday shoppers using Customer Match, or utilize Google audiences such as Holiday & seasonal items, Personalized gifts, etc
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Additional Tips for the Holiday Season
Audience Signals is built to help advertisers speed up the campaign learning period while also steering automation with the best of Google's automated targeting technology.
PRO TIP
The power of Google automated targeting
Your own Audiences Signals*
Exclusive to Performance Max
Conversion value rules
Performance Max allows you to optimize to one or more goals from a single campaign. You can assign different values to your conversions, so you can ensure that automation optimizes towards the goals that will drive the highest ROI.
Better reflect your business’ ground truth & optimize to what matters, like revenue, profit, LTV, audience, or geo
Improve reporting and optimization directly from the Google Ads UI, without having to change tagging code
Optimize for nuanced values in real-time with Target ROAS and Performance Max campaigns
Additional Tips for the Holiday Season
OPTIMIZE TO YOUR TRUE BUSINESS GOALS
SIMPLIFIED MANAGEMENT
REAL-TIME OPTIMIZATION
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
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Enable Enhanced conversions for more accurate conversion measurement
Email*
Name*
Buy
jane.doe@gmail.com
Jane Doe
Buy
Buy
Email address is anonymized �and securely matched against anonymized Google login data.
xxxx.xxx@gmail.com
Conversion reported in Google Ads
Purchase on website
Signed in user base
jane.doe@gmail.com
1 Google Data based on Enhanced Conversions customers onboarded between March ‘21 - September ‘21
Additional Tips for the Holiday Season
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Proprietary + Confidential
Holiday Ready Feed Optimization and
Best practices
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with.
The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
Optimize your feed health ahead of the holidays
The quality of your campaign is only as good as the information you provide to your potential customers.
Source: Google/Ipsos, "Holiday Shopping Study" Oct 13 - Jan 4, Online survey, (1) Holiday Shoppers, n=7202; (2) Holiday Shopping Occasions - Purchases, n=10,507 (3) Google/Ipsos Essentials Survey, Sept 8-12, Started Early shoppers, n=287
Optimize your titles
Optimize your descriptions
Add more products
Fix disapproved offers
Fix GMC account suspension
Set up Shopping annotations
Use custom labels
Optimize your images
Add recommended attributes
Fix disapproved offers
Source: Google/Ipsos, "Holiday Shopping Study" Oct 13 - Jan 4, Online survey, (1) Holiday Shoppers, n=7202; (2) Holiday Shopping Occasions - Purchases, n=10,507 (3) Google/Ipsos Essentials Survey, Sept 8-12, Started Early shoppers, n=287
1
Check your GMC feed overview page often and fix disapproved products with this onboarding guide. Follow the steps here to request a review if you’ve either fixed the issue or you disagree with the issue.
Fix GMC account suspension
2
If you notice a warning in your Merchant Center account, you can manually request a review during the earning period to prevent Merchant Center account suspensions.�(HC article)
Note: In some cases when an egregious account-level issue is detected, no warning is given and the account is suspended immediately.
Add more products
Making more products available to serve in Smart Shopping campaign ads will improve performance by making more data available, in addition to enabling more personalization.
3
In Europe, Smart Shopping campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
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Optimize your titles
Basic naming structure: Brand + Product type + Attributes
4
Samsung 88” Smart LED TV with 4K 3D Curved Screen (UN88JS9500)
EXAMPLES
Brand + Gender + Product type + Attributes �(color, size, material)
Brand + Attribute + Product type + Model #
Recommended structure
Bestop Supertop w/ 2 Piece Soft Doors & Clear Windows - Jeep Soft Tops, Tan, 58” 47” 35”
Best practices for product titles per vertical
Basic naming structure: Brand + Product + Attributes (color, size, weight)
Apparel | Brand + Gender + Product type + Attributes (color, size, style, material) | Ann Taylor Women’s Black Slacks Size 6 |
Consumable or nutritional goods | Brand + Product type + Attributes (flavor, quantity, weight, count) | TwinLab Super CoQ10, 50 mg, 60 caps |
CE or Hard goods | Brand (manufacturer) + Product type + Attributes (size, weight) + Model# | Target, Patio Wicker Chair Set, Brown, 4-Piece |
Televisions electronics | Brand (manufacturer) + Attribute +Product + Model # Brand +Product + Attribute + Model # | Vizio 52” TV, Black, #A783x63 |
Seasonal/Holiday | Occasion + Product type + Attributes (color, size, weight) | College Grad 2013 Storage Box Gift, Silver |
If product is….
