Is it Google Ads, Google Adwords, or Google Shopping?

There is no other way to say it, Google is everywhere. We search, communicate, and shop with Google constantly. It’s amazing that even when one of the biggest companies in the world makes a name change, it still takes a long time to catch on.

In 2018, Google rebranded AdWords as “Google Ads” and merged the other advertising products into Google Marketing Platform and Google Ad Manager.

Why? So that small businesses can get a leg up against big business in PPC ads with cutting edge technology and machine learning.

So What is Google Ads?

Google Ads was formerly Google AdWords. Google is trying to lift up stores and small businesses so they can compete with the large shopping channels. Where are these ads placed? All across partner pages, video, search, and more.

What is Google Shopping?

You’ve probably seen Google Shopping Campaigns when you are searching to buy an item. These ads are Google Shopping, but sometimes they are managed by agencies with advanced filters and monitoring. Though these ads perform well, Google Smart Shopping Campaigns often outperform those managed by agencies. These ads have good CTR because they are visual friendly, straight forward, and often are more transparent than Google text ads.

sport socks in black and white on google shopping ads

Google introduced Smart Campaigns

The new Google Ads platform makes it easier to do ppc – but Smart Campaigns are a whole different level of convenient. Google Smart Shopping campaigns are a type of Google Ads that connect your product feed and assets with Google’s machine learning. The Google systems pull from product feeds and test different combinations then show the relevant ads across Google Search, Display, Youtube, and Gmail.

Starting with Smart Campaigns

Starting with Smart Campaigns can be a little bit confusing. That being said there are services that set up the required accounts (outside of your ecommerce store) for you within a few minutes.

Ecommerce Store
Google Ads account
Google Merchant center
Conversion tracking with transaction-specific values
Global site tag on your website
Remarketing list of over 100 active users with your account

The best part of these campaigns is that you can run them without being a pay-per-click guru. *Note, there are services that will set up the accounts and conversion tracking setup for you.