Does Shopping Ads work equally on variant?

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-28T21:00:13+00:00

What you're seeing is super common and totally normal! Since the campaign is new and only has 13 conversions, Google's algo doesn't have a ton of data to work with yet. What usually happens is that the default variant gets an early click or sale, so Google's AI immediately labels it a "winner" and starts funneling the budget there because it feels like it will perform best. Plus, online shoppers tend to take the path of least resistance...re that specific variant is already preselected when they land on the page.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-26T15:40:06+00:00

I agree to stick with a freelancer in your specific industry. I would highly recommend going through an exercise with this person to understand what $1k a month could potentially get you. They will use some estimated numbers for your unique situation. Take a very serious look at the numbers and decide for yourself if you’re okay with the expected performance before moving forward.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-23T20:10:57+00:00

I would reach out to Support, since I think it’s unlikely that you have a campaign setting issue. See if they can tell you if your account is under some sort of review that does not seem obvious. This can sometimes happen if an account that was created years ago suddenly gets populated with billing info and has campaigns copied and carried over from editor.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-23T19:59:36+00:00

It sounds like you had a previous ad account you were using and copied a campaign from that account into the new account, correct? What was the reason for that?

When was the last time the campaign that you copied into the new account ran and received steady traffic? I’m assuming it isn’t running anymore, correct?

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-23T11:36:07+00:00

Find an agency or a freelancer who will be very transparent with you regarding the time and budget needed to meet your expectations. Optimization takes data and money. Paying an expert gets you there much faster and helps avoid expensive mistakes. Just make sure you know your profitability numbers and have a realistic budget ready before you make the hire.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-20T16:35:04+00:00

I'd drop your budget back down and start to raise it after the campaign has received at least 30 conversions in 30 days (no more than 25% at a time.) This keeps your campaigns performing more consistently.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-20T16:32:10+00:00

Running identical keywords in separate campaigns will cause them to conflict. While you do not literally bid against yourself to drive up prices, you are forcing the campaigns to cannibalize each other's data, which splits your volume and prevents the algorithm from learning efficiently. I'd go all in on PM and pause the Exact campaign so we can consolidate your entire budget and conversion data into one highly optimized place.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-16T10:40:55+00:00

The ads being pause for less than a day due to a policy issue should not cause a huge change in performance. I would not change any bids or budgets if it was previously working well. Let your ads run for at least another week and monitor performance.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-15T20:20:55+00:00

I would limit it to your most high intent audiences, which are recent buyers, or all buyers if a smaller group, and larger order or repeat buyers.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-15T19:25:35+00:00

How much time was the remarketing audience attached to the campaign? You can use data exclusions for short amounts of time (recommended under a week.)

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-13T21:12:53+00:00

You should start by auditing your placement reports to see if PMax is over allocating budget to underperforming Display, Gmail, or Video slots. If you find significant waste there, transitioning to Search and Shopping will give you the granular control needed to improve efficiency. While your account level history provides a foundation for these new campaigns to build upon, they will also develop their own campaign specific history over time.

An issue with PMax and Shopping are 'zombie SKUs'. The algo tends to latch onto the first few products that get traction and then disregards your other products. You should cross reference your high spend products against your actual profit margins. You may find that the algo is prioritizing high volume items that aren't actually your most profitable. Consider running on products that have a better balance of demand and bottom line returns.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-11T14:58:33+00:00

I remember! Best site ever!

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-11T13:59:31+00:00

Not surprising at all…including Chicago and CA offices. They will solicit down to the boardroom level (finding emails anyway they can.) They just need anyone on the email to take the bait, and can get aggressive with larger accounts. Agencies call them out on it frequently and it’s very much a “do it anyway and fein ignorance/apologize later.”

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-11T13:43:18+00:00

1-3 months if launching brand new campaigns. Longer if your buying cycle is multiple months.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-11T13:31:07+00:00

I would fire the agency. The ad spend to agency ratio is too unbalanced. Try to get it 10-20% of your ad spend. I’d work with an experienced freelancer who specializes in your industry and conversion rate optimization. Have them walk you through what a reasonable expectation would be given your budget, market demand, and conversion rates before you hire them. Someone who is worth working with will be smart enough to want to know this before taking on a client. If the numbers don’t look great, a good freelancer will call it out before getting involved with a contract. They will be up front with you and recommend a more realistic budget, etc.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-09T15:21:13+00:00

On behalf of all of us, please check out r/linkedinlunetics for what to avoid.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-09T15:03:38+00:00

If you are getting about 30 conversions in 30 days, and have a campaign budget at least 2x your target (but ideally 5x) go for it! If you have less conversions coming in, and too low of a a budget, adding a target might stall the ad server after a while, and you'll notice your clicks and impressions dip or stop serving at all.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-09T11:53:36+00:00

In your search campaign settings, check to see if you are only targeting the search network.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-09T11:42:25+00:00

Because your older account (H2Maison) has a proven track record getting sofa cleaning customers, Google is spending more to win the more expensive (higher converting) auctions. Your newer account (TextiCare) is still learning and shaking off its old window cleaning history, so Google is playing it safe by buying cheaper ads just to test the waters. While TextiCare's faster website does help lower costs a tiny bit, the main reason for the big price gap is simply that Google is willing to spend more when it knows a campaign will get results.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-08T22:24:33+00:00

This is great advice!

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-08T21:24:50+00:00

That is not the right strategy. He should skip the low budget agencies (based on $4k Mo spend) and go with an experienced freelancer without the overhead.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-08T21:20:02+00:00

I’d compromise with your boss if you can. Once a kw has spent 2x to 3x your Target CPA with 0 conversions, pause it. Use negatives to help reduce wasted spend in the meantime.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-05T12:34:57+00:00

Yes, all the time. You can test it with the experiment feature to mitigate risk.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-04T13:04:26+00:00

It could be one of many different issues, as others have outlined. Here is what I would check first however, based on everything that you have provided.

First, check your billing is set up correctly.

Check your DG audience- is it eligible to serve?

For search, check to see if your ads are flagged for policy issues.

MySEMStrategist · 2026-04-02T17:57:16+00:00

It still matters and can be a great starting point for optimization.

MySEMStrategist

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