Use this structure:
Example
4
Use feed rules to optimize titles
Use Google Trends tool to keep up to date with terms shoppers are searching for and adjust your titles, descriptions, and campaigns accordingly. You can� compare search terms across �preferred times and locations,� multiple search terms, import �or export trends data, and �so much more!
4
Optimize your feeds | Use Google Trends for Search
Append and prepend to include relevant information in bare titles
(e.g. prepend brand, append color and size).
Find & replace to search for keywords or strings which you want to replace for business or optimization related reasons.
E.g. Add brand, color, size to existing title values
E.g. Replace ‘re-manufactured’ with ‘refurbished’
4
Optimize your description
5
Think of your product description as your “ad”
FEED RULE APPLY
Fuji Men's Road Bike 46CM Black
Aluminum frame bike for easy riding and consistent speed. Ideal for both new and intermediate cyclists. Fits riders between 5ft 6in and 5ft 10in.
$299.00 from AcmeBikes
10 seller reviews
+25.00 shipping. No tax
Shop
Summer T-shirt for Kids MHC
Stylish and high-quality children's clothes made with an ethical approach. Onesies, t-shirts, and shoes tested and loved by our own happy kids.
$20.00 from MHC
10 seller reviews
+5.00 shipping. No tax
Shop
Add as much relevant information as you can. Add relevant keywords and info from your landing page.
Optimize your images
6
“A picture is worth a thousand words”
FEED RULE APPLY
Fuji Men's Road Bike 46CM Black
Aluminum frame bike for easy riding and consistent speed. Ideal for both new and intermediate cyclists. Fits riders between 5ft 6in and 5ft 10in.
$299.00 from AcmeBikes
10 seller reviews
+25.00 shipping. No tax
Shop
Summer T-shirt for Kids MHC
Stylish and high-quality children's clothes made with an ethical approach. Onesies, t-shirts, and shoes tested and loved by our own happy kids.
$20.00 from MHC
10 seller reviews
+5.00 shipping. No tax
Shop
High quality image
Add recommended attributes
7
FEED RULE APPLY
Add recommended attributes
7
Adding optional data makes
it easier to shoppers to evaluate the products to offer
Add recommended attributes as columns to your product feed.
Add the information required for extensions such as product ratings, shipping, and sale price.
Use custom labels
8
Use custom label columns to segment your campaigns
Specify your best sellers with a custom label in the feed, and create a campaign with only your best selling products.
Segment your products by profit margin by adding a custom label in the feed.
Example Product Feed
FOR EXAMPLE
OR
Tip: there’s a limit of 5 custom labels per account, so each should have the purpose of targeting �one campaign.
Use custom labels
Use feed rules & supplemental feeds to unlock new opportunities
Use feed rules OR supplemental feeds to populate promotion id for retail promotions.
Use feed rules OR supplemental feeds to populate custom labels for campaigns.
E.g. Populate brand conditionally using rules
E.g. Populate brand using supp feeds, MySuppFeed.brand
E.g. Populate custom label 0 conditionally using rules
E.g. Populate custom label 1 using supp feeds, MySuppCLFeed.custom label 0
8
Example of a high-quality shopping ad
Summer T-shirt for Kids MHC
Stylish and high-quality children's clothes made with an ethical approach. Onesies, t-shirts, and shoes tested and loved by our own happy kids.
$20.00 from MHC
10 seller reviews
+5.00 shipping. No tax
Shop
Add as much relevant information as you can. Add relevant keywords. Info from landing page
Title includes brand, gender, product type, size, and color
Accurate price, including tax, and shipping
Ratings and reviews
High quality image
8
Set up Shopping annotations
9
In CSS Program Countries, Performance Max campaigns can be used with any Comparison Shopping Service (CSS) you work with. The ads will show on general Search results pages and on any other surfaces the CSS has opted in to.
7.6% CTR uplift
12.3% CVR uplift2
5% CTR uplift1
5-10% CTR uplift
28% CVR uplift2
Source 1: Internal Google data. Product ratings: July 2014-2020, Source 2: Merchant Promotions / Sale price: Nov 2019 - Feb 2020
3% Conv Value uplift
(30-d return policy)
2% CVR uplift