Tag: Google Merchant Center

Google Demand Gen Adds Feeds for Non-Retail Advertisers
Google’s Demand Gen campaigns can now draw from business data feeds, giving advertisers outside traditional retail a way to build dynamic ads from structured inventory information. The change matters most to businesses whose available offers, properties, trips, or vehicles change too often for practical manual creative updates.

Search Engine Land reports that the feature does not require a Google Merchant Center feed. However, its initial reach has an important boundary: business data feeds currently work only on the Google Display Network portion of Demand Gen, rather than across all of the campaign type’s inventory.

What business data feeds change in Demand Gen

A business data feed is a structured collection of information that an advertising system can use to assemble or update ads dynamically. Instead of treating every creative variation as a separate manual task, an advertiser can supply organized records representing available inventory or services.

According to Search Engine Land, Demand Gen can use those records to display content based on audience interests and available inventory. That shifts part of creative maintenance from repeatedly editing individual ads to keeping the underlying business data accurate and current.

Why the update extends beyond ecommerce

Merchant Center is closely associated with retail product feeds. Requiring it can be an awkward fit for advertisers whose inventory is not a conventional catalog of products. The new feed option gives those businesses a route to dynamic advertising without forcing their data into a retail-oriented workflow.

The source identifies three example industries that could benefit:
- Travel businesses promoting available destinations or offers
- Real estate advertisers working with changing property inventory
- Automotive advertisers presenting available vehicles
These examples share a common operational challenge: availability changes, while the underlying ad format may remain consistent. A structured feed can help connect that changing information to reusable creative, reducing the need to revise assets one by one.

Organic visibility, paid media and artificial intelligence merge into one connected search ecosystem, where vivid data streams link a creative website with a powerful analytics dashboard.

Key takeaways for campaign teams
- Business data feeds can now be connected to Demand Gen campaigns.
- The capability supports dynamic content based on audience interests and available inventory.
- A Google Merchant Center feed is not required.
- Travel, real estate, and automotive are among the industries highlighted by the source.
- Support is currently limited to the Google Display Network within Demand Gen.
The main constraint affects campaign planning

The Display Network limitation means advertisers should not assume that feed-driven creative will automatically appear everywhere a Demand Gen campaign can run. Campaign design, expectations, and reporting should account for the difference between the supported placement environment and the campaign’s broader inventory.

That distinction also makes controlled evaluation important. Teams can assess whether feed-powered ads reduce production work and produce more relevant combinations, but results from the supported inventory should not be generalized to placements where the feature is unavailable.

What advertisers should prepare before using feeds

The reporting establishes the capability, but it does not provide performance results. Advertisers should therefore treat improved relevance as a potential benefit rather than a guaranteed outcome. Feed quality, inventory accuracy, creative suitability, targeting, and measurement still influence whether automation produces useful ads.

A practical readiness review should focus on whether business records are consistently structured, updated when availability changes, and suitable for customer-facing creative. Clear ownership of the feed is also essential: automating ad assembly can reduce manual asset work, but inaccurate source data can distribute mistakes just as efficiently.

The update gives non-retail advertisers a more natural path into dynamic Demand Gen creative. Its near-term value will depend on disciplined data maintenance and realistic planning around the current Display Network boundary.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
July 17, 2026
How Expanded PMax Reporting Changes Performance Analysis
Google’s product-level reporting now captures a wider share of the activity associated with Performance Max and several other campaign types. That added visibility can help advertisers understand product results across more of Google’s inventory, but it also creates an abrupt break in reporting continuity.

The practical challenge is interpretation: a chart may rise because more activity is being counted, not because ads suddenly became more effective. Advertisers therefore need to distinguish a measurement expansion from a true performance change.

What changed in product-level reporting

Search Engine Land reports that, as of June 15, Google expanded Performance Max product reporting beyond Search network activity. Previously, reported metrics such as cost and conversions covered products served through Search networks and Standard Shopping campaigns.

The expanded scope includes product performance data from the following eligible campaign inventory:
- All Performance Max networks
- Video campaigns
- App campaigns
- Demand Gen campaigns where product data is available through Google Merchant Center
This is primarily a reporting change. It gives advertisers a broader view of where product interactions occur, but the source does not indicate that the campaigns themselves were altered by the update.

