3 Smart Ways to Make Your Product Feed Work Harder for Google Ads ⚙️

If you treat your product feed like a one‑and‑done chore, you’re leaving money on the table. I’ve seen it over and over: companies plug in their feed, hit “go,” and hope for the best. But the truth is – a product feed is not just data. It’s the fuel that drives your shopping ads, your visibility, and ultimately, your sales.

Below are three powerful strategies to optimize your product feed so that every ad dollar works smarter – not harder.

Why Your Feed Matters – Now More Than Ever

Your product feed powers more than just Google Shopping ads. It influences every part of your online advertising stack – from search and shopping ads to platform placements like social channels, marketplaces, and even emerging AI‑driven product discovery.

If your feed is incomplete – missing descriptions, attributes, or rich data – you’re sabotaging your own potential. The algorithm doesn’t guess what you miss. You’ve got to tell it, clearly and precisely.

So don’t treat the feed as a “set‑and‑forget” item. Treat it like a living asset.

1. Don’t “Set and Forget” – Feed Optimisation Needs Ongoing Attention 🛠️

A common mindset among e‑commerce teams: “We’ve uploaded the feed, we’re done.” But in 2025? That approach doesn’t fly. Feed optimisation is absolutely still relevant – if not more important than ever.

To get the most out of your feed:

• Fill out every relevant attribute – include descriptive details: size, color, material, dimensions, brand name, product category, etc. These attributes act as the “keywords” for shopping feeds.
• Don’t rely on default CMS output. Many e‑commerce platforms fill only the bare minimum, which may hamper performance across Google Ads – and even SEO or placements on other platforms.
• Update regularly – prices change, stock changes, product variations come and go. If your feed doesn’t reflect that – your ads could deliver a bad user experience (wrong price, out-of-stock, misrepresentation).

A neglected feed = a poorly performing campaign. Treat your feed like your top salesperson – constantly updating, optimizing, and pushing the right info out.

2. Stop Relying Solely on Your CMS – Consider a Dedicated Feed‑Management Tool 🧰

If your feed lives only in your CMS (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, etc.), you’re limiting control. I recommend using a purpose-built feed‑management tool for serious campaigns. For example, some pros use tools like Shoptimised – pulling data via API, cleaning it up, enriching entries, and structuring feeds differently depending on the destination platform (Google Shopping, Meta, Pinterest, etc.).

Here’s why that pays off:

• Flexibility & testing – you can A/B‑test different title structures, descriptions, even exclude brand names in some feeds and include in others. This helps you see what works best (e.g. better click‑through, better conversion rate).
• Scalability – when dealing with hundreds or thousands of SKUs, manual edits become impossible. Automated tools let you apply rules across entire catalogs in minutes.
• Optimization loops – you can even feed performance data back into the tool to automatically adjust which products get budget, visibility or prioritization based on real performance.

If your website is built for conversions – make sure your feed is built for the algorithm.

3. Prioritize What Actually Sells – Be Smart With Feed + Budget, Not Just Volume 💡

Here’s something many e‑commerce brands miss: not all products are equal. If you have, say, 30,000 SKUs and a modest ad budget, you don’t want that budget spread evenly across everything. That’s pennies per product – and many SKUs end up wasting ad spend.

So instead of pushing ads for every item:

• Identify your best-performing SKUs – the ones that sell frequently, have good margins, or get consistent conversions.
• Exclude or de-prioritize “zombie” SKUs – products that hardly ever sell or have poor returns. No sense spending ad budget there.
• Structure campaigns strategically – group products by performance potential, category, seasonality – and let the feed + bidding logic prioritize spend where it matters most.

This way, your limited budget works as smart as possible.

Bringing It All Together – Feed + Strategy = Growth 📈

Let’s recap the magic triangle:

When these three work together – you get better visibility, improved ad performance, higher conversions, and importantly – more return on ad spend (ROAS).

💡 Bonus: a great feed doesn’t just help Google Ads. It boosts your presence across Meta, Pinterest, other ad platforms – even helps SEO and organic product discovery. 

Final Thoughts 🎯

Too many businesses treat feed management as a “set and forget” chore – that’s a huge mistake. If you want your Google Ads to deliver real value, the feed must be treated as a strategic asset.

Invest in good data. Use the right tools. Prioritize what matters. Optimize. Test. Repeat.

If you follow the strategies above – your feed won’t just “exist.” It will work for you. It will attract the right eyes, drive clicks, AND – most importantly – drive conversions and sales.

Think of your feed as your backbone. Strengthen it, treat it with care, and watch how your shopping ads start delivering real, measurable growth.

(P.S. If you want help auditing your product feed, improving your data structure or building better Shopping campaigns – just say the word. Always happy to help.)