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Google Ads · Search, Shopping, Performance Max
Google Ads for online stores: the user is searching — you pay only when it is worth it
UpCommerce is a Google Ads agency in Greece for online stores and for any business that wants customers from search: Search, Shopping, Performance Max, YouTube and Demand Gen. From the product feed in Merchant Center and conversion measurement to scaling the budget on the margin of each product group — by a team managing €2M+ in advertising budget a year, for Greek stores and for international brands selling into Greece.
Campaign types
Search, Shopping, Performance Max, YouTube — what each one does for an online store
Google Ads is not one thing. It is four or five networks with different logic, and the most common cause of wasted budget is treating them as one. Below, what each one does and when it enters the sequence.
The user types “kids bike 16 inch” and you appear. The cleanest intent signal there is. We separate brand from generic terms, because they cost and return completely differently — and one must not hide the other.
Image, price, store, before the click. It runs off the Merchant Center feed, not off keywords. Here the winner is whoever has correct titles, clean images and a price that survives comparison.
Performance Max runs across all of Google’s networks based on conversions and the feed — powerful when measurement is right, blind when it is not. YouTube and Demand Gen come in when you want to reach people who are not searching yet.
The product feed
Why the feed is half of Google Ads for an online store
Shopping and Performance Max read your feed, not your site. Whatever is missing from the feed — an attribute, a GTIN, a category — does not exist for Google. That is why the work in Merchant Center comes before any campaign.
Products disapproved for price, availability or policy appear nowhere. We check disapprovals every week and set the feed up to update automatically from the store.
The title “Top 1234” does not sell. Brand, type, colour, size, material — in the order the user types them. Custom labels to split products by margin and stock.
A price difference between feed and site means a disapproval or, worse, a paid click for a product that is not there. Shipping costs and delivery times are declared correctly, because Google shows them next to the price.
How we work a Google Ads account for an online store
Conversions with order value, Enhanced Conversions, Consent Mode v2, links to GA4 and Merchant Center. If the account is already running, we first look at what is measured wrong — that is usually where the biggest gain hides.
Campaigns are split by what each product group can afford: high margin, best sellers, clearance, brand. Performance Max gets separate asset groups per group, not one for everything.
Target ROAS per group based on its margin, negative keywords refreshed, tests on copy, images and audiences. Every change dated, so we know what brought what.
Budget goes up where cost per order stays inside the margin and gets cut where it does not. The report shows the numbers per campaign and what changes next month — and your account manager walks you through it.
Common mistakes
The six mistakes that burn budget in an online store’s Google Ads
We see them in almost every account we audit before taking it on. None of them needs a bigger budget to fix — they need structure, measurement and a little discipline.
One Performance Max for the whole store
The algorithm goes where it sells most easily: brand searches and cheap products. The rest of the store never sees budget, and you see a “good ROAS” that changes nothing.
Conversions that are not sales
Add to cart, page view, button click — all counted as conversions. The algorithm optimises for those, not for orders, and the cost per sale climbs without you noticing.
Brand terms inside generic campaigns
Whoever searches your name would have bought anyway. When those clicks land in the same bucket as generic ones, the campaign looks profitable and the real return is hidden.
Negative keywords never refreshed
“Free”, “used”, “how to make”, competitor names, wrong products. Without a negative list that grows every week, Search pays for queries that will never buy.
A feed with disapprovals and wrong prices
Twenty percent of the catalogue disapproved in Merchant Center means twenty percent fewer products in Shopping. And a price that differs from the site means a click you pay for and a customer who leaves.
Google Ads alone, without Skroutz and without email
For a Greek store with products, the same shopper compares on Skroutz before or after Google. And an order that came from Google is worth double when an email automation brings the next one. See Skroutz Ads →
Google Ads together with Meta, Skroutz and email — not alone
Google captures the demand that exists; Meta creates it. When they run together, brand search rises and the cost on Search falls. Meta Ads for online stores →
For products Greek shoppers compare, Skroutz is often a cheaper click than Shopping — and the reverse in other categories. We measure both in the same currency and split accordingly. Skroutz Ads →
The customer who cost money on Google should buy again without a new click. Abandoned cart, welcome, win-back: email marketing for online stores →
Google Ads is the first channel for most online stores, not the only one. How we measure all channels together: performance marketing agency →
Results
Google Ads measured in revenue, with names
The clients' own numbers, for the period each case study describes. All case studies →
Growth Partner Program
For online stores: Google & social ads with a dedicated account manager, monitoring two or three times a week or daily, and strategic time every month.
Growth Partner Program →Bespoke DMS
For businesses without an online store: Google Ads aimed at calls, forms and appointments — same team, different goal.
Bespoke DMS →Skroutz Ads
Sponsored Products, Brand Page and Video Ads inside Skroutz, by the first certified Skroutz Partner Agency.
Skroutz Ads →Meta Ads for online stores
Facebook & Instagram ads: prospecting, retargeting, catalog ads and creative that gets tested.
Meta Ads →Performance marketing agency
All channels measured in cost per new customer — the umbrella under which Google Ads runs.
Performance marketing →Already running Google Ads?
Start with an audit, not with new budget
In the 30-minute intro call we open the account together: structure, conversions, feed, negative keywords. In most cases we find what to fix before another euro is spent — and we tell you whether a partnership is worth it at all. The team that will run it →
If you want a written, independent audit of your ad accounts by a consultant — without the agency taking over execution afterwards — that is done by John Kiskipelis, separately. Ads audit →
Frequently asked questions about Google Ads for online stores
What does Google Ads management include?
Setting up and auditing measurement (conversions, Consent Mode, GA4), account structure by product group and margin, feed and Merchant Center, copy and images, bidding and negative keywords, monitoring two or three times a week or daily depending on the level, and a monthly report from your account manager.
How much does advertising on Google cost?
Google Ads charges per click, at a price set by auction that changes by keyword, category and season. How much budget you need does not come from a general rule but from your margin and the cost per click in your category. We work it out together in the intro call, with your own numbers.
Search, Shopping or Performance Max — what does an online store need?
Usually all three, but not at the same time from day one. Shopping and brand Search start first because they carry the cleanest intent signal. Performance Max and YouTube are added when the account’s numbers justify it. YouTube and Demand Gen follow, if the product can carry them.
Do I need Google Merchant Center?
Yes, for Shopping and Performance Max it is essential: that is where your product feed lives. We set it up or fix it, connect the feed to the store so it updates automatically, and watch the disapprovals — because a disapproved product is a product that is not advertised.
How fast does Google Ads bring results?
Search and Shopping give the first data within days and stabilise in four to six weeks, once bidding has learned. Performance Max needs more time and more orders. In an account that is already running, corrections to measurement and structure show faster.
Google Ads or Skroutz for a Greek online store?
It is not “or”. The same customer can start on Google and compare on Skroutz, or the other way round. In some categories the Skroutz click is cheaper, in others Shopping. We measure both at the same cost per order and split the budget accordingly — which is why the agency runs both.
Do I pay a percentage of the advertising budget?
No. The agency’s fee is monthly, per level of cadence. You pay the budget directly to Google, in your own account, which stays yours.
Do you run Google Ads for businesses without an online store?
Yes, through Bespoke DMS. The logic is the same — Search for people looking for your service, measurement in calls, forms and appointments instead of orders — and the team is the same.