Why performance charts may show a sudden jump

When a report begins counting activity from additional networks, its totals can increase even when underlying campaign behavior remains stable. Search Engine Land says advertisers may see higher impressions, clicks and other metrics as a one-time consequence of the wider reporting scope.

That distinction matters because a larger reported total is not automatically evidence of improved targeting, stronger creative or better bidding. Performance should be judged only after determining whether the apparent change came from campaign results, measurement coverage or a combination of both.

Organic visibility, paid media and artificial intelligence merge into one connected search ecosystem, where vivid data streams link a creative website with a powerful analytics dashboard.

Key takeaways for advertisers
- Product reports now include more eligible Google Ads inventory than they did before the June 15 change.
- Sudden increases in reported activity may reflect newly included networks rather than genuine growth.
- Results from before and after the reporting expansion are not directly comparable without qualification.
- Network-level filtering and clear report annotations can reduce the risk of misreading the change.
How to handle historical comparisons

The reporting boundary creates a discontinuity in time-series analysis. A month-over-month comparison that crosses June 15 may combine two different measurement scopes, so the percentage change alone cannot explain what happened.

Advertisers can make those reports more useful by marking the date of the methodology change and explaining it in client or stakeholder summaries. Where possible, periods measured under the same scope should be compared with one another. If a report must cross the boundary, any observed lift should be presented as potentially influenced by expanded coverage.

This caveat also applies to internal benchmarks, forecasts and automated dashboards that rely on historical trends. The underlying data may still be valuable, but the change in scope needs to remain visible to anyone using it for decisions.

A practical review workflow for affected accounts

A disciplined review can prevent a measurement change from being mistaken for a campaign win or loss:
1. Identify reports and dashboards that use Performance Max product-level data.
2. Check whether the analysis period spans the June 15 reporting change.
3. Use the Network (with search partners) filter to examine where the newly reported activity originated.
4. Review impressions, clicks, cost and conversions in context instead of treating any single increase as proof of improvement.
5. Add a concise methodology note to recurring reports and explain the change to stakeholders.
Google Ads specialist Bia Camargo highlighted the notice, according to the source, and cautioned that clients should be prepared for apparent gains caused by expanded measurement. That communication step is important because broader reporting is useful only when decision-makers understand what changed.

As future reporting periods accumulate under the new scope, comparisons should become easier. Until then, advertisers should treat June 15 as a measurement boundary and require network-level evidence before crediting a spike to campaign optimization.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
July 16, 2026
Google’s Local Inventory Ads Default: What to Check
Google is consolidating how Local Inventory Ads are controlled in eligible Standard Shopping campaigns. The practical issue is not merely that a setting is moving: local inventory may become active by default where the linked Merchant Center account has the relevant add-on enabled.

Advertisers should use the change as a prompt to verify which inventory each campaign can serve, especially when online and in-store products have separate budgets or strategies.

What Google is changing in Shopping campaigns

According to Search Engine Land, Google notified advertisers that Local Inventory Ads will be enabled by default beginning Aug. 31 for Shopping campaigns connected to Merchant Center accounts with the Local Inventory Ads add-on enabled.

Google is also removing the legacy “Local products” control found under Other settings. Campaign-level management will shift to the Inventory filter, where an advertiser can select Channel = Local or Channel = Online.

The reported rationale is simplification. The old arrangement included overlapping controls for local inventory, while the revised setup places channel selection in one filtering mechanism.

Why a default change can affect campaign planning

A default determines what happens when an eligible campaign is left without an explicit restriction. That makes this update particularly relevant to advertisers who have intentionally divided online and store inventory into different campaigns.

If those boundaries are reflected only in the setting Google plans to remove, the campaign may no longer behave as intended after the transition. The concern is operational: inventory eligibility and budget allocation can become misaligned even when product data and campaign structure remain otherwise unchanged.

This does not mean every Shopping advertiser needs to redesign an account. The reported change applies to eligible campaigns associated with Merchant Center accounts that have the Local Inventory Ads add-on enabled. Accounts outside that description are not identified in the source as affected.

Organic visibility, paid media and artificial intelligence merge into one connected search ecosystem, where vivid data streams link a creative website with a powerful analytics dashboard.

