Glossary
Google Shopping Ads
Google Shopping Ads (formerly Product Listing Ads or PLAs) are visual product advertisements that appear on Google Search, the Shopping tab, Google Images, and partner sites. Unlike text-based search ads, Shopping Ads display a product image, title, price, store name, and optional ratings — giving shoppers critical purchase information before they click. Advertisers provide product data through the Google Merchant Center feed and campaigns are structured as Standard Shopping (manual control) or Performance Max (AI-driven, multi-channel). Google matches Shopping Ads to queries based on product feed attributes rather than keyword targeting, making feed optimization — accurate titles, GTINs, high-quality images, competitive pricing — the central lever for performance. Shopping Ads typically deliver higher CTRs and conversion rates than text ads for ecommerce and retail because the visual format pre-qualifies clicks by showing the product upfront.