This guide breaks down when to run Performance Max vs Standard Shopping, and how to combine both.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1AADk8pMKE
| Factor | PMax | Standard Shopping |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage (Shopping vs All Google Properties) | Runs on all Google surfaces: Shopping, Search, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail. | Just Shopping |
| Data Needs & Control | Performs best with conversion history (50-100+ conversions/mo). Struggles with fresh accounts. | In our setup, Standard Shopping is the LP campaign for wasters. It starts paused and never gets a target. |
| Scaling & Learning Curve | Scales faster by auto-expanding audiences & placements, but ROAS usually dips as spend grows. | Scales slower but gives you more stable ROAS if managed properly. |
| Campaign | Job |
|---|---|
| PMax All Products Feed Only | The main product campaign. Shopping ads match searches from product data, not a list of positive keywords. |
| Standard Shopping | The small campaign for products with high spend and low return. Use it when you need product-group cost-per-click control and search-term exclusions. Targeting still comes from product data, not positive keywords. |
| Brand Search | Ads for people who search for your store name. |
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We create all three paused. Standard Shopping starts when there are enough products with high spend and low return, usually around EUR 300 or more spent on products that do not sell.
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Later product boosters use PMax: Winner and New Products. They do not replace Standard Shopping.