Key takeaways
- Local Inventory Ads are set to become the default for eligible Shopping campaigns beginning Aug. 31.
- The existing “Local products” option under Other settings will be removed.
- Local and online inventory will instead be controlled through the Inventory filter.
- Advertisers separating store and ecommerce budgets should confirm that each campaign uses the intended channel filter.
A focused campaign review before the transition

The most useful review starts with scope. Advertisers can identify Standard Shopping campaigns linked to Merchant Center accounts where the Local Inventory Ads add-on is active, then determine whether those campaigns are intended to advertise store inventory, online inventory or both.

For campaigns meant to remain channel-specific, the Inventory filter should express that choice directly: Channel = Local for local inventory or Channel = Online for ecommerce inventory. This is especially important when separate campaigns carry separate budgets, because an unintended expansion of eligible inventory could blur the purpose of that structure.

Advertisers should also document the intended role of each affected campaign before making changes. A simple record of campaign purpose, budget ownership and selected channel can make later troubleshooting easier without introducing assumptions about performance.

What is known, and what still requires account-level verification

Search Engine Land attributes the initial public identification of the update to PPC specialist Arpan Banerjee, who shared a notification email sent to affected Google Ads manager accounts on LinkedIn. The available report establishes the new default, the removal of the old setting and the replacement filter options.

It does not provide account-specific forecasts or performance outcomes. Advertisers therefore should not assume the update will help or hurt results on its own. Its significance depends on existing campaign structure and whether local and online inventory are supposed to share targeting and budget.

The durable approach is to make channel intent explicit in the Inventory filter. That leaves less room for a platform default to determine how a carefully separated retail strategy operates.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
July 16, 2026
Google Merchant Center Drops “Next” in Simple Rebrand

I’m adjusting how I refer to Google’s shopping platform now that Google has dropped “Next” from Merchant Center Next. Going forward, the product is simply called Google Merchant Center.

Google made the change official in a Merchant Center announcement, saying, “The platform you use today will simply be referred to as Google Merchant Center.” For anyone managing product feeds, shopping campaigns, or merchant accounts, this is mainly a naming update rather than a product change.

I remember when Google Merchant Center Next was introduced in 2023 as the newer version of the old Google Merchant Center. Over the past few years, more merchants, site owners, and advertisers moved into that updated experience.

At this point, it appears that Merchant Center Next has effectively become the standard experience. So Google is removing the “Next” branding and returning to the simpler name: Google Merchant Center.

Rows of illuminated data cabinets and paper files stretch into the distance, capturing the pressure on marketers to turn fragmented customer data into a smarter performance engine.

Google said users will start seeing the “Next” branding removed from Help Center articles, email communications, and the Merchant Center interface.

Google also clarified that no action is required and that the name change does not affect existing accounts. In other words, I do not need to update settings, migrate anything, or make account-level changes because of this rebrand.

Why does this matter? When I talk about Google’s merchant tools now, I can leave off “Next” and just call the platform Google Merchant Center. Honestly, that is what many of us were already calling it anyway.

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

July 9, 2026
Google Merchant Center Agency Roles: What I See Changing

I see Google rolling out new Agency Admin and Standard roles in Merchant Center for Agencies, giving agencies a more centralized way to control client access while improving security and day-to-day efficiency.

What is new: I can now look at client access differently because clients are linked directly to an agency instead of being tied to individual users. That makes it easier to manage permissions from one place, especially when team members join, move roles, or leave.

I also see custom labels becoming a useful part of this update. Agency Admins can organize client accounts by brand, business vertical, internal team, or another structure that fits how the agency works.

Those labels can then be used to give Standard users access to groups of accounts in bulk. For me, that is the practical improvement: agencies no longer need to configure access one account at a time when the same permission logic applies across multiple clients.

Why I care: Agencies managing several Merchant Center accounts have often had to depend on user-level permissions, which can make onboarding, offboarding, and account management more cumbersome than they need to be. This role-based structure moves client management to the agency level, which should reduce administrative work and strengthen access controls.

How it works: Agency Admins get full administrative privileges inside the Merchant Center agency account. In that role, I can link and unlink clients’ Merchant Center accounts, add or remove Standard users, modify Standard users, manage their access to client accounts, and create custom labels for organizing clients.

Standard users receive more limited permissions, which helps agencies follow stronger security practices. I see this as a way to make sure team members only access the client accounts they actually need.

Bottom line: For agencies managing large client portfolios, I expect centralized client linking, bulk access management, and customizable account labels to reduce manual work while making Merchant Center administration more secure and scalable.

Dig deeper: Managing user access in Merchant Center for Agencies

Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.

July 3, 2026