The feed is the ad. So the audit reads the feed.
In Shopping and Performance Max, nobody writes the ad: Google builds it from the product feed and decides where it runs. These 17 checks read what the feed holds back, what the listing groups shut out, and where the money went.
- 17 checks
- Merchant Center read
- Performance Max by channel
The 17 checks in this area. As the app names them.
17Checks listed here
Structure
How it is built and set
A listing group shutting most of the catalogue out
A listing group that shuts most of the catalogue out. A product excluded from every group can never show, whatever its margin.
A listing group shutting most of the catalogue out: How it decides and what to doAsset groups with no search theme
Asset groups with no search theme, the one place you tell Performance Max in words what the group is for. Audience signals do not replace it.
Asset groups with no search theme: How it decides and what to doPerformance Max buying queries the Search campaigns already bid on
Performance Max matching queries your Search campaigns already bid on. The credit moves to Performance Max, and Search looks worse for work it used to do.
Performance Max buying queries the Search campaigns already bid on: How it decides and what to doPerformance Max with no negative keyword list
Performance Max with no negative keyword list attached. The list the account keeps for Search is usually never attached here.
Performance Max with no negative keyword list: How it decides and what to doPerformance Max with nothing stopping it buying your brand
Performance Max with no brand exclusion list. Left alone it wins your own name cheaply and books those sales as its own, while brand Search falls.
Performance Max with nothing stopping it buying your brand: How it decides and what to doProducts held back by something in the feed
Products limited by an error or a warning in the feed, such as a missing colour, gender or age group. They still sell, in fewer places, and the regions affected are named.
Products held back by something in the feed: How it decides and what to doProducts that cannot appear at all
Products marked not eligible, which never enter the auction and so never appear in any report. Named so someone fixes them in Merchant Center.
Products that cannot appear at all: How it decides and what to doThe part of the catalogue that got no impression lately
The share of the catalogue that got no impression lately. Reported as a fact: some is discontinued, some overpriced, some the next thing to sell.
The part of the catalogue that got no impression lately: How it decides and what to do
Spend
Where the money goes
A ROAS target set without knowing the margin
A ROAS target set without a known margin. Prints the margin at which that target breaks even, so you see at once whether it is ambitious or quietly losing money.
A ROAS target set without knowing the margin: How it decides and what to doA whole catalogue bid at one price
A Shopping campaign bidding the whole catalogue at one price, so a €4 item and a €400 item compete with the same bid and the cheap ones win the traffic.
A whole catalogue bid at one price: How it decides and what to doSmall searches for things the products never mention
Small searches for things the products never mention, added up by theme. Each search is too small to notice; together they are a share of the spend.
Small searches for things the products never mention: How it decides and what to doSpend piled into a handful of products
Spend piled into a few products, usually the cheapest ones, because a low price wins more auctions. Shows where the money went and what came back.
Spend piled into a handful of products: How it decides and what to doWhere a Performance Max budget actually went
Where a Performance Max budget went across Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover and Maps. Flags a network that took most of the money, so you can check what it brought back.
Where a Performance Max budget actually went: How it decides and what to do
Ads
What people see
A promotion still in the ads after it ended
A promotion asset still showing after its offer ended, so the ad keeps advertising a sale that is over.
A promotion still in the ads after it ended: How it decides and what to doAsset groups Google rates below Good
Asset groups Google rates below Good, usually because they lack headlines, images or videos Google could use.
Asset groups Google rates below Good: How it decides and what to doAsset groups holding less than Google can use
Asset groups with fewer headlines, images or videos than Google can use. A group with four images cannot appear where six are needed.
Asset groups holding less than Google can use: How it decides and what to doVideos Google made and ran under your name
Videos Google built from your images and text because the asset group had none, running on YouTube under your name. Read from the asset's source, not guessed.
Videos Google made and ran under your name: How it decides and what to do
Performance Max, opened up. The parts Google's reports do not put in one place.
Where the budget went
The split across Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube and Gmail, for every Performance Max campaign, with the network that took most of the money.
Your brand, kept out
Without a brand exclusion list, Performance Max wins your own name cheaply and claims those sales. Oppy adds the exclusion once Search covers your brand.
Asset groups with enough to use
Groups thin on headlines, images or video, rated below Good, or with no search theme.
Videos you did not make
With no video in a group, Google builds one from your images and runs it on YouTube under your name. The audit reads the asset's source.
The catalogue nobody counts.
A product marked not eligible never enters the auction, so it never shows up in a report. A product limited by a missing colour or age group still sells, in fewer places. A listing group can exclude most of a catalogue and nothing tells you the total.
The audit counts all three, names the products and the regions affected, and turns each into a task for whoever owns the feed. Product titles can be rewritten through a supplemental source in Merchant Center once you approve, with the feed's own titles kept to put back.
Questions about Shopping.
Anything else? Ask Oppy in the product, or write to the team.
Does the audit need Merchant Center?
No. The audit reads product status and warnings through Google Ads, so the feed checks run without it. Connecting Merchant Center adds price comparison, product title rewrites and Shopping promotions.
Can Oppy build a Shopping campaign?
Yes. It can build a Standard Shopping campaign as a paused draft, with a bid per product group, for you to review before it runs.
Can I see Performance Max's search terms?
The audit reads the searches Performance Max bought, by category, and flags the ones your Search campaigns were already built for.
Put Oppy to work on your account.
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